The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Churches team up to support veterans
Recently, congregations sought to provide assistance to local veteran outreach organizations by purchasing hygiene supplies for men and women and then assembling the supplies.
ONEIDACASTLE » > The congregations of the Verona Presbyterian, Mt. Vernon Presbyterian and Cochran Memorial Presbyterian Churches not only worship together as one church family but also work together to support and actively participate in a wide scope of local, regional, national and international mission initiatives.
Recently, the congregations sought to provide assistance to local veteran outreach organizations by purchasing hygiene supplies for men and women and then assembling the supplies into individual packages that were distributed to local veteran agencies.
Co- pastor Peg Ward spearheads many of the mission outreach programs that the church members support. Ward established Fifth Sunday Mission Projects that gave special emphasis to a specific mission project whenever there are five Sundays in a month. The congregations support so many missions that many times, there are over- lapping mission initiatives happening simultaneously within the church.
Ward recently set a challenge to the congregations to collect 1,500 non-perishable items to be donated the Verona, Vernon and Karing Kitchen Food Banks. The church is well on its way to hitting this fun and rewarding goal.
Locally, the congregations are active in their support of the food banks. They also provide monetary support to help teens attend Vanderkamp and the Delaware Work Camp in which teens and adult mentors help renovate homes for the less fortunate.
Throughout the year the local and regional mission outreach supports veteran organizations, and ministers to those coming home from the hospital with prepared meals. They host free community dinners monthly with the Verona Area Council of Churches as well as blood drives with the American Red Cross.
The women also help knit hats and mittens to be donated to local organizations and help with school supplies. Members also help and prepare items for the annual Thanksgiving dinner for the needy that is held in Utica.
Internationally, the congregations participate in Operation Christmas Child, a program designed to bring Christmas joy to children of underdeveloped countries. They also participate in and support a blanket fund to provide blankets for refugees.
Co-pastor Mike Yeoman said that he is proud of the commitment of the congregations to support and actively participate in so many mission projects.
“We provide a solid faithbasedministry to ourmembers but are equally committed to serving those beyond or church walls – many of whom we will never meet, but our greatest joy comes in our ability to serve others,” he said. “Virtually everyone participates in some way either by way of prayer, finances, or time and labor for the work of this ministry.”