 Kits for Kids – Mathew Barnes, an Eagle Scout, poses here with 1,200 dental hygiene kits he collected for the United Methodist Children’s Home. Also pictured is Patrick McCurry, the agency’s Public Relations Supervisor. |
The Boy Scouts’ rules for these projects are designed to make them challenging. For instance, the scout’s parents are not allowed to help. So although both of his parents are dentists, they weren’t able to assist their son, and he did all the work himself.
Matthew got the idea to sell Christmas wreaths at his church to raise money to purchase items for the dental kits. But to do that, he had to present his project to the Board of Trustees at Trinity United Methodist Church to get permission.
At the same time, he contacted Colgate, Crest, Oral-B and other companies. These businesses provided toothpaste, tooth brushes, brochures on good care of teeth and gums. They also donated some of the dental floss.
They told him that they can only donate a certain amount of their product at a time. So Matthew had to stay in regular contact with the businesses to get what he needed for the kits.
With the money raised from his wreath sales, Matthew purchased the packaging, the storage cases and the rest of the floss. He then recruited and managed a team of 14 other Boy Scouts in putting it all together.
He learned a lot about the things that groups like the Children’s Home have to do every day. He now has experience in fundraising, volunteer coordination and working with Boards.
“I learned a greater appreciation for charitable companies,” Matthew says, “understanding what they go through to get different things donated for the children.”
Matthew also learned how generous people can be when asked to help with an important cause like the United Methodist Children’s Home.
The dental kits are being distributed to the kids in the Children’s Home programs throughout Alabama and the Florida panhandle.
Posted by: Jill @ 1:53 pm
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| Spirit of Christmas - Christ as a baby is depicted here in this lighted Nativity scene displayed at Verbena United Methodist Church in Verbena, AL. In December, the church hosted a Historic Porch Tour for the community. Visitors viewed ornately decorated homes and were encouraged to make donations to the White Christmas Offering of the United Methodist Children’s Home. |
“Gifts help not only with food, clothes and shelter for children,” said Jill West, the Children’s Home’s Director of Development. “They also pay for medical and psychological care, special educational needs, and everyday needs like haircuts and school supplies.”
Group homes supported by the Offering exist to care for children who are not able to live with their birth families. Usually, the kids have suffered some form of abuse or neglect.
“A welcoming home is a comforting home,” she said. “And whether it’s by making a child’s family healthier or by giving her a safe home where she can thrive, gifts from United Methodists at this special time of year are what we use to provide that kind of comfort.”
Over the years, the White Christmas offering has become an integral part of United Methodist culture in the region.
“We are always hearing stories from United Methodists who remember as children collecting coins for the White Christmas offering,” said West. This year, the agency once again offered coin holders for the children to use, and provided other materials to help churches support the offering.
Churches are encouraged to give at least $10 per member. 342 churches either met or exceeded this goal in 2005.
“For many years, now, giving has increased,” said Rev. Joe Lisenby, the Children’s Home Interim President & CEO. “We are grateful for the compassionate hearts of the members of these churches, and expect great things again this year for the kids.”
People whose churches are participating in the offering can give directly to their church, designating their gifts to the Children’s Home. Other options are to give online at www.umch.net using a credit card or mailing a gift directly to PO Box 830, Selma, AL 36702.
United Methodists giving directly to the Children’s Home should indicate their church on the gift.
The White Christmas Offering primarily supports the agency’s residential programs. In North Alabama, these are the Florence Group Home and at the Tuscaloosa Group Home in Cottondale, both for boys, and a group home for girls in Scottsboro.
In South Alabama, the offering provides homes to boys, girls, adolescent mothers and their babies by supporting the Children’s Village in Selma. Other programs include a Babies First program at the Mobile Delchamps Group Home and The Settlement, a home for boys in Headland, AL.
Churches who participate in the Offering also help the girls at the Gulf Coast Group Home in Milton, FL.
In addition to the agency’s group homes, the Children’s Home recruits, trains and supports foster families from offices in Jasper, Anniston, Selma, Troy, Andalusia, Dothan, Bay Minette, Evergreen and Milton. It offers in-home care for families dealing with critical parenting issues through its Dothan Family Options program.