At Morrison United Methodist Church, our mission statement is: Connecting people to God's transforming love through worship, discipleship, fellowship, and service. 

We have successfully held worship services, studies, and fellowship gatherings online. But it was time to seek a safe and effective way for our congregation to serve our community during this time of crisis.

On Sunday, August 23, Morrison hosted a drive-thru donation opportunity to benefit those in need in the Leesburg community.  Eleven of our youth volunteered to assist with our safe, contact-free drive-thru by unloading donated items from the vehicles of our generous members.

The response from our congregation was amazing.

We chose to focus on three ministry areas for our donation drive: the Leesburg Food Bank, Forward Paths Foundation, and our neighborhood elementary school.

The Leesburg Food Bank

The number of people in our community who lack the resources to purchase food for their families is especially high right now.  Our church believed this was a need that we could and should address.

The back of Pastor David Stauffer's pick-up truck was filled to overflowing with food donations.

We contacted our local food bank and asked for a list of their four most needed food items and set a donation goal for each item: Ramen noodles, canned fruit, baked beans, and jelly.  Thanks to the generosity of our members, we were able to meet or exceed our goal for each item.

Our pastor, David Stauffer, delivered so much food to the Leesburg Food Bank that it filled the back of his pick-up truck and part of his backseat.

Forward Paths Foundation

This local organization focuses on our community's homeless youths and those who are aging out of foster care—helping them find housing and jobs so that they can achieve independence.

The needs of these young adults are many as they work to establish a home and a future full of promise.  We challenged our congregation to supply Forward Paths Foundation with a variety of household cleaning products, such as laundry detergent, dish soap, disinfecting wipes, paper towels, etc.

Again, thanks to our kind and caring members, we provided several needed items for this important ministry.

Leesburg Elementary School

As a church, we understand that during this pandemic, it is more challenging than ever for parents and teachers to supply students with the tools needed for school.  We consulted with a few teachers and posted a list of the supplies they believed would be the most helpful.

We are delighted that we can deliver a large supply of notebook paper, pencils, crayons, and markers to our Leesburg Elementary School.

"So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other."  -- John 13:34 NLT

 We are called to love one another as Christ loved us. This is a difficult time for many and a time when our community needs to see and experience that kind of love. 

At Morrison, we feel blessed that we were able to do even a little bit to show Christ's love to our neighbors and make life easier for some of the people in our community.

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Terri Hester