THE JOYFUL SERVICE OF MLK DAY!

USG, with UU Mt. Airy, once again offered opportunities for in-person volunteering as well as at-home projects. Many participated in whatever way worked for them to “Find friends. Do good. Grow your soul.”

The Schedule for MLK Day, Monday, January 16, 2023:

• 8:00am: On-site registration and check-in begins (As we ease out of pandemic mode, USG will not be providing tee-shirts or a volunteer breakfast this year. )
• 9:00am: Brief non-denominational worship service led by Rev. Cheryl M. Walker and Rev. McKinley Sims.
• 9:30am: Volunteers leave for their projects. Projects last for varying amounts of time, with most completed by 12:00pm.

Here were this year’s projects:

At-Home Projects

1) Purchase Blessing Bag Supplies: Order supplies from Whosoever Gospel Mission’s Amazon Wish List for the Blessing Bags. 

2) Order Winter Essential Items for UU House Outreach – UU House Outreach gives each of their clients a Winter Essentials Kit. 

3) At Home: Sewing Project for UU House Outreach (8 volunteers) Volunteer your talents to sew one or more fabric eyeglass cases to be included with the Winter Essentials Kits being made by UU House for its clients. 

4) At Home: Prepare Care Packages for Germantown Life Enrichment Center (unlimited number) Prepare care packages for men, many of them seniors. 

5) At Home: Assemble a Baby Bag Kit for the Eliza Shirley House (40 bags needed) Prepare a bag of baby products that includes baby wipes, a package of diapers ( size 5 or 6 please), a couple of bottles, and a onesie for a 2 year old. 

6) At Home: Cleaning Supplies Kit for St Vincent’s Food Pantry (unlimited number) Assemble a bag of simple kitchen and bathroom cleaning supplies for the seniors helped by St. Vincent’s de Paul. 

7) At Home: Prepare a Meal Kit or a First Time Kitchen Kit for Covenant House 1. Put together a meal kit (a la Blue Apron) with ingredients such as the spices and foods needed to make an easy recipe for 1-2 people, along with the preparation instructions. OR 2. Put together a kitchen utensil kit bag of those things a young adult moving into their first place would need. 

8) At Home: Baking for Residents of Kaysim-Court Manor (10 volunteers) Bake a batch of brownies, cookies, or other homemade snacks to be delivered to the residents of Kaysim Court-Manor. 

9) At Home: Make a Meal for Family Promise (15 volunteers) Prepare a quart of homemade soup, an entree, or a casserole large enough to feed 4 people. 

On-site at USG Projects

10) At USG: Birthday Card Making for UU House (15 Volunteers, Drop-in rotations) UU House Outreach gives out handmade birthday cards to their seniors. 

11) At USG: Make Brown Bag Lunches (20 volunteers) Volunteer to be part of an awesome sandwich making team! 

12) At USG: Postcard Writing led by UUJusticePA (10 volunteers) Join Dev Howerton in USG’s Committee Room to write UUJusticePA postcards to Pennsylvania legislators urging action on various issues.

13) At USG: Decorate Lunch Bags (12 kid volunteers, Drop-in rotations) A fun and creative way for your children to brighten someone’s day! 

14) At USG: Assemble Blessing Bags for Whosoever Gospel Mission (5 volunteers) Volunteer to help assemble Blessing Bags for the senior clients of Whosoever Gospel Mission. 

15) At USG: Assemble Meal-Sanitary Kits for Chosen 300 Ministry (10 volunteers) Volunteer to help assemble 300 meal-sanitary kits consisting of utensils, napkin, sanitizer pad, and mints. 

16) At USG: Soup Making for Stenton Family Manor (4 volunteers) Come together in USG’s kitchen to help make several gallons of nutritious chicken noodle soup for a local facility. 

17) At USG: Make Breakfast Bags for Meals on Wheels (5 volunteers) Volunteer to make at total of 80 breakfast bags at USG for Meals of Wheels Abington and Conshohocken. 

18) At USG: Letter Writing with UU Mt. Airy Justice Council and UUJustice PA (Drop-in Rotation) Join a collaborative writing project with members of UU Mt. Airy and USG. This gathering to show support for those incarcerated by writing letters and cards to them.

On-site Projects at UU Mt Airy

19) At UU Mt Airy: Soup Making for Face to Face Germantown (2 volunteers). Volunteer to help make nutritious chicken noodle soup at UU Mt. Airy.

20) Outdoors/Inside at UU Mt Airy: Street Clean Up and Work on Peace Mosaic (12 volunteers) Volunteer as a family to work with members of UU Mt. Airy at their church, 6900 Stenton Ave. First you will help clean up the street area by the church. Then all will go inside to continue the work begun on a justice themed art project – a Peace Mosaic. This family friendly art project involves placing tile pieces on a mural wall that will be dedicated upon completion. 

Outdoors & Driving Projects

21) Outdoors: Maintenance at Family Promise (6-8 volunteers) Volunteer to clean up the back and side yards of the Family Promise office (formerly PIHN) at 7047 Germantown Ave. 

22) Outdoors: Cleaning at Lingelbach School (25 volunteers) The Lingelbach School, at 6340 Wayne Ave.

23) Outdoors: Cleaning at Henry School (25 volunteers) The Henry School, at 601 Carpenter Lane, needs volunteers to clean up both inside and outside the school. 

24) Outdoors: Street Clean-up near USG (12 volunteers) Join a team of volunteers cleaning up the sidewalk areas near USG at Johnson St and Wayne Ave. 

25) Driving: Delivery of Projects (20 volunteers) Volunteer to drive from USG to one of our area partner organizations and deliver their much-needed goods.

26) Driving: Delivery Opportunity for UU House Outreach (10 adult drivers). Volunteer to be a delivery driver for the UU House Outreach project. 

Off-site Projects

27) Off-Site: Visiting at Kaysim-Court Manor (15 adults/children) Volunteer with your children to spend a couple hours talking and playing board games with the residents at Kaysim Court-Manor, 519 Wayne Ave. 

28) Off-site: Distribute Items to Families for Family Promise of Philadelphia (1 adult) One volunteer is needed by Family Promise to be on-site at their 7047 Germantown Ave office for 2 to 3 hours. You and a partner will be distributing nonperishable goods, such as socks and food, to families. 

29) Off-site: Lobby Painting at Interim House (6 volunteers) Volunteer to do some interior maintenance painting of the lobby at Interim House, a women’s rehabilitation facility. 

30) Off-Site: Maintenance Painting at Germantown Life Enrichment Center (8 volunteers) Volunteer to paint a wall, maybe even an entire room, in the large building occupied by Germantown Life Enrichment Center at 5722 Greene St.