Outreach Beyond Our Walls — Making an Impact
Reaching out to the community in our own neighborhood, across the country, and globally – is a vital part of our ministry at Kent UMC.
Join Us
Reaching out to others – in our neighborhood, across the country, and globally, is a vital part of our ministry at KUMC.
If you want to join us in making a difference, contact the church office at 253-852-3900 or general@KentMethodist.com. You can also fill out the contact form at the bottom of this page, and someone will contact you.
Atlantic Street Center’s Christmas Stockings and Stuffers
We thank our congregation for donating to our Atlantic Street Center stocking and stuffers drive. One hundred twenty-one stockings were donated, including many beautiful homemade stockings and various gifts for ages 2-17. There were adorable stuffed animals of all sizes, coloring books, crayons, markers, art supplies, toys, and puzzles galore! The teenagers were not forgotten, with various make-up cases, lip gloss, nail polish for girls, and many items that teen boys would enjoy. They were delivered to Nora Weiss, Atlantic Street Center's Marketing and Communications Manager, downtown Kent. Every year, Nora is amazed at the generosity of our KUMC congregation. She said these donations will serve over 250 families no matter what and how they celebrate.
The Giving Tree for Mockingbird Society
Michelle from Mockingbird was again overwhelmed by your radical generosity this year when she picked up the 53 presents you donated to their foster kids and parents. There were 19 gifts for boys, 21 for girls, and 13 for families.
You bought things like play tool sets, sports toys, dolls, games, books, and clothing for the kids and gift cards for theaters, restaurants, and family activities.
Michelle stuffed her car full of presents and drove away with a happy smile! She is grateful to our incredible congregation and the Outreach: Beyond Our Walls Committee, which sponsors the Giving Tree.
Mockingbird Society is a group of foster families that take foster children from Kent into their homes to love and raise them. Their goal is to keep foster kids in their communities, and they network to support the kids and each other. Although they receive funds from the state, it is never enough and is challenging at Christmas.
Thank you so much for making Christmas joyous for the Mockingbird Society foster children and their parents.
Martha House
KUMC has been providing Christmas gifts for nearly 40 years to the family living in one of the transitional housing units on the West Hill of Kent that are owned and managed by St. Stephen's Housing Authority. We call this unit the "Martha House." The Outreach: Beyond Our Walls Committee would like to thank Barbara Sauer and her Xi Alpha Chi Sorority for generously volunteering to purchase and wrap nearly all the Christmas gifts for our "Martha House" family this year. We would also like to thank United Women of Faith for their donation toward these gifts. The current family is a single mother who works full-time, and she is raising four children ages 7-15. The mom says her two older children are a big help, with her 12-year-old son, who has muscular dystrophy, and her 7-year-old son, who is autistic. The families may stay in this housing for up to one year, are assigned a case worker, and receive any needed assistance. We are so pleased to learn that this family will be moving to permanent housing in January, and the mother will receive help from an aide! Please pray for a smooth transition.