A new year has started and we can be pleased with the work we’ve done in supporting the Totes to Go program throughout 2024. Totes provides food for weekends when school meals aren’t available to students. We know that hungry kids can’t learn well, so we help to ensure weekend nutrition for kids who are at risk of missing meals. We deliver items each month throughout the school year.
We have a number of “scheduled” donors who have signed up to bring the same items each month. Sometime after the 15th of the month, I send out a message listing the items we still need. Want to help? Watch for those e-mails and pick up some items we need. Or you might choose to make a financial contribution (WUUC with Totes on the memo line or envelope). Also, usually on the last Sunday of the month, I can use help loading everything into my car.
Questions or comments? See me, Grace Simons or John Hartman, co-coordinators.
WUUC has donated to the Maltby Food Bank for many years, and there is a grocery cart in the church lobby for your donations. Please do what you can to support the less fortunate folk in the largely underserved area of South Snohomish region.
Winter is a time of higher need for many, particularly those who are in outdoor work – construction, landscaping, house paining etc. as well as for folks struggling for warmth in cold weather, and all the additional costs of the Winter and the winter holidays. Many people in poverty experience their hardest times during these times.
Maltby Food Bank also experiences a decrease in donations in Jan/Feb, after holiday food drives and outreach have played out. In January the needs go up, and donations go down. Let’s do what we can!
High Needs always include:
Hearty, easy main dish options (boxes/cans)
Peanut Butter AND JAM.
Tuna and other canned meats & legumes
Canned veggies
Pasta sauces of any type
Specialty food for allergies/intolerances like gluten-free, sugar-free, peanut free etc.
Crackers, cookies, easy treats
Toddler Sized Diapers
Feminine Hygiene Products
Personal toiletries; soap, shampoo, shaving needs etc
Household cleaning products; Laundry products, cleaners etc.
One of my personal ongoing efforts is to buy and donate items on buy-one, get-one deals of products I’m already getting for my own use. Or donate portions of the Costco multi-pack items I use.
WUUC also has a thriving donation program with Totes to Go! There are many ways to help others each in our own way, at our own level, and pace.
THANK YOU from all the folks who benefit from our support, large and small.
PS – I’m delighted to report I’ve had very good response to my request for new volunteers for WUUC food bank efforts. By next month we will have a new name as contact for this work.
This month’s collection goes to Lambert House. Since 1981 the Lambert House LGBTQ Youth Center has cared for, championed, and celebrated over 15,000 individual minors and young adults through over 500,000 service contacts. Today, our employees and 123 skilled weekly volunteers provide in-person and online programs to more LGBTQ+ youth than any other organization in the Northwestern United States. Long known as Seattle’s LGBTQ youth center, Lambert House is the only social service agency in Seattle and King County, WA, (Pop. 2.25 million) dedicated solely to LGBTQ+ youth. Its programs also draw youth nationally and internationally. Lambert House is a force against prejudice in the effort to build a world in which LGBTQ+ minors and young adults are healthy and safe, and command equality in their families, schools, and communities.
The ASJ Committee thanks WUUC members and friends for their generous support of our monthly special collections, which take place during services on the third Sunday of every month (January 19th). Instructions for giving are posted during the service, and you can also donate anytime at https://onrealm.org/wuuc/-/give/now, or by sending a check to WUUC at P.O. Box 111, Woodinville, WA 98072. Please make checks out to WUUC and write “ASJ Special Collection” in the notes. Visit wuuc.org/collection.
Did you know that WUUC has an Endowment fund? If you are looking to make a charitable donation for 2024 before the end of December, please consider making a contribution. The fund is an investment in the long-term health of WUUC and can serve many significant purposes: a source for short-term funding of an activity WUUC would not be able to fund otherwise, or a means to take advantage of unusual major opportunities for growth or service, or even as a source of financial backup in case of major emergency. Consider contributing as part of your end-of-year giving plan. Learn more at wuuc.org/endow.
If you shop at Fred Meyer, you can support donations to WUUC through their Community Rewards Program. To participate in the program, you need to register your Fred Meyer loyalty card and designate WUUC as your non-profit of choice. You must re-designate WUUC as your community rewards partner every June to keep participating.
Fred Meyer doesn’t donate a particular percentage of what you spend. Instead, the company has set aside a set amount per quarter, to be divided amongst registered non-profits in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, according to how much supporters have spent.
To participate, go to www.fredmeyer.com/communityrewards. You’ll be asked to create an account with your e-mail address and a password, and to register your loyalty card and associated phone number. Then you select WUUC as your non-profit by entering either our number, 93846, or the name of the church.
Then you just shop as usual, presenting your card or entering your phone number. You’ll continue earning your Rewards Points, Fuel Points, and Rebates.
