Connecticut Conference Disaster Response Campaign

 NGCC forwarded $900.00 in the Conference-wide Campaign.  Conference Minister, Davida Foy Crabtree has sent word that  $122,868.00 was received and has been put to work.  Susan Sanders report on Saturday will give us more details about how those funds are being used.

And don't forget, that we collected $981.00 for One Great Hour of Sharing Disaster Relief last Spring - much of which is being used now by Church World Service to help the victims of the earthquake

North Greenwich Nursery School Bake Sale

You may have seen the picture in the Greenwich News Times of Nursery School students selling cookies last Friday to assist Haiti disaster efforts.  The children over $200.00!! for Save the Children.

Haiti Relief Report       

Saturday, February 6        

1:00 p.m.

First Congregational Church, Darien

Susan Sanders, Mission and Team Leader of the UCC Wider Church Ministries, will be with us on February 6 in Darien.  Susan will be bring the latest on the situation in Haiti with information from our personnel on the ground in Port-au-Prince.  She will also speak with us about the overall denominational response to the crisis, as well as ongoing opportunities to assist in the long-term relief effort. 

IN OUR HEARTS AND PRAYERS

Greenwich World Hunger Association

Our Christmas Eve Offering was dedicated to Greenwich World Hunger Association.  $4,063.00 was forwarded to the organization.  GWHA supports a number of self-development projects in Haiti.  Our prayers are with all the people of Haiti and, in particular, Sherman Malone, the GWHA liaison who is traveling in Haiti from February 8-20 to check on the status of those projects.

NGCC AND MISSION

Chauncey Wilcox, the first pastor of North Greenwich Congregational Church, was a missionary. Throughout his ministry, he encouraged and trained young people to become "heralds of the cross" to the inhabitants of the Pacific Isles. The United Church of Christ has a long-standing presence in the Hawaiian Islands.

NGCC has upheld that vision. We enthusiastically support the wider outreach of the United Church of Christ, as well as its global partner – Church World Service.

Our benevolence giving has helped to alleviate the ravages of four major hurricanes in Florida. Through CWS efforts, we have joined other religious communities in responding to last year’s Tsunami disaster and efforts to bring long-term assistance to those who have been affected by that horrible tragedy.

One of the more challenging mission projects of the United Church of Christ that has caught our attention is the development of a new program that is endeavoring to respond to the growing crisis of HIV/AIDS in rural China.

Closer to home, our congregation participates in the Midnight Run, an outreach to homeless men and women in New York City. On a quarterly schedule, youth and adults prepare bag suppers and organize clothing for distribution in various locations throughout the City. Based in Dobbs Ferry, NY, the Midnight Run Organization is an ecumenical outreach.

We regularly contribute canned good and food staples to Good Neighbors, our local food bank. We also support Greenwich Social Services, particularly its winter clothing drive,

Our youth have been involved in the Good Dog Foundation, an organization that trains companion dogs for the blind. We have helped in the Town of Greenwich’s annual spring clean-up, prepared meals for a local soup kitchen at the Westchester Airport and raised funds for Natalie, a young Haitian girl, through Compassion, International.

We recently conducted a Capital Campaign to restore our historic church building. As part of our fund raising effort, we sent a substantial contribution to the Cloud Forest School in Monteverde, Costa Rica. The school serves some 210 rural students on 107 acres of tropical "cloud forest." Some of the children walk as much as 45 minutes to school. A local milk truck often serves as a school bus. Their curriculum is webbed around the environment with all grades involved in some form of land stewardship.

Our pastor is also an advocate for environmental issues. He is a volunteer Teacher-Naturalist with the Greenwich Audubon Center.