Outreach Beyond Our Walls — Making an Impact
Every community has neighbors who are hungry, struggling, or simply in need of someone to notice them. Our Outreach Team exists to be that someone.
Look for ways to serve. Service begins with paying attention: a neighbor who seems overwhelmed, a family stretched thin, a person sitting alone. We don’t expect you to have all the answers, only open eyes and a willing spirit.
Be generous with your time and gifts. An hour collecting or delivering food can change someone’s day. Whether you love to cook, organize, drive, listen, or lift boxes, there is a place for your talents here.
Where We Serve Currently:
Kent Meridian HUB: We provide students and families with food, personal hygiene items, coats, and other items every month.
Kent Food Bank: We collect food each month, hold food drives several times a year, and participate in other fundraising efforts throughout the year.
Community Loaves: We bake nutritious bread and/or energy cookies in our home kitchens, which are donated to the Kent Food Bank.
Our Homeless Neighbors: We work with Terrific Tuesday Meals to provide shelf-stable food and other help to our homeless neighbors receiving take-out meals at Holy Spirit Catholic Church.
Shared Bread: This emergency assistance program provides rent and utility assistance to individuals and families in the Kent school district as well as those in our congregation.
Communities in Schools: We support programs to help students stay in school and succeed.
No experience is needed, and you don’t have to commit to everything. Just bring a willing heart. We are always looking for other ways to share our time, talent, and treasure, and we’d love to talk with you about any ideas you may have.
Ready to 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.
“Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25:40)
Christmas and Giving Tree
Tags will be available on November 29.
Gifts should be returned by December 13.
Instructions for where/how to return gifts will be on the tags.
Like last year, we will be putting together gift bags of hats, gloves, and goodies for our homeless neighbors.
You will also see tags for water bottles, umbrellas, sports balls, and gift cards for children served by Communities in Schools, an organization Outreach has recently connected with. They work in schools throughout Kent to support students with many unmet basic needs and other types of support, with the goal of helping kids be successful inside and outside the classroom.
Other opportunities:
There will also be an opportunity to purchase stocking stuffers for Atlantic Street Center as we have done in past years.
Atlantic Street Center Stocking Stuffers
An opportunity to Love, Grow, Serve, and Share our Faith by donating stocking stuffer items to Atlantic Street Center.
Did you know Atlantic Street Center in Seattle was founded in 1910 by two Methodist Deaconesses, nurse Jesse Gasser and teacher Mary Jane Hepburn? KUMC has a long history of supporting Atlantic Street Center through our Mission and Outreach Committees and the United Women in Faith (formerly United Methodist Women). Atlantic Street Center is helping and encouraging children to grow into their full potential. To make that happen, children need adults to provide support and encouragement. Sometimes that support can be as simple as a Christmas stocking stuffer item from someone who cares.
Here is how you can help.
Donate stocking stuffer items for newborns to age 17. Atlantic Street Center likes to keep these items under $10-$15.
The age breakdown is newborns-3, 4-12, and 13-17.
Suggestions for newborns to age 3 are: teething toys, rattles, silicone bibs that catch food scraps, high-contrast baby books, mini baby blankets, block toys, baby plates and cutlery, bath toys, and baby animal towels.
Suggestions for children 4-12 are: new stuffed animals, dolls, small toys, and age-appropriate puzzles and games, LEGO sets, art supplies, coloring books, crayons and markers.
Suggestions for teens 13-17 are: portable chargers for phones, mini hand lotions and creams, spa headbands, fidget toys, mini card games/brain teasers, mature coloring books, colored pencils and markers, small LEGO sets, and dark colored knit hats.
Atlantic Street Center would like the stocking stuffers earlier this year than in past years. Please drop off your Item(s) and place them in the Atlantic Street Center wicker basket in the Narthex through Wednesday, December 7.
Grocery Store Food Collection Drive
Saturday, June 6
Networking with Other Local Assistance Programs
Our church is really going out and changing the world on our mission trip, and in so many areas. Locally, our Outreach: Beyond Our Walls Committee, through our Shared Bread Program, has started a badly needed network of monthly meetings at our church to discuss the work we are all doing in human services in South King County, helping our neighbors in many capacities. Those attending were excited to start these gatherings to learn what each of us provides and how we can work together. There are many challenges in food insecurities, housing, and many other areas where our neighbors do not know where to turn. Kent United Methodist Church has the motto “Our doors are always open,” and by starting this much-needed network, we have taken the lead. It is great to be a part of a church living their faith each and every day.
We are blessed to have a welcoming building where things are happening every day of the week to make lives better.
“Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.” (1 John 3:18)
Terrific Tuesday Meals
Every week, volunteers with Terrific Tuesday Meals prepare dinner for families struggling financially and for the growing homeless population in downtown Kent. Each week, they serve about 165 meals at Holy Spirit Catholic Church. Kent UMC’s Outreach: Beyond Our Walls team is partnering with Terrific Tuesday Meals to provide shelf-stable food that will help folks stretch their very limited budgets. With benefits cut and food banks struggling to keep up with demand, this is one more way we can help our neighbors. Small acts of kindness can make a big difference in others’ lives.
Foster Parents Needed!
Calling all caring individuals in King County! Your help is urgently needed to support vulnerable youth and teens in foster care in YOUR community.
Becoming a foster parent can provide the stability and care these youth and teens desperately need. Together, we can make a real difference in their lives and help them build a brighter future. By fostering a youth or teen, you can help build trust and stability during difficult times, prepare them for adulthood, and become a meaningful mentor.
You can foster the future and create a better tomorrow for these vulnerable young people.
To learn more about becoming a foster parent, scan the QR code or visit dcyf.wa.gov for more information.
FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK: @FosterParentsWA