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October 21 - November 3, 2007
THE BLESSING OF THE ANIMALS by Nancy Perov
We
also enjoyed and
Gather your pets next year for the second annual Blessing of the Animals to be held again in October 2008! Highlights
OCTOBER
BOOK STUDY HUNGER
WALK
UBH
UPDATE The next Garage Sale will be on Saturday, October 27, from 8 am - 1 pm in the Family Place parking garage on 12th Street. All are invited and please feel free to spread the word! If you have items to donate, would like to volunteer or want more information, please contact Elka at (310) 458-7779, x204. Upward Bound House needs volunteers! There are opportunities for all ages and backgrounds. Below is information about some of the current opportunities. 1. KIDS NIGHT: Have fun playing with kids of all ages (from 2-12) while their parents participate in life skills classes. We serve dinner, play games, do arts and crafts, and have puppet shows. We are open to anything FUN. Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 6-7pm. Best if you can arrive a little early for set up and stay a little later for clean up. Volunteers Needed: Teenagers and Adults to participate on a regular basis, Leaders to design and teach art classes/projects. Leader to organize and serve dinner. 2. HOMEWORK CLUB/TUTORS: Tutoring and Homework help for older kids (ages 10-15). You meet with the kid’s one on one in our computer lab. Many of our kids are transitioning to new schools and need a little extra help. Hours: Flexible for one-on one. Wednesday and Friday evenings 5-7pm is the official meeting time we are looking to expand this to other nights as well. Volunteers Needed: Teenagers or Adults to make a regular weekly commitment. 3. MONTHLY BIRTHDAY PARTIES: Every month, everybody, (staff, parents, children, senior residents) are invited to celebrate their birthdays together in our intergenerational center (usual attendance around 30 people). We have cake, gifts, games, balloon; the whole works! Hours: Party Night varies but is generally the first Wednesday Night of the month, volunteers needed for party night but also for wrapping gifts and setting up at other times. Volunteers Needed: All ages welcome to participate but especially needed Adults to coordinate this fun night. Consider adopting us for your birthday month. 4. FOOD PANTRY: Each week we distribute food to the families at Family Place and the senior residents of senior villa from our food pantry in the basement of Family Place. Our food pantry is set up like a little grocery shop and we help the families shop. We also have a home delivery program for the seniors. Food pantry currently supplements 75% of each family’s food budget, enabling them to save more and move through our program more quickly. Hours: Pickups daily 6:30am-8:30am. Especially needed: Monday large Food Sorting and Pickup 9A-1PM, Distribution Tuesday 4p-8p. Senior Delivery Wednesday 9a-12pm and Thursday 9a-12pm. Volunteers Needed: Teenagers and Adults. Urgently needed for senior food delivery. 5. SANTA MONICAS BEST, BIGGEST AND MOST GLORIOUS GARAGE SALE: each month we have a garage sale in the garage at family place. In preparation for the sale we sort our in-kind donations, donations from the community and other agencies for immediate use by our families, into storage for future move-ins and, finally for our fundraising garage sale. The day of the sale we need lots of help pricing, sorting and selling. We are also looking at the possibilities of setting up an on site store for our families. Hours: Monday 5pm-8pm, Saturday 10AM-4PM and the sale Saturday (Last Saturday of the month) from 6A-2PM. Volunteers needed: Teenagers and Adults are URGENTLY needed for this fun project. This is a new program for us and we need garage sale experts to help make it a success. Expert organizers not afraid to lift and move are always welcome. 6. ADOPT-AN-APARTMENT: Families that graduate from Upward Bound House into their permanent homes are able to take everything from their Upward Bound House apartment with them. This means each time a new family enters our program we need to furnish their apartment with basic household items. Hours: 1-2 days per month per apartment needed for cleaning and redecorating. This varies according to move-out schedule but happens about 30 times per year. Also needed are volunteers to shop for essentials. Volunteers Needed: This program is an opportunity for groups or families to adopt apartments and work together to make-over the units. Also needed are donations of household items and capital to purchase new items. 7. ADMINSTRATIVE: Each month we have a number of projects: newsletters, mailings, fundraising, answering phones, community canvases and many others. Hours: Varies according to project Volunteers Needed: Varies according to project. 8. HOLIDAY PARTY COORDINATORS: We are getting ready for the holiday season and need help to organize our Thanksgiving and Holiday parties. Hours: Varies according to project Volunteers needed: This is a great opportunity for families, group and single adults to get involved. The commitment time can be limited to the particular holiday you choose. Come; spend some holiday time with us here at Upward Bound. 9. GEEK SQUAD: Computer Savvy folks are urgently needed to organize and maintain our newest fundraiser-a virtual silent auction on e-bay. We also need tech support for our computer lab and would like to offer beginning computer classes for our seniors and residents. Hours: Flexible but requires a regular commitment. Volunteers needed: Open to all but must have strong computer skills, preferably familiar with e-bay charitable giving. 10. YOUR IDEAS FOR NEW PROGRAMS: We are always looking for new ways to serve our clients. We encourage professionals who are interested in giving seminars to contact us. Also art teachers, ESL teachers, yoga teachers are all needed. Anything you can teach we can likely design a program around. We are happy to set up a tour of our facilities, or you can take a bit of a virtual tour at our website: www.upwardboundhouse.org. Please contact Elka Gilmore directly to set up a time to fill out our volunteer application and talk about what is the right ‘fit’ for you or your group.
Team V will also take part in the 50th Anniversary Celebration with Bethany UMC. The team is returning with a restored altar Bible, a beautifully designed and sewn "throne pillow" for the Bible to rest upon, and a Lexan-topped lectern on which the Bible will be displayed. Thanks to all who gave of their time, talent, and treasure to make this special gift possible. On Sunday, October 28, as Bethany UMC celebrates their 50th anniversary, another special gift will also be used in worship. Our own Rev. Dorothy Bimber Worley has given a cross to the Bethany congregation that she used in her ministry which was a gift from Mary Burnett in 1989 in memory of Mary’s mother Agnes Swartz. Rev. Worley offered the cross to Rev. Hadley Edwards as a symbol representing the link between Bethany UMC and their namesake Bethany Lee Worley (daughter of Jennifer and Charley Worley) who will be baptized in church on Sunday, October 28. What a special time it is for our Gulf Coast Partnership! SIMKINS
HALL UPDATE FALL
BACK - NOVEMBER 3
For the six years prior to March 31st of this year, Mark Oh was in and out of the Emergency Room 82 times. Just a year ago, he was in CCU for 31 days with acute pneumonia. This is how dire his situation was as he awaited a kidney transplant. He was receiving treatment and on dialysis, but his condition continued to worsen. On the last of those hospital visits prior to the transplants, he was in a coma for three days. When he came out of it, his three primary doctors all agreed that he had only 24 hours to live. Mark sat with his children, Ben, David and Diana, and made out his last will and testament. But Mark survived and grew strong enough to go onto the transplant list. And in the early morning of March 31st, the call came and the transplant was complete by the end of the day. Sitting with June in the hospital that day, I learned that they had come to the U.S. from Korea on March 30th, 1980, adding to the miracle of the day. Now, six months after the transplant, Mark’s doctor examined him and pronounced: “You are almost normal. Congratulations!” For this, Mark credits God, the sacrifice of his precious wife, June, who supported the family through the years of his illness, and the prayer of our congregation. Mark describes his life now as Beethoven’s “tenth” symphony, “the Symphony of Life!” His life has been in four parts, he says, the first was “Fate,” the second “Cry Out,” the third “Miracle,” and now the fourth “Joy!” “My life was almost at the end, but at the last moment, God touched my life.” Mark delights in sharing how he has asked each of his doctors: “Do you believe in God? Are you going to church?” He told one: “I respect your knowledge and skill, but not your attitude. Please go to church every Sunday—but if you do not have time, please accept God and Jesus Christ.” “Now
I am alive!” Mark says. And he wants to remind us all that
God makes miracles for us every day—living, breathing, reading,
being with family, going to church. Nothing is routine, he insists—it’s
all about God making miracles for us all the time. Community BIRTHDAYS THANK
YOU CELEBRATION
OF OUR DEAR FRIEND CONDOLENCES
Iware District, Nigeria: For the past three years FUMC has been engaged in a partnership with the Iware District of the United Methodist Church in northeastern Nigeria. This past year has been one of great change in the Iware District. These changes include a new bishop in Nigeria as well as a new District Superintendent in Iware. Also new is the foundation of a school building that was made possible through our ongoing partnership. During this time of transition, communication with our partners has been difficult. In the coming months we expect a renewed relationship and more opportunities to partner with our fellow United Methodists in Nigeria through financial, moral, and spiritual support. OPCC: Established in 1963, OPCC (formerly Ocean Park Community Center) is a community-supported organization in which staff, volunteers, and clients work to overcome poverty, abuse, neglect, and discrimination. OPCC is the parent organization for a variety of projects that strive toward these goals. The Access Center helps homeless persons meet basic needs and offers a point of entry into the homeless services system; Campion provides quality mental health care to children, teens, and adults; Daybreak meets the immediate and long-term needs of mentally ill homeless women; K-9 Connection partners shelter dogs with at-risk youth who train the dogs in basic obedience enabling the dogs to become adoptable; Night Light provides emergency services, support, and resources to runaway, throwaway, and homeless youth; Safe Haven temporarily houses and serves chronically homeless persons with the goal of placement in permanent housing; SWASHLOCK gives homeless persons access to restrooms, showers, laundry facilities, and lockers to store belongings while looking for work and stable housing; Sojourn offers shelter, counseling, and legal services to battered women and their children; Turning Point shelters homeless men and women and provides job counseling, money management, and independent living skills.
October
28 - Holy Baptism
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LAITY/MISSIONS
SUNDAY
CHURCH
CHARGE CONFERENCE
HOLIDAY BOUTIQUE: THE YEAR OF THE ARK
ALTERNATIVE
CHRISTMAS IS ON ITS WAY
October
21 - Missions/Laity Sunday