Porter United
Methodist Church
Open Hearts. Open Minds. Open Doors.
Children's Special Mission Outreach: Kids Helping Kids
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Every Sunday during worship before the children's sermon, the children of Porter UMC collect a loose coin offering from the congregation to support that quarter's mission outreach. Besides helping the children grow in their relationship with members of the church, they also learn that kids, no matter what their age, can help make a difference in the lives of other children within the community.
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Throughout the year, the children collect for TrueNorth Training Stables, Jacob's Ladder Pediatric Rehab, Christmas with the Cops, and VNA Phoenix Center.
"Christmas with the Cops"
Formerly known as Shop with a Cop, this program of the Westchester Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 152 was developed to help disadvantaged families in the Duneland area by making their holidays a little happier. During the month of December, officers and their special guests head out shopping for the morning. The PUMC children always look forward to the Sunday when an officer comes to accept a check as a result of their efforts!
Click to learn more
TrueNorth Training Stables
TrueNorth Training Stables, is an organization that provides a safe environment where at-risk youth and their families come for training in life skills and spiritual awareness using horses. The participants in the program go through an eight-week program, using individual lesson plans that are tailored specifically to the needs of each young person and connect the horse and student. Their goal is to bring hope to those in need, and so far, they have had over 100 at-risk kids go through the program.
Members from Porter UMC present a check to the VNA Phoenix Center during the May 19th worship service.
FRONT ROW (L to R): Ayden Edwards, Cooper Schultz, Jordan Schultz
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BACK ROW (L to R): Gretchen Seidler Gibbs (supervisor from the VNA Phoenix Center in Valparaiso), Judy Reales (missions chair of Porter UMC’s congregation) and Pastor Liz Lahaie.
Throughout the months of January, February, & March, the children's mission collected for the VNA Phoenix Center, an organization for children and young adults who have lost someone in their lives who need help processing their grief. Before the age of 15, statistics show that one out of every twenty children may lose a parent and one in five will lose a close family member or friend. When this happens, they feel all alone but when they have help coping during this stressful time, they learn they don’t have to be. The VNA Phoenix Center, located at 2401 Valley Drive in Valparaiso, is able to offer this service free of charge through support from the community and income through other VNA programs.
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During the worship service on May 19th, our Missions Chair Judy Reales (with the help of some of our wonderful Sunday School children) presented a check in the amount of $396.47 to Gretchen Seidler Gibbs, a supervisor from the VNA Phoenix Center in Valparaiso.
We will be continuing to collect for our quarterly missions throughout the summer. This helps the children grow in their relationship with members of the church and also discover that kids like them - no matter what their age - can help make a difference in the lives of other children within the community.
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To learn more about the program, click HERE.