Missions List
Throughout the year, the Missions Ministry supports local, national and international programs with volunteer service and donations. The following are summaries of the various missions in which Custer Road UMC engage. For more information or if you would like to suggest a new mission, contact Stephanie Mills, ext. 239. Associate minister of missions and evangelism is the Rev. John Baldwin, ext. 227.
ALTERNATIVE GIFT MARKET: The Alternative Gift Market occurs the first two Sundays in November as an opportunity to do a different kind of Christmas shopping. Shoppers have the opportunity to donate to charities and giving a gift to someone really in need. There are also handmade products from Mexico Mission and Holy Land Artisans.
AMIGOS DAYS: The Amigos project is a community construction project where over 35 suburban United Methodist chuches join together to support five inner city churches. Custer Road UMC renovates homes in the South Dallas area in partnership with Oak Cliff UMC. Volunteer opportunities are available for everyone, from power washing, scraping, painting, debris removal, yard work and carpentry repairs to working with the hospitality committee providing food and drinks for the volunteers.
BED START/FURNITURE DRIVE: Bed Start welcomes donations of gently-used beds, comforters, linens and furniture, and monetary donations to purchase new beds for Head Start families (and more). Our biggest need is for bunk beds, then full-size beds, and lastly, twin-size beds. Any size bed and type of furniture is welcome. Contact Doug Nickols at 214-929-1342 to make arrangements to pick up beds. This is an ongoing mission.
BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS: This community-based mentoring program brings Bigs and Littles together in the community to share fun activities. The school-based mentoring program brings matches together in schools. For more than 100 years, Big Brothers Big Sisters has enriched, encouraged and empowered children to reach their highest potential through safe, positive mentoring relationships. Sign-ups are in August or anytime online at www.bbbs.org.
BLOOD DRIVE: Custer Road UMC offers blood drives several times throughout the year, with sign-ups a week before the event, although walk-ins are welcome. However, you can go to Carter BloodCare at any time to donate - be sure to tell them you are from Custer Road UMC. We have a credit account, and should any of our family members have the need for blood, they can use credits from this account to assist in the payment for their blood use.
BOOK DRIVE/SALE: Books, CDs and DVDs are donated March through April for the Book Sale in April and early May. The proceeds from the Book Sale benefit Project Transformation.
CHICKS WITH STICKS WHO CARE: This group meets first and third Mondays at 12:30 p.m. Anyone who wants to can knit and/or crochet items to donate to charity. Make items on your own or at meetings.
CHRISTMAS JOY IN PERU: This is a project offered several times throughout the year. When offered, you can pick up a plastic box in Fellowship Hall and fill it with small gifts (i.e. a few toys, some soap, bracelets, small stuffed animals, a Spanish Bible), a letter and a photo. The boxes are sent to orphanages in Peru so that they can enjoy a little bit of Christmas joy.
CITY HOUSE/MY FRIEND'S HOUSE: My Friend’s House is a home away from home for newborns to 17 year olds. This allows siblings to be kept together when there is no extended family that can care for them. CITY House supports 9- through 17-year olds. CITY House is the only teen homeless shelter in Collin County. They provide crisis intervention and counseling services to children and youth in crisis and their families. CITY House also has two “transitional” homes, where people ages 18 to 24 can live. Throughout the year, volunteer and donation opportunities are available.
CLOTHING DRIVE: Offered in the spring and fall, we collect gently used clothing. Most of the donations go to Wheatland UMC in southwest Dallas to be used in a rummage sale that raises much-needed funds for the church and helps out the community by providing great deals on nice clothing. One Man's Treasure Clothes Closet gets a chance to go through the clothing first. They provide presentable sets of clothing to indigent men coming out of prison or off the streets.
COAT DRIVE: This is a winter drive that asks for donations of gently used or new coats, hats, gloves and scarves for men, women and children to benefit people served by Samaritan Inn, Austin Street Shelter and One Man's Treasure Clothes Closet.
FOOD DRIVE: Spring and fall food drives benefit the Plano Food Pantry. Donate pasta, rice, beans, canned or boxed dinners, powdered milk, canned fruits and veggies and peanut butter. Cash donations are split between Plano Food Pantry and God's Food Pantry.
HALLOWEEN COSTUME COLLECTION: During the month of October, Custer Road UMC accepts donations of clean, usable children's Halloween costumes, both new and gently used. Costumes are delivered to Head Start, Samaritan Inn and Plano Children's Medical Clinic.
HEAD START FAMILY SPONSORSHIPS: In October, Head Start teachers provide information about Head Start children and their family members. Individuals, small groups and Sunday school classes can sponsor a child and their family during the Thanksgiving and Christmas season and beyond by providing gifts, food, decorations, gift cards and other necessities.
HEAD START HOUSEHOLD COLLECTION: This is an ongoing collection that accepts gently used or new household items like towels, bedding, pots and pans and dishes that benefits Head Start families.
HEAD START SWEATSUIT COLLECTION: A September mission, this collection of new children's sweatsuits, socks and underwear clothes Head Start children in time for cooler weather.
HOPE'S DOOR: Custer Road UMC supports this shelter and counseling center that offers programs and services for women and children who are victims of domestic abuse. We provide a meal on the second Tuesday of every month (a confidentiality agreement must be signed and returned ahead of time). The Missions Ministry also hosts a February collection of dish soap, dishwasher soap, all-purpose cleaners, bathroom cleaners and toilet bowl cleaners.
JOURNEY OF HOPE: Journey of Hope is a nonprofit support center for grieving children, adolescents and their family members. The center provides a friendly, caring place that assists families in expressing and working through grief. Most of the children in the program have lost either a parent or a sibling. Every second Thursday of the month, we prepare and serve the meal that begins each meeting, feeding approximately 75 people. Sunday school classes, small groups or families can sign up for one of these meals.
LYDIA PATTERSON INSTITUTE: The Lydia Patterson Institute is located in El Paso/Juarez and acts as a faith-based learning institution. It is the only remaining United Methodist institution in the United States to serve a predominantly Hispanic population. Custer Road UMC helps provide work scholarships.
MEALS ON WHEELS: Meals on Wheels provides hot noon meals to seniors who live alone, who are physically or cognitively unable to go to a grocery store or prepare a meal, or who are homebound. Custer Road UMC provides donations during the year and Harvest Boxes in the fall. Sign up to be a driver at Mission Open House at the beginning of the year or at www.cccoaweb.org.
MEXICO MISSION TRIP/JUNTOS SERVIMOS: Juntos Servimos, which means Together We Serve in Spanish, is a nonprofit organization with which Custer UMC partners to support the missions in Matamoros, Mexico. During Mexico Mission Trips, we visit the colonias there and help build houses and support Casa Bugambilia, which shelters ill and abandoned persons until they can be reunited with their families. Casa Bugambilia also acts as a center for diabetes prevention and treatment and provides medical care and physical therapy to those who cannot afford it. In addition, Casa Bugambilia advances education through preschool learning readiness classes, tutoring and education enrichment.
MISSION BLITZ: Every spring, Custer Road UMC celebrates missions with volunteer opportunities, collections, drives and donations during a specific time period. It is the hope of the Missions Ministry to have every family member participating in at least one mission during this time.
MOVIE MISSION: We collect new or gently used G, PG and PG-13 children's/teen DVD movies for Friday NITE Friends (our special needs medical respite program), Project Transformation, area children's hospitals and Plano Children's Medical Clinic. Custer Road UMC has done this mission for over 11 years!
NOTHING BUT NETS/IMAGINE NO MALARIA: Malaria is the leading cause of death of children in Africa, killing nearly one million children each year. One bed net, which costs just $10, can protect a family for about four years. Custer Road UMC has committed to support this campaign financially.
NURSING HOME MINISTRY: Play bingo with residents of two local nursing homes the third Saturday of each month, which residents really look forward to. Small groups and individuals are welcome to volunteer.
PISD SCHOOL-AGE PARENT PROGRAM: This program provides support to young parents in the PISD school system, mentoring them for about 30-45 minutes a week, volunteering to bring dinner to the monthly meetings, and collecting donations of maternity clothes, diapers and gently-used baby items like clothes, formula, strollers, swings, car seats and high chairs.
PROJECT TRANSFORMATION: Project Transformation is an eight-week summer day camp for inner-city children that is facilitated by college interns and partner churches. About 75 interns and many volunteers work with the children to teach Bible lessons, make crafts, play games, sing songs, write plays and read one-on-one. Custer Road UMC sponsors three interns each year, provides reading volunteers and dinner for the interns at least one night during the camp. In the earlier summer months, members donate books, movies, snacks, sporting equipment, games and educational items.
RAINBOW ROOM: The Rainbow Room, located in the Collin County Children's Advocacy Center, is a store-like setting that provides emergency items for abused and neglected children in Collin County. Children who are removed from their homes leave with only the clothes on their backs. Items at the Rainbow Room are selected for the child's immediate need when placed in a foster home. For many of these children, it is the first time they have ever been offered anything new. We have various collections of new items for them throughout the year, and Custer Road UMC has been a Guardian Angel to the CCCAC since 2001.
SAMARITAN INN: Samaritan Inn in McKinney is the only homeless shelter in Collin County. They give local individuals and families without a home a safe and clean refuge and support as they strive to return to self-sufficiency. Small groups deliver milk and eggs to the Samaritan Inn each week. We provide money for one evening meal a month as well as volunteers to serve the meal. In April, the Missions Ministry holds a paper goods drive. Participate in the monthly breakfast foods collection through a small group or Sunday school class.
SCHOOL SHOE MINISTRY: For the last ten years, an alliance of nine churches has passed out over 10,000 pairs of new shoes and socks from Payless Shoe Source to children in need in Collin Country. In June, Custer Road UMC welcomes cash donations to cover costs of shoes, socks and toothpaste. Volunteers are needed at the Assistance Center of Collin County to hand out Payless gift cards and dental kits before school starts.
SCHOOL SUPPLY COLLECTION: Custer Road UMC collects school supplies in August for Collin County students who need them. Items include spiral notebooks, loose-leaf paper, #2 pencils, markets, crayons, glue sticks, folders with pockets and brads, and ballpoint pens.
SMALL ELECTRONICS RECYCLING DRIVE: What started as a cell phone recycling drive has expanded to include working and non-working ink-jet cartridges, iPods, Blackberries, digital cameras and digital video cameras. This is an ongoing mission, so bring your small electronics to the donation shelves in Fellowship Hall. Proceeds from Recycling Fundraiser benefit Collin County Adult Clinic, which serves the adult population in Collin County who do not have access to medical treatment.
SOUPER BOWL: Every January once the Super Bowl teams have been decided, collection bins are put in Fellowship Hall to pick the team you think will win by donating cans of soup. Custer Road UMC has a great track record of predicting the winner, and in the end Plano Food Pantry and God's Food Pantry win! This is an opportunity to replenish their holiday-depleted shelves.
TOM THUMB COMMUNITY BUCKS: In September, for every $50 spent at Tom Thumb, you receive one Good Neighbor Community Buck to donate, benefiting local food pantries.
UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief): Custer Road UMC regularly works with UMCOR for relief efforts during catastrophes. Offerings are used to purchase supplies and health and school kits, or cleaning buckets are assembled. UMCOR supply kits help to care for the most vulnerable people during times of crisis and help sustain everyday life by providing basic necessities to people who lack ready access.
WHITE SALE: In the month of January, hit a white sale and then donate your gently used blankets, sheets, towels and utensils to benefit Samaritan Inn in McKinney and Austin Street Shelter in downtown Dallas.
