First United Methodist Church of Palo Alto

Change for the Youth Sierra Service Project Trip	Centennial Endowment Winter Newsletter	You Can Still Give to the Joy Of Giving 2007	John Wesley Society Dinner
School Library, Cabala, Angola	Community Maternal & Child Health Care	Youth Group Raises $1200+ for Heifer Project	Centennial Endowment Grants
Centennial Endowment Grants Have Made A Difference	United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR)

Change for the Youth Sierra Service Project Trip

Our youth are once again changing the world this summer.

Beginning on Sunday the "Change for Africa" jars will appear in the Narthex, this year as "Change for Sierra Service Project" jars.

Our fundraising goal, and we are already well on our way, is $7000 to send a team to Loleta, California and one youth will join up with a multi-church team to go to Honduras.

We invite you to empty your pockets and purses, dig between the couch cushions and bring us that pile of coins that has been piling up in your home for who knows how long to contribute to this summer of mission.

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Centennial Endowment Winter Newsletter

A Pastor’s vision - a Bishop’s enthusiastic support - A Church member’s leadership - a Congregation’s commitment - a 100th anniversary.

Buoyed by prayers, the Centennial Endowment was born.

Read about the Centennial Endowment Funds and how you can give a gift that keeps on giving in their latest newsletter.

Click here to download the newsletter.

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You Can Still Give to the Joy Of Giving 2007

The Joy of Giving has been a long tradition of the First United Methodist Church of Palo Alto. It is a natural expression of our faith in Christ and our caring and love for our people in every part of the world.

Through the Joy of Giving you can designate which listed organization your financial gift should be given. As you can see, we have global opportunities as well as local opportunities to which you can give.

Make your checks payable to: First United Methodist Church and mark them "Joy Of Giving". Please add a note indicating which of the designated groups you want to donate to, and how much of your donation each group should receive.

Send your donation to: First United Methodist Church of Palo Alto, 635 Hamilton Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94301

Click here for the Joy of Giving information brochure and donation form.

Click "Show rest of Joy of Giving" to learn more about the organizations that are part of this year's Joy Of Giving program.

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Opportunities at Our Doorstep

Peninsula Habitat for Humanity
This local branch of a worldwide organization sells homes to people who would not normally qualify for a mortgage. The homes are built by volunteers and the sweat equity of the new homeowners, which reduces the cost of the homes to less than half the local market value. Habitat will begin working on eight new homes in Redwood City in January.

Green Pastures
Green Pastures, a local mission project in Mountain View, has provided home – a safe place, a haven to learn and grow – and individualized care to children with developmental disabilities for more than 20 years. Green Pastures also has a respite care program for families in the community who have children with developmental disabilities.

EPA CAN DO
East Palo Alto Community Alliance & Neighborhood Development Corporation (EPA CAN DO) is a neighborhood non-profit organization made up of local residents and representatives of established community groups. EPA CAN DO focuses its energies on affordable housing development, home ownership assistance, economic development and resources development.

Ecumenical Hunger Program
Located in East Palo Alto, Ecumenical Hunger Program (EHP) works with families to eliminate their hunger and break the cycle of poverty. EHP provides food, clothing, household goods, and referral services. By providing its programs with compassion and respect, EHP promotes the personal dignity of those it serves while encouraging self-reliance.

Ministers’ Discretionary Fund
This fund allows our pastors to confidentially provide small gifts of money to congregation members in financial crisis and to the increasing number of jobless and homeless people who come to our church for help. Our pastors depend on the fund so that no one in need will be turned away empty-handed.

InnVision (Formerly Urban Ministry of Palo Alto)
InnVision provides food, clothing, lodging and counseling to homeless and low-income people locally. Meals for the homeless or hungry are provided by the InnVision’s Breaking Bread program at various churches throughout the community, including First UMC Palo Alto. The Food Closet supplies groceries. Hotel de Zink, also hosted by local churches, provides lodging and meals. The new Opportunity Center, provides referrals and other services such as laundry and showers.

Global & Regional Outreach Opportunities

Missionary Paul Jeffrey
FUMC continues to support Paul Jeffrey, a missionary who works as a photojournalist traveling throughout the world reporting for church-based media. His work has appeared in New Outlook and Response. Paul’s award-winning writing and photographs examine how communities and individuals struggle for justice and peace in the midst of repression, violence, and rapid economic and social change. Paul’s work informs us about people and issues that need our attention and prayer. Read about Paul’s latest work at firstpaloalto.com.

Sierra Service Project
The Sierra Service Project benefits Indian tribes in California, Nevada, Oregon, people in inner city L.A., a new pilot program in Mexico, and an established program in Honduras. The Project also benefits UMC young people who work on specific mission service projects, as some of our youth did last summer.

San Jose District UMC Program Opportunities

Northern San Jose Church Extension Society (NSJCES)
NSJCES provides grants and loans to churches for improvements and repairs, and funds the Roselawn grant each year. Churches submit applications for grants and loans.

Ethnic Minority Congregation Fund
Conference Board of Missions provides grants to ethnic minority churches and ministries where minority leadership is developing and directing ethnic ministries. The project must have at least 50% ethnic minority leadership involving planning, administration and implementation.

Emerging Congregation Fund
Conference Board of Missions provides grants to new church situations for programs and staff support. Grants are generally made to coincide with the appointment year (July 1 through June 30). It is expected that a new congregation will receive a grant for no more than five years, with the amount of the grant decreasing in each year.

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John Wesley Society Dinner

Approximately 30 people attended the 2006 John Wesley Society dinner and program sponsored by the Centennial Endowment Committee. Following welcome and introductions by Reverend Archer Summers, Nancy Glaser recognized four new members of the John Wesley Society.

The new members are Marsha Sterling, Bart Cox, and Bob and Carol Olmstead. The Society was established by the United Methodist Church to recognize those who have made significant endowment contributions to the Church. At First United in Palo Alto, those contributions are administered by the Centennial Endowment Committee who recommend the award of significant grants of money each year to worthy projects within our Church, in the outside community, and overseas as well. The Methodist Foundation invests most of the Centennial Endowment funds and representatives of that organization attended. Mark and Kathy Parsons drove from Sacramento where Mark is the President of the Foundation.

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School Library, Cabala, Angola

School Library, Cabala, Angola

Estimated Project Cost: $10,000

The purpose of this initiative is to build a library as part of an expansion of a one-room school in the community of Cabala. Funds are needed for materials to make bricks and secure other materials for construction of the library, as well as (later) to outfit the library with furniture and books.

Cabala is one of 20 villages selected by the West Angola Conference (UMC) and Angola Ministry of Health for working in partnership with the California-Nevada Conference (UMC). Villages selected for the partnership were chosen based on need, presence of leadership that will likely promote and sustain the assistance efforts, and accessibility to construction equipment and supplies.

JP Maguire, Volunteers in Mission (VIM) coordinator of the California-Nevada Conference, has been working closely with West Angola Conference leaders to make plans for construction of the library that ultimately will encourage the habit of reading and improve education for children in the community. VIM teams from the California-Nevada Conference will work alongside people from the community of Cabala to build the library and provide follow-up.

Click here to read about the other Many Faces of Africa project, the Community Maternal and Child Health Care at Maua Methodist Hospital in Meru, Kenya.

Click here to download the Many Faces of Africa projects brochure.

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Community Maternal & Child Health Care

Community Maternal and Child Health Care,
Maua Methodist Hospital, Meru, Kenya

Estimated Project Cost: $14,117

The purpose of this initiative is to enable Maua Methodist Hospital to greatly expand the existing community health care outreach work that takes essential preventive and curative health care services to areas within our district where such services are not available and the population is too poor to seek services from other sources. Our goal is to provide maternal and child health services to eight communities.

Our Goals
The following are very important and achievable goals that we want to accomplish.

1. Make regular monthly visits to the eight sites.

2. Increase usage of ante-natal services and especially prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV.

3. Have 10% of mothers who deliver babies to accept family planning methods and to maintain the continuation rate at more than 70%.

4. Achieve 80% completion of primary immunizations.

5. Reduce incidence of malaria and prevalence of worm infestation. Prevention of malaria in a pregnant woman will not only save the life of the unborn child, but will prevent the mother from becoming severely ill and unable to provide for herself and her family.

6. Educate communities on ways to prevent burns especially to small children. Offer ear-nose-throat and eye primary health care services.
In order to be able to take those services to the eight communities, we will need a vehicle with enough space for five staff and the required supplies and tools.

Additional information about Maua Methodist Hospital can be found at www.chak.or.ke/maua-methodist.asp.

Click here to read about the other Many Faces of Africa project; the School Library in Cabala, Angola.

Click here to download the Many Faces of Africa projects brochure and donation form.

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Youth Group Raises $1200+ for Heifer Project

The Senior High Youth Group raised almost $1,300 for Heifer Project, an organization that helps alleviate poverty and hunger by providing livestock and training to people throughout the world. The amount the group raised will go to purchasing heifers and honeybees.

The youth raised this money by fasting for 30 hours during a lock-in at the church over Good Friday and Holy Saturday.

Thanks to the youth and all of you who contributed to their efforts.

Check out www.heifer.org for more information about Heifer International.

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Centennial Endowment Grants

Since 1988, almost $700,000 in grants has been awarded by the Centennial Endowment Funds. A short presentation has been prepared which highlights some of the projects and the organizations that have benefitted from our these grants.

Click here to view the presentation.

Give the gift that keeps on giving - Remember the Centennial Endowment Funds in your will.

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To protect mourners from a nasty fall, in 2002 a railing was added to the upper memorial garden thanks to a $5500 grant from our Centennial Endowment Funds.

Our security lies in the Lord, but railings make His job easier.. Remember the Centennial Endowment Funds in your will.

In 1988 a group of church members had an idea to start a fund to raise money to support mission projects around the world, as well as providing an ongoing source of funds to support projects around the church. The money wouldn't be spent all at once, but would be invested, and a portion of the funds would be made avaialble each year in the form of grants. With an eye to having the fund up and running for First Palo Alto's 100th anniversary, the Centennial Endowment Funds were born.

Over $440,000 in grants have been made since the inception of the funds.

A set percentage of the total funds in the endowment are available each year to be disbursed as grants. Each spring, church committees are invited to make grant applications for specific projects either in the church or around the world.

The Centennial Endowment Funds Committee reviews these applications and makes a recommendation as to which projects should be funded. These recommendations are ultimately brought to a church conference for final approval.

A Wide Variety of Programs Have Received Centennial Endowment Garnts

There are actually 3 different Centenial Endowment Funds that you can contribute to.

The Mission Fund
Grants from the Centennial Endowment Mission fund are exclusively spent on outreach programs around the world. Grants have included:
• buying a motorcycle for a modern day circuit-rider minister in India
• supporting campus ministry programs
• rebuilding churches damaged by a cyclone in Tonga
• helping to build the Opportunity Center of the Midpeninsula
• supporting youth programs around the Bay Area

The Property Fund
Grants from the Centennial Endowment Property fund are exclusively spent on new equipment and renovation and modernization projects at the church. Grants have included:
• Helping to purchase a parsonage for our associate pastor
• Providing new appliances and fixtures for our heavily used kitchens
• Buying a new phone system and wiring the entire church for the internet
• Remodeling Church bathrooms
• Replacing old classroom furniture
• Establishing a seminary intern program

The Unrestricted Fund
Grants from the Centennial Endowment Unrestricted fund can be spent on either mission or property projects.

Give the Gift That Keeps on Giving
Your gift to the Centennial Endowment funds keeps on working to help people and help the church year after year.

You can donate to the Centennial Endowment Funds in two ways.

Immediate Gift
You can make a donation in cash or stocks.

Deferred Gift
You can make a donation by remembering the Centennial Endowment Funds:
• in your will ( you can leave cash, stocks and/or property to the funds)
• by naming the Centennial Endowment Funds as beneficiary of a life insurance policy

Happy Birthday Centennial Endowment Funds!

For more information contact Nancy Glaser: endowment@firstpaloalto.com

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Centennial Endowment Grants Have Made A Difference

Over the years the church needs funds outside our regular church budget to keep our physical plant safe, secure and accommodating. The following is an interview with the chair of our trustees, Allen Wood, on how the Centennial Endowment Grants have helped over the years…….

“All capital expenses must come from either Centennial Endowment grants or direct bequests – so over the years these funds have made an important difference to our physical plant. For example:

• $7,736 was awarded in 1991 to build our first handicap accessible restroom. We took a closet and turned it into the restroom. That project paved the way to doing the whole millennium remodeling. We were also granted $5,960 for refurbishing the Patio Room that year.

• In 1992, we replaced the one Patio Room door with the current large, inviting doors with a $7,555 grant. When we had only one door it just really blocked foot traffic, especially when serving food in the Patio Room.

• The existing outdoor sign (on the corner of Webster & Hamilton) was installed in 1994 with a $2,800 grant. It really helps to let passersby know who we are.

• In 1995 we were awarded $6,500 to fix the closures on the heavy (and dangerous) main doors of the church.

• In 1996 $1,470 was awarded to redo the entry from Webster Street. We had a badly sloped walkway and rain gathered there. This greatly enhanced our entry into church.

• Finally, I’d like to mention the series of grants that we were awarded in the late ‘90’s totaling over $19,000. They were to purchase six new exterior doors for the education building. The old ones were wood and falling apart. One of the two that went out to the parking lot fell apart on a windy day. We eventually replaced all the doors which resulted in better security, better appearance and certainly easier for people to enter and exit.”

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United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR)

UMCOR is the disaster relief agency within the United Methodist denomination.

Whenever and wherever an emergency occurs throughout the world, this agency is the one that responds initially on behalf of the United Methodist church. 100% of your donations are used directly for relief services.

How can you help? A yearly offering is taken at First Palo Alto for UMCOR's general fund, and special offerings are taken when we are asked to respond. All donations are welcomed.

Contact: http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor

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