Our Purpose: To serve the poorest of the poor in our local and global community as Christ taught us.
Helping those in need not only blesses the receiver, but is also a tremendous blessing to the giver. We at UMCSO love to participate in hands-on activities that we know will be helping those who are living in difficult circumstances. Some of these activities include:
- Weekly food collection is distributed between St. Mary’s Food Pantry in Mohegan Lake and the United Methodist Church Food Pantry in Peekskill.
- Baby blankets, hats, and stuffed animals are made by our Crafts for a Cause group and delivered to our local hospital as well as Blythedale Children’s Hospital in Valhalla, NY. Additionally, this group makes prayer shawls and lap robes for those in our congregation and others in need of a reassurance of God’s love.
- Two Midnight Runs are held each year. Many of our Sunday school students participate with adults in these runs to New York City to give out lunches and clothing to the homeless.
- Our church has joined forces with Yorktown and Grace United Methodist Churches to become a HUB. The HUB stands for: H = Hands and Hearts, U = United and Unlimited, B = Bringing Blessings. Shrub Oak will work with the Yorktown and Grace churches to provide the services that UMCOR needs. UMCOR is United Methodist Committee on Relief. Our conference currently does not have a HUB and we will help fill this void. At this time the greatest need is for flood buckets. These supplies enable people to begin the overwhelming job of cleaning up after a flood or hurricane. The most important part of this whole thing is that we can help. We will collect items for flood buckets and have them available for distribution as needed. After assembly the buckets will be delivered to Missions Central in Mechanicsburg, PA.
- Operation Christmas Child is a favorite for the children to participate in. The congregation donates toys and toiletries that are packed in shoeboxes that have been wrapped in Christmas paper by the Crafts for a Cause group. The shoeboxes are packed by children and adults alike and then are sent to different countries in the world to show them God loves them.
- In November, UMCSO, collects supplies for twenty Thanksgiving food baskets that go to local Head Start families, and we also provide many Head Start kindergarteners with a new school outfit and school supplies in June so they are ready to start school in September.
- In December, we have an Angel Tree project where people donate gifts for homebound senior citizens through Meals on Wheels and Head Start preschool children.
- UMCSO also sponsors the Walter Hoving Home in Garrison, NY and we welcome a group to our church yearly and they grace us with their music and testimonies. Following the service, we share a lunch with them which is always such a blessing.
In addition to these ‘hands on’ ministries, UMCSO also contributes through our apportionments to UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief) which uses these funds for many worldwide needs.
