Northminster supports several mission activities throughout the year. The following is a sampling of annual and ongoing activities:
Ongoing Mission Projects:
Clifton Avenue Church of God Food Pantry and Breakfast
Our congregation cooks and serves breakfast once a month at the Clifton Avenue Church of God Food Pantry. Three teams of members rotate this service through the year. The Deacons organize food drives three or four times a year to benefit the pantry, and Presbyterian Women supports the pantry with monetary gifts.
Project Woman
Members support the work of this organization dedicated to ending domestic violence and sexual assault by donating household and hygiene items throughout the year.
Oesterlen Services for Youth
Box Tops for Education and Labels for Education are collected throughout the year and donated to Oesterlen, a non-profit treatment center for emotionally troubled children, adolescents and families operating programs in Residential Treatment and Community Services.
Annual Mission Projects
WaterStep
In late summer the church holds a shoe drive on two consecutive Saturdays. Shoes of all types, sizes and condition are collected, and donated to WaterStep, a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing safe drinking water to people in need all over the world.
WaterStep2018
WaterStep then sells the shoes to an exporter. The funds raised from the sale of the shoes go to WaterStep’s work of providing safe water solutions to people in third world communities and disaster hit areas. The shoes are then repurposed and re-sold in marketplaces providing affordable footwear to those in need. WaterStep collects on average 30,000 pounds of shoes each month, so that's 30,000 pounds of waste that is kept from going into landfills. Click here for more information
Animal Welfare League
In April, the mission committee collects old towels, washcloths, blankets and throw rugs for the Animal Welfare League to use in its care for dogs and cats.
American Cancer Society's Relay for Life
The congregation has supported the community's Relay for Life for years with a variety of efforts. Currently the support is focused on the sale of luminaries.
Forest Glen Health Campus
In early December, members open a Christmas Shop for residents at Forest Glen who are unable to get out to do any Christmas shopping but would like to give a gift to a friend or family member. Northminster members donate new or like new items suitable for gift-giving or make a financial contribution. Residents at Forest Glen choose items at no cost, and the gifts are then wrapped for them.
Christmas Families
Each year the Deacons coordinate the adoption of Christmas families. Northminster members purchase gifts for the families and the Deacons provide food items. All items are given to the families before Christmas.
In addition to these ongoing and annual mission projects, Northminster has supported other local ministries as well as provided needed items for the Wings of Hope home in Haiti.
