Write a check, label it with the fund name & Advance #, and Drop it into Morning Star's offering plate, or drop it off at the church office, or send it directly to UMCOR, PO Box 9068, New York, NY 10087-9068
	Debit or Credit Card donations may be made by calling 800-554-8583.
	Online donations can be made by clicking here.

On-going Katrina and Rita Hurricane Recovery Update

We all know the debacle over FEMA's handling of Katrina and Rita.  But here's something you might not have known...

After FEMA's bad press began to die down, they approached UMCOR, and asked UMCOR to lead a consortium of 9 case management agencies and 39 different organizations in the ongoing Katrina and Rita Hurricane Recovery work.  UMCOR is so well-regarded that the Federal Government asked the United Methodist Church to take over the leadership of the work!

You can get updates on this ongoing work by visiting

www.katrinaaidtoday.org. 

There is one major need that UMCOR cannot meet... in order to provide checks and balances, UMCOR is not allowed to spend any monies on its parent organization, the United Methodist Church.  This means UMCOR can rebuild homes... or any church but our own.  UMCOR dollars cannot be used to rebuild United Methodist Churches ravaged by the hurricanes.

The Council of Bishops of the UMC has issued a call to help fund the rebuilding of United Methodist Churches in ravaged areas.  Checks can be labeled "Katrina Church Recovery Bishop's Appeal #818-001," but need to be given through Morning Star and NOT mailed to UMCOR.  More information, or the ability to donate online, can be found by clicking here.  Donating online can be accomplished by clicking the "Donate Online" box located on the page you'll be taken to.

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East Mesa Elementary Outreach

Thanks to the leadership of Diana Saltz, Morning Star received a grant from the Thaxton Endowment to provide a number of important services to children at Cesar Chavez and Sunrise Elementary Schools.  Both schools are located out on the East Mesa, in an area where the poverty rate approaches a staggering 100%, and the distance to the "central offices" means the schools are often "out of sight and out of mind."

With the grant monies, Morning Star is providing schools supplies to children without any, clothing to children with great needs, and a number of critical health and hygiene items.  

One quick anecdote: our contact person at one of the schools told our grant administrator, 

"Please, could you bring a pair of girl's shoes, size _?  One of our students had to borrow a pair of shoes so that she could come to school!"

We heard this story during an administrative council meeting.  Our grant administrator and mission committee chairperson were promptly excused from the remainder of the meeting so they could go and buy a pair of shoes for that girl that very night.  The incident had happened that morning... it was the very first day of the semester.

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LightHouse Food & Clothing Pantry

The first Tuesday in June we served 79 with food and distributed 252 articles of clothing.

So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all ...
 Galatians 6:10

Thank you all for your continued help with keeping food and clothing in the Lighthouse/Pantry. Also please extend the thank you to your friends and neighbors who are also contributing to our Lighthouse. The thank yous we get from the people let us know that we are doing a “good thing”.

If you run into a garage sale that has extra clothing left unsold, bring it in here like some of us have been doing; we will be able to give it to someone who needs it.

Be sure that all clothing is in clean, store like condition, especially underwear when you donate it. We don’t need any hangers at this time.

Some items that we are quite low on at this time are: cereal, dry pasta, canned tomatoes and tomato sauce, and Ramen Noodles.

We usually give out 50 to 80 bags of food each time. So folks keep up the good work of keeping our food shelves full and clothing coming in. In each of the past few months we have provided about 140 bags of food and 400 pieces of clothing.

Open the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of every month, from 9 - 11 am, the LightHouse has recently been serving nearly 150 people every month.

The clothing is donated from members and friends of the church as well as from donors across the greater Las Cruces community.

The food items come from donations from members and friends, membership in the Community Action Agency food bank, several grants the missions committee obtains, canned food drives (post office, campus ministries, college fraternities, Curves, among others).

If you would like to volunteer, you can call the church office... but you should also feel free to simply show up on a 1st or 3rd Tuesday morning, around 8:30 am.  We'll find a way for you to serve! We can always use more help on these days to distribute food and clothing. You will feel most rewarded after helping in this very important mission. For more information please call  the church office 521 3770. Thanks again to all of you for yourparticipation in this mission.

We also provide bilingual story time to the children who come to the Pantry from 9-10 a.m. And, also have grant money to give books away periodically throughout the year.

"The LightHouse"  

Significantly, the pantry is housed in a room behind the altar in our worship space.

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Fundraisers:              

 Community Partner's Card

If you are an Albertson's shopper, please stop by the church office and pick up a Community Partner's Card. Each time you shop your card will be scanned and a percentage will come to Morning Star to help support programs for children and youth.