SERVE

Hunger Ministry
Hunger Ministry is MWPC’s signature outreach ministry. We are continuing to increase our support of adults and children in our local communities who are food insecure through increased contributions to the Hunger Fund. We are currently supporting both the SEM Food Pantry and the Batavia YWCA Food Pantry with monthly donations
of money and food from the pantry shelf. The harvest from our garden provides fresh vegetables for SEM clients. The Hunger Fund has allowed us to provide substantial financial support to both pantries, as well as providing funds for a new refrigerator for First Lutheran, snack bags for the Bond Hill/West Cincinnati tutoring programs, weekend PowerPack food supplements for Mt. Washington school kids, and 10,000 lbs of food for 200 families at each of the Mobile Food Pantry events. We’ve been able to extend our financial support to the East African countries stricken by drought and political unrest. As hunger ministry and congregational support grow, so does our ability to have a real and lasting impact on reducing the number of hungry families in our community and around the world.

Pantry Shelf
The Pantry Shelf is located in the lobby of our church. Items placed on the Pantry Shelf are taken to the SEM Pantry next door for distribution. Donations to the pantry shelf have become a meaningful way of celebrating weddings, birthdays, anniversaries and friendships. Members and friends of MWPC are encouraged to bring an item (food or non-food) every time they come to church. Over 10,000 items are donated each year! And during our Holiday Food drive each November, more food and funds are collected specifically for support Holiday Food boxes distributed by SEM and the Batavia YWCA pantries.

SEM Food Pantry
In addition to the financial support and food we give to the SEM pantry, members of our congregation volunteer at the pantry every week, stocking shelves, picking up food orders from the Freestore Foodbank to supplement donations, and helping clients select food.

Mobile Food Pantry
MWPC is hosting the Freestore Foodbank (FSFB) Mobile Food Pantry in the church parking lot several times a year. Two hundred families select 50 pounds of food apiece from the FSFB Mobile Pantry truck (that’s 10,000 pounds of food!). Since the truck is refrigerated, we are able to provide meats and other perishables for families who often can’t get that kind of food from the smaller pantries. 25–30 Volunteers from MWPC help families select and pack the food and carry it to their cars.

Cooks for HOPe
Cooks for HOPe prepare meals for the House Of Peace Battered Women’s Shelter in Clermont County. Each month a different group plans and prepares a meal to serve 20-25 women and children who have fled abuse.

First Lutheran Community Lunch
First Lutheran in Over-the-Rhine provides a Community Lunch to area residents the last Monday of every month.  Members of MWPC join volunteers from a number of churches to help with the cooking, serving and cleanup of this meal which feeds 200-300 individuals. 

Garden Project 
The purpose of the MWPC Pantry Garden (located behind the parking lot) is to grow fresh produce for the clients of the SEM Food Pantry.  Hundreds of pounds of produce are donated to the Pantry each growing season. Help with gardening is needed and appreciated spring, summer and fall.

PowerPack Program
With two thirds of the children at Mt Washington Elementary School qualifying for free or reduced price school lunches, the need to supplement their meals over the weekends is evident.  We provide funds to sponsor the school for the FreeStore Food Bank’s PowerPack Program for kids most in need, picking up the packs from the FSFB and delivering them to the school every month.   PowerPacks are distributed every Friday to up to 50 children, and each pack contains 10-11 food items that kids can open and
prepare without assistance.

West End Tutoring Programs – Snack Bags
Through special offerings and the hunger fund, we purchase, assemble, and deliver after-school snacks bags for children who attend the Bond Hill and West Cincinnati Presbyterian churches tutoring programs.  More than 20 children attend 3 times per week and receive a nutritious snack and tutoring provided by volunteers from each church.  Super Wednesday, Sunday School classes, and other groups have helped with shopping, filling bags, and delivering them to the west-end churches.

Alternative Gift Fair
The AGF is held on the Sunday before Thanksgiving each year and provides us with the opportunity to purchase items whose profits support mission efforts locally and create income for people in developing nations.  The AGF also provides the opportunity to make donations to honor special people in our lives. 

Backpack Ministry
MWPC provides backpacks and school supplies to over 300 children in need from in Cincinnati Public, West Clermont and Forest Hills school districts.

Hoxworth Blood Drive
MWPC sponsors a blood drive once or twice each year.  Hoxworth sets up donating stations in Davies Hall.  You can make an appointment or just show up. 

Jail Ministry
Jail Ministry provides worship leadership in local Hamilton County jail facilities on the second Sunday of every month.  More information at http://mwpcjailministry.wikidot.com/

Giving Tree
The MWPC Giving Tree is an outreach ministry that provides Christmas gifts for some of the neediest members of our community.  We support several outreach programs including Mercy Hospital, Clermont YWCA, Birthright, Mt. Washington School, Prokids, and the YWCA Battered Women’s Shelter.  The Giving Tree Project begins mid October and gifts are typically delivered the second week of December. 

Special Offerings
MWPC participates in denomination–wide special offerings each year.  A portion of those offerings support national and global projects thru PCUSA, and a portion is used by MWPC for special needs within our community. 
One Great Hour of Sharing – During Lent, usually on Palm Sunday
Pentecost Offering  - During Pentecost (June)
Peacemaking Offering – On World Communion Sunday (usually in October)
Joy Offering – During the Advent season
Disaster Relief – provides a mechanism for the congregation to
give financial support for disasters such as Katrina, the Japan
Earthquake and Tsunami, Famine in the Horn of Africa, and others as the need arises.  These contributions find their way to the areas identified through Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA).

 Presbyterian Women

Boy Scouts

In 2008, Boy Scout Troop 112 celebrated its 85th anniversary. 
For 68 of those years, Mt. Washington Presbyterian Church has
been our chartering organization. This makes us one of the largest supporting charters in Cincinnati.

Boy Scout Troop 112 continues to demonstrate it’s practice of
the Boy Scout oath and law, including Duty to God and Country,
to help other people at all times, and teaching boys to be:
Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient,
Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean, and Reverent. 

The Boy Scouts is a very effective youth outreach program that
endeavors to develop young boys into men of character.  In 2007,
we launched a new Venture Crew for girls age 14-21.  Today,
we have approximately 100 registered Scouts and over 40
registered adult Leaders, including many families from MWPC. 
We strive to keep the program meaningful to meet the needs
of youth at different ages.  Our goal is to make a difference in
the lives of many young men and women as well as the
community where we live.  We are grateful that each week
we have the blessing to gather and develop our Boy Scouts
and Venture Crew.  We continue our mission to focus on the
ongoing growth and development of Boy Scouts and Venture
Crew as we teach them to “Be Prepared” for life.

Boy Scout Troop 112 meets weekly at MWPC, on Tuesdays, from 
7-8:30pm. For more information contact Boy Scout Master
Jim Osborne.

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