Missions and Outreach
Anyone with time and talent to offer will find plenty of volunteer opportunities with Mount Vernon UMC. Here's just a sampling of our ongoing projects.
Rising Hope UMC is a mission church in the Route 1 corridor. We support this congregation with food, clothing, and volunteers. We are participating now in the Hypothermia Project, which opens the Rising Hope building to the homeless during the cold winter months. Mount Vernon volunteers have supplied meals and volunteers to keep the building open overnight every Tuesday in February and March.
Lenten Lunches. Every Sunday from March 12 to April 17, we will serve lunch at 11:45 a.m. to benefit the United Methodist Church's Initiatives of Hope. These initiatives are aimed at strengthening communities in Mozambique after civil war, droughts, floods, and the continuing HIV/AIDS crisis, and helping residents in Brazil, where acute economic distress has created the greatest number of "street children" in the world. $5.00 donation.
Ventures in Community. Mount Vernon is a member of VIC and participates in their projects to help the homeless with food and shelter. We collect food throughout the year and take it monthly to the United Community Ministries for distribution. We also provide food about six times a year for the shelters in Alexandria.
Crop Walk- Mount Vernon supports walkers every year, one of whom raised the third largest amount in the Washington region last year. The proceeds go to feed the hungry through Church World Service. This year's walk is on May 15, 2011. If you would like to support this mission, either by walking or contributing to a walker, contact Henry Georgevich at biggieg@hotmail.com.
Society of St. Andrew is a hunger relief organization which includes the Potato Project. Gathering food left in the fields and paying to ship it where it is needed most is a goal of this organization. Mount Vernon members participate in gleaning projects and collect pennies that go to the Society. We are on our 4th mile of pennies. The United Methodist Men sponsor the penny collection project.
