August 2016 - Festival of Sharing

FESTIVAL BRIEF
AUGUST 2016
Festival of Sharing
Counting Blessings
Sitting in my office recently, I had to take a moment to just be in awe of
God’s provisions. The blessings are almost too many to list, but here are a
few. Our partner Stop Hunger Now (stophungernow.org), an international
meal packing organization, worked with some of their sponsors and every
participant in Youthfest will now be able to pack meals. Blessings! An
agency called Serve St. Louis heard about our first ever Sharefest in
Ferguson and they are going to help us publicize and recruit volunteers.
Blessings! The Pack Shack (thepackshack.org), a local meal packing
organization is going to help us pack 30,000 complete cheesy rice meals to
be distributed in Ferguson. Blessings! Prison packs and donations are
coming in at such a remarkable rate that we will not only be able to support
the Vandalia, but also the Chillicothe Correctional Facility (read more on
page 2). Blessings! I hope you are getting excited about Festival this year,
because God is on the move in mighty ways.
Praising God, Angie
HELP US SHARE THE BLESSINGS AT WWW.FESTIVALOFSHARING/DONATE
Let your light shine
before others, so that
they may see your
good works and give
glory to your Father
in heaven. Matt. 5:16
Join us at the
Fairgrounds in
Sedalia on
October 14-15th.
Hotels are filling quickly in Sedalia. Best Western has rooms available, call (660) 826-6100.
Mention Festival of Sharing and your rate will be $79.64 or $87.74 + tax until 9/30/16.
Prison Ministries
Blown Away By Their Generosity
At this moment, we have 1,401 complete prison
packs and donations of nearly $6000 to make more
packs. Another church has pledged 400 packs in
honor of a retiring minister. Our goal this year was
to complete 1,800, so we can give a gift to each
woman at the Vandalia Correctional Facility during
a Christmas worship in December. With the
outstanding response, we will now be able to help
another ministry complete packs for the 1,600
women of the Chillicothe Correctional Facility.
When some of the residents at the Vandalia
Correctional Facility heard about our efforts, they
decided to help. We received a check for $500 from
the Outreach (Offenders Offering Alternatives)
organization in the prison and we were blown away.
Then they sent another $500, then the Longtimer’s
and NAACP prison project each sent $500, for a
whopping total of $2,000. These offenders did
fundraisers and chose to support Festival of Sharing.
We are so blessed to be partners with these women.
We give God praise for their generosity!!
Prisoners from the Vandalia
Correctional Facility raised
$2,000 to help our efforts!
BIKE TO THE FUTURE
One of the biggest challenges for prisoners
when they are released is transportation. We
invite you to bring those bicycles sitting in your
garage, that are in working order to bless others
through Festival of Sharing. These bicycles will
b e g i v e n t o e x - o ff e n d e r s t h ro u g h t h e
Department of Corrections and local church
ministries. Questions, email festival@socket.net
QUILT NEWS
It is so exciting to see all the quilts coming in for Festival of Sharing (due by
Sept. 2nd). If you want to see some of the lovely quilts in person before the
auction on October 15th, please join us for one of the traveling quilt shows:
Wed., Sept. 21st, Friendship Baptist Church, 3530 Chelsea Drive, Kansas City,
MO 64128, (816) 861-3252. The event will be from 2 to 4 p.m.
Sat., Sept. 24th, St. Paul’s UCC, 5508 Telegraph Road, St. Louis, MO 63129,
(314) 892-3332. Quilts on display from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Sat., Oct. 1st, Wesley United Methodist Church, 1322 W Broadway Blvd, Sedalia, MO 65301. Phone: (660)
826-4502. Quilts on display from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and lunch for $5 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Pre-bid Online - 10 days before Oct. 15th auction at http://www.festivalofsharing.org/quilt-auction.html
SHAREFESTS AND STATE-WIDE DROP-OFFS
We are so thankful for the kits and packs you are gathering in your church communities. Drop-offs
locations for these resources can be found on page 11 of the Festival booklet or on the website at http://
www.festivalofsharing.org/sharefests--dropoffs.html. We also want to invite you to participate in the
amazing mini-Festival of Sharing opportunities:
• Cameron Sharefest - We are thrilled again to partner with the Crossroads Correctional Center in
Cameron. Prisoners are growing fresh produce and will share it with our partners. Join us to assemble
prison packs for the Chillicothe Women’s Correctional Facility, pack beans, worship, eat and distribute
resources together. Contact the Festival office to get involved on Sat. Sept. 24th!
• Dexter Sharefest - For 20 years, this sharefest has been blessing the people of SE Missouri. Join them
this year to pack beans, rice, popcorn, worship, eat, and distribute resources together. Contact First
United Methodist Church at (573) 624-3344 to get involved on Sat. Oct. 1st.
• Ferguson Sharefest - We are so excited to be working with churches and organizations in the St. Louis
area to bless Ferguson and beyond. We will pack 30,000 protein and nutrition packed cheesy rice
meals with the Pack Shack, host a youth overnight, worship, eat and distribute resources together. To
join us on Sat. Oct 8th, please email Krescene Beck at kresceneback@gmail.com. or festival@socket.net.
prison packs for
women in prison
and so much
more.
YOUTHFEST
It is time to recruit your youth for Festival of
Sharing on October 14th-15th. They won’t want to
miss a youth mixer, a fantastic concert/worship,
and serving together. We will pack beans and rice
for Missouri
families,
assemble meals
for international
families in need,
complete
backpacks of love
for children in
foster care, check
Early registration
starts on August
15th. From
August 15-30th
registration is
$25, $30 from September 1-30th and then $40 for
late registration until the event on Oct. 14th. For
more information visit, www.festivalofsharing.org/
youthfest.html. It is going to be an amazing
Youthfest and we cannot wait to see you there!!
BABY SHOWER FOR FESTIVAL OF SHARING
The Mission Sewing group & United Methodist Women at
Keystone United Methodist Church in Kansas City held a shower
for MO Baby Bundle packs. The event was a great success with
many people generously contributing baby items and cash. What are your creative ideas for kit/pack collections? Share your
story by emailing festival@socket.net.
Non-Profit Organization
U.S. Postage Paid
Columbia, MO 65201
MO Annual Conference of the
United Methodist Church
3601 Amron Court
Columbia, MO 65202-1918
Permit No. 140
Return Service Requested
Don’t forget to help us raise $35,000 for Heifer International to honor our 35 years of partnership. To
learn more visit, fundraise.heifer.org/festivalofsharing.
WORK OF OUR HANDS
If you love to make handmade items, please consider donating them to
the cause. Kitchen items, crocheted hats and scarves and items under $5
are particularly popular. Each year, people lovingly offer their gifts and
talents to Festival of Sharing. All the proceeds from these efforts go to
make this ministry possible. Please contact Elaine Auch at
elaineauch@charter.net with questions or if you want to donate to Work
of Our Hands.
This picture shows some beautiful examples of items donated so far this
year: baby basinet and bird houses.
Rainbow Ride
Register now for the 3rd Annual Rainbow Ride during the Festival of Sharing on
the State Fairgrounds Sat., Oct. 15th. The ride will begin at 9 a.m. following
worship and follow the Katy Trail. For full details, call 417-889-8088 or visit
www.rainbownetwork.org. Help us raise money for the education of incredible
children in Nicaragua through Rainbow Network.