Theme Good News. Great Joy. as St. Mark’s theme.Emphasis on “Joy” – which is sadly in short supply in our world today. This is the tagline for OCC ministry and is shown as the closing message on all of their videos.
Schedule w/o Sept 24: Kick-off Sunday – 4th Sunday
- OCC Themed Sermon.
- Show an OCC video in worship services that explains ministry & creates excitement. Important for new members and to re-inspire the congregation.
- First week for members to pick up empty boxes along with dresses, underwear, and bracelets as starter items.
- Prayer at altar for the Lord to commit our in-gathering and service to Him.
w/o Oct 1: Education on the Ministry
- Amish Team to speak on their approach/success/longevity during Education Hour.
- As a reminder their community packs close to 4K boxes each year!
- Elders approved doing this last year, but we ran out of time to execute.
w/o Oct 8: Packing Party
- Show 2nd video – possibly focusing on importance of letter writing or showcasing that OCC also facilitates sending boxes to hard to reach places.
- Packing party – exact date TBD. Put out all toys, school supplies, and hygiene items purchased by Women’s League. Generally pack about 60 boxes.
w/o Oct 15: “Stuff that Box”
- Put out all items remaining from packing party on table in narthex for members to take to fill out their box.
w/o Oct 22: Final Push
- Last Sunday for members to drop off boxes.
- Hopefully we can deliver items during this week, but may need to do so on Sunday, Oct 29, after late service.
- Unfortunately, John Armstrong has informed me that no church in from our Greater Cleveland East team has stepped up yet to serve as the Area Drop-off Center this year. Once a church is identified, I will reach out to them to confirm they can take our boxes early so as not to interfere with our Boutique.
Other DetailsDresses
- We have ordered 100 dresses from Dress-A-Girl to arrive after Labor Day.
Shopping Update
- Women’s League grant of $520 is completely spent & then some!
- Last year we found a bounty of clearance shoes and clothes.
- This year, the Lord has led us to clearance dolls/stuffies, toy cars, water bottles, and school supplies. It is a more well-rounded stash of items, but heavily slanted to “girl” items. Most of these items were purchased for 75% off retail price!
- We hope to get three totes of items from a non-member who frequents Dollar General “penny sales”. If we receive, we can put these items out as “give and take” starting on Oct 1 or save for packing party. Marilyn made this connection!
Partners
- I reached out to Hope Lutheran to see if they will once again be donating school supplies, but have not gotten a response yet.
- Will be reaching out to Rebecca Jabs to reach out to Lutheran High East to see if they would be interested in collecting filler items for us this fall and/or volunteering to help with packing party to help grow this ministry.
- Will pursue an article in Chesterland News about our OCC ministry since this is our 4th year and encourage community to drop off school supplies this summer as they shop for themselves.
- Will seek to find local printer to donate in-kind run-off of coloring pages.
Giving
- OCC is once again recommending donation of $10 per box for shipping.
- As we have in past years, we recommend emphasizing the importance of this donation, but being clear that it is voluntary.
- We suggest that we set up an online giving account specifically for shipping and encourage members to contribute here so that we can send one “St. Mark” check vs. individual checks, which some members seem concerned about doing. Many churches do this and members can still send in individual check if they like or put check in offering with note in memo line that it is for OCC.