The Mission Committee's primary responsibilities include overseeing church donations to local, national and international charities, and establishing/coordinating mission projects and initiatives such as the Food Bank, Thrift Shop and Meal Ministries. The Mission Committee includes members of Session and the congregation at large.

In 2009 the committee concentrated its efforts on hunger relief. A recent $500 grant from Westminster Preschool will support FPC's existing efforts, and a $7,000 New Hope Initiatives grant from the Elizabeth Presbytery will allow us to provide an additional 2,400 meals through two new programs.

Our various ministries - particularly the newest ones - require the time and energy of many volunteers. If you feel called to join this joyful fellowship and service or would like more information, please contact any of the FPC Mission Committee members: Chris Chapman, Barry Daniskas, Jean Gray, Diane Poulios, Virginia Seavy, Bobbie Swenson, and Regina Whitmer (rwhitmer@comcast.net).

Food Bank

FPC has provided groceries to the hungry since 1971, when the program began as a cupboard in which food was delivered to the needy. Today more than 40 families, mostly from the Plainfield area, pick up food on the third Saturday of each month. The Food Bank is stocked by FPC congregants; members of Temple Sholom, with whom we share space; the November Scouting for Food Drive in Fanwood and Scotch Plains; and the May food drive conducted by Fanwood postal workers.

Thrift Shop

Our Thrift Shop, organized in 1970 and supplied by contributions from congregation members and
others, distributes its annual income to local charitable organizations. The shop is open from
10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Wednesdays from September through June. Donations are
accepted whenever the Thrift Shop is open. Accepted items include clothing, shoes, purses,
jewelry, bric-a-brac, household items, small appliances, books and pictures/frames.

Meal Ministries

For years FPC members have supported the Presbyterian Church in Westfield's Agape Community Kitchen, which serves a hot meal to about 300 people every Wednesday in Elizabeth. Each FPC cake team member bakes two cakes in their own home every six weeks, and meal team members meet every other month in the church kitchen to make enough chili for 300. Church members also help finish meals in Westfield every six weeks and serve dinner in Elizabeth on Wednesdays. Leftovers go to Red Ribbon Fellowship, Restore Ministries and others.

On the second Tuesday of each month, older youth and adults meet in the FPC kitchen to prepare 240 bagged lunches that are handed out the following day in Elizabeth.

In the fall of 2010 the FPC Mission Committee will launch its two latest hunger-relief efforts, which are being supported by a $7,000 New Hope Initiatives grant.

• CRANFORD-ELMORA SOUP KITCHEN - We will prepare 100 bagged lunches after church on the last Sunday of the month, then distribute them in Elizabeth, where the soup kitchen serves a hot meal each Sunday afternoon. Each bagged meal includes a sandwich, fresh fruit, a crunchy snack (pretzels, trail mix), a dessert (cookies, yogurt bar) and a juice.
• CRESCENT AVENUE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH - We will prepare bagged lunches (similar to the ones above) to be distributed in Plainfield. Crescent Avenue hands out about 50 bagged meals every weekday, and Fanwood Church will provide 1,200 meals through the year.

The New Hope Initiatives grant allows us to further our church mission of "rejoicing, renewing and reaching out." But more importantly, we will be heeding Christ's call to tend "to the least of these."

International Mission

Fanwood Presbyterian Church supports the efforts of an inspirational mission co-worker
named Nadia, who established and ran preschools in Tajikistan before leaving the country in 2009. These schools are being run by women Nadia trained, so her work continues even as
she begins her newest adventure. Nadia is currently preparing for a move to Carpath-Ukraine, where she will train preschool teachers of Roma children.

Mission Trips

In the summer of 2009 a small group of Fanwood youth traveled to a church in the Kensington section of Philadelphia, where they ran a carnival for children in this impoverished area, worshiped with the congregation and enjoyed social time. A group will return in the fall of 2010 to continue the relationship.

In the summer of 2010, the FPC Youth Group will travel to Washington, D.C., where they will learn about urban poverty and its connection to a developing and maturing Christian faith. The youth will serve the hungry, homeless and discouraged while doing God's work in the nation's capital.

Fanwood Church also provides scholarships to church members who participate in mission trips outside the church.

Other FPC Mission Activities

CROP WALK - "Walk the Walk" with fellow church members to support CROP - Communities Responding to Overcome Poverty. Funds go to Church World Services to assist hunger-fighting agencies around the globe and to bring hope to those in need. For more info on Church World Service http://www.churchworldservice.org/site/PageServer

HABITAT FOR HUMANITY - FPC members participate in the Plainfield chapter, helping provide permanent new housing for local families. (For more information, see http://www.habitat.org/cd/frame/frameset.aspx?url=www.gphabitat.org).

MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY OF SERVICE - On January 18, 2010, FPC participated in the inaugural Scotch Plains-Fanwood MLK Day of Service. People from all over came to Fanwood church to make wheelchair bags and blankets for residents of local nursing homes. At the same time, local Girl Scouts met in our church kitchen to bake cookies that were delivered to nursing homes and placed in lunches the girls put together for distribution to the hungry by Crescent Avenue Presbyterian Chruch. Fanwood church was part of the team that organized the first MLK DOS, and we look forward to continuing this wonderful day of meaningful community service. (For more information, see: http://scotchplains.patch.com/articles/scotch-plains-fanwood-2010-mlk-day-of-service).

ONE GREAT HOUR OF SHARING - This annual giving campaing supports a focused collection of "ministries of disaster response, refugee assistance and resettlement, and community development." (For more information, see: http://gamc.pcusa.org/mimistries/specialofferings/one-great-hour-sharing-offering/).