Connection – Compassion – Courage…
CONNECTION
Salinas First UMC’s “Community Table”
Neighborhood Meal Ministry
This new ministry delivers prepared meals to primarily immigrant families in central Salinas. It responds to rising food costs and a dramatic reduction in Food Bank resources, which now operate at only one-quarter to one-third of last year’s supply. With food assistance programs uncertain, more families are struggling to put food on the table.
At the same time, efforts to move unhoused neighbors into temporary housing have reduced downtown meal services, revealing a new challenge: many newly housed families and individuals remain in deep poverty. With 80 percent of Salinas’s population identifying as Hispanic, many undocumented families are hesitant to seek help.
The “Community Table” ministry identifies families facing serious financial hardship and delivers warm, prepared meals—made in the church’s commercial kitchen, supported in part by LAUMC—along with groceries for the week. Volunteers include handwritten prayers of encouragement in both English and Spanish with every delivery.
COMPASSION
Compassion Week
Compassion Week began at LAUMC 13 years ago as a one-day event involving 350 volunteers. Today, it has grown into a 10-day compassion movement, partnering with 11 faith communities and engaging 4,400 volunteers in 214 projects serving 70 community organizations. .
COURAGE
World Central Kitchen
75% designated for Gaza and 25% designated for Jamaica
World Central Kitchen is a trusted global leader in emergency food relief. In Gaza, the organization is providing up to one million meals each day amid widespread hunger. In Jamaica, it is supporting communities recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Melissa, ensuring families are not left hungry or forgotten.