Outreach Swap Session notes 8/2/18

Ideas People/Churches have carried out

• Blankets/stuffed animals given to police to carry in cars to comfort kids (Vicki Burdick, Riverside, CA)
• Buy 1 get 1 free pizza (or similar) – use 1 pizza for self and give other to homeless shelter; raise money to give more pizzas using coupons (Debbie James, Verona, NY)
• Raise awareness for health issues (e.g. kids who have strokes) by donating stuffed animals with tags including information about the issue to hospitals (Kellie Galarneau, Shepherd’s Fold, TN, kstivers15@gmail.com)
• Hold community movie nights. $99 for copyright license for movie showing; can rent equipment (Kristin Camenga, German SDB Church, Salemville, PA, kacam@ajcindustries.com)
• Community baby shower (Trish Nagle, White Cloud, MI, nananagle@yahoo.com)
  • Pregnant moms and moms of kids under 2 invited; advertise on Facebook
  • Devotion; games/prizes (winners choose gift)/drawing for grand prize; food
  • Shopped clearance to get strollers, high chairs, pack N plays, etc.
  • Women’s group raised money and were matched by church evangelism and outreach budget
  • Connected to local child protection to get info, gifts, speaker
• Communicate with people in city/town offices – find community liaison, find out about local programs already in place to join in; e.g. mentor program for school students or partnering with a local church that feeds kids lunch in the park every day of the summer (Gretchen Zwiebel, Boulder, CO)
• Connect with the elementary school and survey teachers to see what needs are for classroom and include birthday on survey; provide materials and on birthdays, give gifts/note with prayers (Sarah Shick, White Cloud, MI, sarahjshick@yahoo.com)
• Self-care/Wellness fair for women – a talk, screenings, massages, coloring (Rebecca Olson, Berlin, NY)
• Food pantry (Sharon Gay Dailey, Southeast Atlanta, sharongmdailey@gmail.com)
  • Provides a box of groceries once a week following a sermon, music, gospel presentation and invitation to prayer
  • At Thanksgiving, provide a hot cooked meal
  • Back-to-school time, provide backpacks with school supplies
  • Extra people invited for the special events (people invite their friends)
  • Deliver boxes to those who can’t come or deliver leftover boxes to whomever wants them
• Family Fun Fest (Althea Rood, Dodge Center, MN, althear@yahoo.com)
  • Held on Sabbath afternoon
  • Tied to VBS closing on Sabbath morning
  • Inflatables, hula hoop contest, people available to pray with others
  • (used to be connected to weekend community celebration)
  • Time to Revive – evangelism tool, cooperation with other churches
• Galentine’s day celebration (Elizabeth Lawson, Sarina Villapondo, Colton, CA)
  • For women on Valentine’s day
  • Snacks/photo booth/speaker
• Sewing days (Ruth Burdick, Seattle Area, WA via Ginny Evans, allabouthistory@gmail.com)
  • Invite crafting friends or those who want to learn how to sew
  • Focus is on building relationships; can lead to invitations to more spiritually focused events such as women’s retreats
• Manna bags – prepared bags that can be handed out to homeless (has been done in Bay Area SDB, Colton, CA, Seattle Area, WA)
  • Toiletries, socks, first aid kids
  • Nonperishable snacks, tuna
  • Gospel tract/ church contact info
• Reaching Internationals (Ron Davis, rcdavis16@sbcglobal.net)
  • ESL program with English training
  • Invite International college students to dinner or to stay during vacations (colleges often have programs to pair with international students)
• Sell cozies/other crafts to fund camp scholarships for needy kids (Pat Williams and Gretchen Zwiebel, Boulder, CO, patwilliams1947@gmail.com)
• Support community warming shelter for homeless – for cold or rainy nights (Phil Lawton, Shiloh, NJ)
  • Space for people to sleep with meals night and morning
  • In Bridgeton, NJ, one church to host and another provides meals
  • Get donations from convenience stores

More ideas

• Backpack for kids being rescued from their home (Gabi Osborn, Boulder, CO, gabi.osborn99@gmail.com)
  • Blanket, stuffed animal
  • Backpack important to carry their things – otherwise might just be given a trash bag
• Provide job preparation – clothes for interviews, resume help, interview coaching
• Work with restaurants to pick up leftovers to donate to homeless shelter/food pantry
• Diaper giveaways (WIC doesn’t give diapers) or diapers to shelters for those escaping domestic violence
• Become a licensed foster home; can be especially helpful if church has children’s or youth programs to provide support
• Volunteer for community clean up day or other similar programs to be a witness within community events
• Encourage small business owners to consider hiring ex-cons or those who struggle to give them a hand up
• Support businesses that work to help others – e.g. those that hire refugees or provide food in exchange for work
• Assess the skills in your group and see how they could serve the community
  • Carpenters could go around to homes and help with home repair
  • Crafters could create blankets for babies in the hospital
  • Young moms could exchange daycare and share about life skills
  • VoTech schools may have teen parenting programs that you could support
• Monthly sharing of women’s skills/talents such as cake decorating, scrapbooking, etc. (Michaella Osborn, Boulder, CO, michaella.osborn@gmail.com)
• Sponsor a refugee family as a church (Michaella Osborn, Boulder, CO, michaella.osborn@gmail.com)
• Collect toys or winter clothing from the community to give to kids identified by the school
• Pay off bills for students who get behind in paying for school lunches so they can have food; work with school to pack food for the weekend for students who don’t have enough food.