Community Outreach: Touching lives outside of one’s life. By giving, we receive.

Outreach has been defined on Dictionary.com as a verb, noun, and adjective.

• Verb(used with object): “to reach beyond; exceed.”
• Noun: “the act of extending services, benefits, etc.”
• Adjective: “concerned with extending community services, benefits, etc.”

United Christian Church’s Outreach Ministry is more than a verb, noun, or adjective. It is defined as touching lives outside of one’s life. By giving, we receive.

James Bruner wrote the following about our church’s most recent outreach:

"Donations for and assembly of care kits"

Items were donation by the congregation throughout the month of April for the assembly of the care kits. The articles asked for and received were:

• Water bottle
• Socks
• Tuna and crackers
• Granola Bar or cereal bar
• Fruit snack or applesauce cup
• Crackers with peanut butter or cheese
• Gift certificate to fast food
• Hand wipes
• Packs of Kleenex
• Maxi pads
• Toothbrush and toothpaste
• Nail clippers
• Band Aids
• Chapstick
• Comb or small brush
• Mints, cough drops or gum

And $5.00 McDonald’s gift card were donated with Seahawks' logos on them.

And a big thank-you to all, who donated to the care kits!

The care kits were assembled after church on Sunday, May 3rd. The following people participated in putting the kits together: Joyce Bruner, Julie Shaffer, Paris Bruner, Leona Hansen, Mariam Johnson, Linda Hendry, Carolyn Hosington, Nancy Frey, Swannee Rivers, and Bill Utterback. Joyce also made notes of inspiration that were included in the kits which included our church address.

"Handing out the care kits"

The attendees from our church were Joyce Bruner, Caroline Bacon, Paris Bruner and James Bruner.

We met at the former Renton Chamber of Commerce at 4:45pm in the parking lot. As we pulled in I noticed that people had started gathering in the lot. The one thing that surprised me was that some of the people coming to have a meal drove to the location. I went to try to get in and found the door locked with a person, whom I later learned was a regular named Richard, on the ground outside. As I bagged on the door I was again surprised to see a young girl, probably 9 or 10 years old, come to the door. She didn’t unlock it (smart of her) but we talked through the mail slot. Her Mom eventually came to the door and we were able to take our stuff in.

The facility was simple and clean with fold-up tables and chairs (5 tables with approx. 6-8 chairs each). We setup at the end of the serving table and discussed the protocol with those setting up. They communicated that the door opens at 5:00pm, the first serving of the meal starts at 5:30pm, and the second course, if food is still available, is served at 6:00pm. People are allowed to be in the facility until approx. 7pm at which point it ends.

People began to arrive right at 5pm and they were able to get water and coffee while they waited for the food to be served. The line started forming about 5:15pm at the serving table and probably had 5-6 people in it. Other people were there as well but were sitting rather than joining the line. The church serving the food (BTW, I would like to have our church provide a meal now that I understand the protocol and what's required) had brought hot dogs, potato salad as well as macaroni salad, potato chips, Doritos, and Cheetos.

As the people received their food we offered them one of our care kits. Most of the people were happy to receive them but there were some who didn’t accept one. Some came to ask for another one after receiving their initial bag. It was clear that most were pleasantly surprised to receive the bags. We determined that some things were more coveted than others. The biggest draw appeared to be socks and most wanted black socks. The food gift cards were also a hit as were the tooth brushes/tooth paste and water bottles. I didn’t count but I’d estimate that we gave out approx. half of the 47 bags that were prepared.

It was a very good experience and I’m personally excited to see our church beginning to expand our outreach in this way. Can’t wait for the next opportunity to serve.

United Christian Church is located in Renton, Washington. It is a caring community with a big heart for others.