Mission Trip Planning

We have been preparing for this trip for a long time. Sandy and I and some of the others who went to Vancleave last February, started planning before we got home from Mississippi! Sandy and I decided to get the training to be Volunteers In Mission leaders and take a group down in January or February. ("I'll take the training if you'll take the training...") There were advantages to both months, but we chose January so that college students, home on break, could come with us. Some in Caton (where the first mission trip originated) decided to go in February to mesh with the public school winter break. A few of the Caton folks preferred to go in January, so our group has folks from a variety of places. Hence, two trips initiated from the one last year.

It is assumed that if you’re reading this, you know someone on the trip. Just in case you need a reference point, here are the folks that are going as of today (12.22.06)

We have people from:

* United Third Methodist Church in Sodus (Sandy, Bill and Kate Hall, Mary Ann Riker, Roy McCarthy, Mary (aka “Jeff”) Sergeant, Brian and Dylan Thiel, and Judy Bezon)
* United Methodist Church in Sodus Point (Betsy and Gene Wahl, Nancy and Stuart Balch and Marie DeWispelaere
* United Methodist Church in Williamson (Marcia Peters)
* United Methodist Church in Pultneyville ( Lorraine Dawes, Cathlyn Everett, Jane Fisher and Elliott Warren)
* United Methodist Churchs in Tyre and Cayuga (Diane Walker)
* United Methodist Church in Rose (Al Walker)
* United Methodist Church in Caton (Ashley Dann, Mort Gridley, Sr., Mort Gridley Jr., Patti Gridley, Erica Hepworth, Brad Hinnman, and Frank Mosch)
* United Methodist Church in Auburn (Kim Dungey)
* United Methodist Church in Heuvelton (Terri Persons)
* Christ Lutheran Church in Cape Canaveral, Florida (Pete Jimmerson)
* Our Lady of the Lakes, Oakdale CT, (John Jackson)

There are 32 of us in all, and more who would like to come. We’ve only reserved 32 beds in the United Methodist church in Vancleave, so as of right now, that’s all we can take with us.

Is this where I mention that we started recruiting, then went to the training for Volunteers In Mission (hereafter VIM) Leadership? There we learned that 12 – 15 was the ideal size for a mission trip. It was too late, we were committed, and glad of it. It’s a group of fine people with a diversity of skills that will all come in handy.

The Fundraising Frenzy Is Over

With a group this big, we had a lot of fundraising to do. We started last spring and had a Mississippi Style Breakfast in both Sodus and Sodus Point to raise awareness of where we’d been and what we’d done in February. We gave PowerPoint presentations there and at a meeting of the United Methodist Women.

We started fundraising for this trip at the end of September. We’ve raised money through the following activities:

* Craft Bazaar, Bake Sale and Lunch
* Thanksgiving Pie baking in five locations
* Selling Tickets to a Concert at Asbury UMC in Rochester
* Cookie Walks in at least four locations
* Card Making Party and Sale
* Children’s Book Sales (3)
* Cranberry Relish Sale
* Krispy Kreme Donut Sale
* Selling Shares in our Mission trip
* Very generous donations

A photo of Snowmen and a Christmas tree for sale at the Bazaar. (Items made by Roy McCarthy, photo courtesy of Mary Ann Riker)

A quilt at the Bazaar. (Photo courtesy of Mary Ann Riker)

Peeling and slicing apples for our Thanksgiving Pie Sale. In the background, the crusts are being rolled. In all we made 46 apple and 46 pumpkin pies! (Photo credit, Judy Bezon)




Some of the pies,ready to go to Thanksgiving dinners.

(Photo credit: Judy Bezon)

The Cookie Walks on December 16th were the last of our organized fundraising events. Selling Shares in our Mission Trip is ongoing, and we’ll gladly accept donations until January 3rd.

The preparation is just about over except for the packing. We will be taking some Bibles from our church with us to give to the Church where we are staying. They give one to each home owner in their program.

Recently, we were contacted by a representative from St. Michaels’ School in Newark (NY) They have been collecting gently used books to send to a “sister school” in New Orleans. After discussing this at a meeting, our group agreed that each of us will take a box of books as a second piece of luggage on the plane. Representatives from the Holy Rosary Academy will meet us when we arrive at the airport to retrieve their books. Not much effort on our part and a big help and savings to them.

Our t-shirts were designed by Ashley Dann, one of the students from Caton who is going with us on our trip. With luck pictures of the shirt will be on this blog. It’s a beautiful t-shirt design that will remind us and others of what we did in Mississippi for some time.

Here is one of the colors we can order for the t-shirts, worn by our lovely models...

Photo Credits: Mary Ann Riker and Mort Gridley Jr.