Supporting the Wider Community in a Hard Time
Every year, Edwards Church contributes 16% of our congregational giving to support Wider Missions–supporting wider church and community efforts to create a more just and loving world. Typically, the Board of Wider Missions usually does most of our giving in November-December, as we consider major gifts to organizations that support outreach and mission locally and around the world.
However, in light of the current crisis we have stepped up our giving pace and we are working hard to get our mission budget dollars out into the community as soon as possible. We have had two Zoom meetings focused on giving already, and even when the discussion is a bit confusing with our new “Hollywood Squares” discussion, we have been able to faithfully and creatively make decisions.
In March the board gave a leadership gift to a UCC fund working to help families crushed by the cost of healthcare through “RIP medical debt”, and another one to the Metrowest Workers Center (CASA) for immigrant worker and family support. We also gave $1200 “stimulus” checks from the Seeds of Grace fund (a grant program created in the merger of Grace and Edwards Churches) to some of our current Seeds of Grace grant recipients on the front-lines helping the most vulnerable in this time of crisis — Worcester Fellowship (working with the homeless in Worcester), Daniel’s Table (food security in Framingham), A Place to Turn food pantry, and the Neighbor’s Fund (support for vulnerable immigrants).
In April we followed up with more funds to help those in need —
- Project Bread/the Walk for Hunger,
- United Way’s Pearl Street Cupboard and Cafe feeding struggling individuals and families in Framingham,
- Metrowest Humane Society to supply pet food for food pantry clients,
- Voices against Violence, an organization supporting victims of domestic violence locally.
Finally, we also gave to “Meals for Medics,” a fundraiser run through Downtown Framingham Inc., to sponsor meals for workers at Metrowest Medical Center. We are happy to report that on April 20th lunch at MWMC will be brought from Los Pinos Mexican and Salvadoran restaurant due to our donation. What a great way to support those frontline medical workers and a local business!
In addition, congregation members have been making masks for neighbors, nursing homes, assisted living facilities and healthcare workers, and have been assisting in food distribution through CASA.
We encourage the membership to faithfully consider how you could also give to the organizations we have been supporting, or others that you know do good work. If you have not lost income, but are still due for a stimulus check, what will you do with it? And if you know of other organizations — especially local ones — that need funds to do their good work, please let us know, or encourage them to apply for a “Seeds of Grace” grant (deadline is June 15) — the grant application is upon the Edwards web site soon.