Church 301-662-1464 School 301-662-6783 office@calvaryumc.org
Hearts and Hands in Service

Putting our faith into action

 

Our Impact:  The results of the many projects and programs completed this year. 

Sleep In Heavenly Peace (SHP)

Calvary UMC has developed a partnership with the Frederick County Chapter of Sleep in Heavenly Peace (SHP).  You may ask, what is SHP?  SHP is an all-volunteer organization that builds and delivers beds, complete with mattresses, sheets, blankets, and pillows, free of charge, to needy children who do not have a bed.  The motto is: “No kid sleeps on the floor in our town!”

Calvary supports the local chapter in several very significant ways: financially, helping build beds, storing donated bedding and delivering beds with our team of volunteers.  The SHP Chapter uses a room on the lower level of our Education Building to store and sort bedding donated.  Beds to be assembled for delivery are stored in our church garage.

  • This partnership with Sleep in Heavenly Peace provides opportunities for members of our congregation to become involved. In addition to all the ways folks are helping, many church members have donated bedding or provided financial support for the purchase of lumber and mattresses. Several church members are also Ambassadors for SHP and share their stories and help spread the word at local events.
  • On June 12, 2025 we will be sponsoring our fourth Bed Build Event
  • Our delivery team; lead by Dave and Pat Herber, has delivered over 550 beds since we started in June 2022. We take a team of five people on deliveries and invite you to come with us.
  • If you would like more information about how you may become involved, please contact Pat Herber.
  • Our Mission Possible kids have been supporting our efforts by breaking down lots (and lots) of cardboard left over from deliveries, sorting donated bedding, making thank you notes and prepping bolts with washers for the delivery teams.
  • Volunteers, including our youth group, help prepare “bedding bundles.” Each bedding bundle consist of a bedspread/quilt, pillow, set of sheets and comfy throw for a boy or girl.  For pictures of the bed build, please check out our photo gallery.
Calvary’s Heartly House Pajama Drive a Huge Success

For more information about Heartly House go to www.Heartlyhouse.org

Thank you to everyone at Calvary who donated pajamas for Heartly House. Initiated by the United Women in Faith Executive Committee, our two-month pajama drive finished this week. We donated over 130 pajamas for women, youth, toddlers and babies. A special addition was several handmade baby quilts donated by Laura Hunter and Cathleen Gough. Susan Baggette also donated a large number of brand-new hair scrunchies for young girls.

Laura Hunter and Karen Gebhart made the final delivery and received a grateful thank you from the staff.  The mission of Heartly House is to end domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking, and child abuse and to provide victims with safety, shelter, and supportive services. Many arrive with nothing in hand seeking safe shelter, so brand new pajamas will be a welcome gift to those in great need of personal care.

 
2024 Financial Stewardship Initiatives

During his ministry, Jesus often taught his followers to care for those in need (see Matthew 25:34-36 for example). During 2024, Calvary UMC followed Jesus’s teaching through several financial stewardship initiatives. Here are some examples.

Distribution of funds from CUMC Trust Fund and Mission Fund

  • Julie Wilson (missionary) Mission Support $2,500
  • Match the amount church members contributed to hurricane donations $3,350 for a total contribution of $6,700
  • Heartly House $2,000 (new this year)
  • Beyond Shelter $3,000 (previously Religion Coalition, same as last year)
  • UMC Mission Shares/Apportionments $5,000 (anticipated one time contribution to support conference-level mission activities)
  • Frederick Food Bank $1000 (first financial contribution from the Missions Funds)
  • Mission Central $1,000 (first financial contribution from Mission Funds)
  • Henderson Settlement $1,000 (same as last year)
  • Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) $5,000 (UMC Global Missions program, new for CUMC this year to provide international outreach)

Distributions from major fund-raising projects

  • June Yard Sale
    • Sleep in Heavenly Peace – $1,000
    • Food Bank (Schwarzenberg’s Wheelbarrow program) – $1,000
    • Frederick Rescue Mission – $1,000
  • October Ray Frank Memorial Walk – $2,410 additional contribution to above Mission Fund contribution to WASH program
  • November Holiday Bazaar
    • Sleep in Heavenly Peace – $1,500
    • Food Bank (Schwarzenberg’s Wheelbarrow program) – $750
    • Interfaith Housing Alliance – $750
    • Children of Incarcerated Parents Partnership – $750
    • Frederick Rescue Mission – $750
    • Heartly House – $1,000
    • Calvary Weekday School Scholarships – $2,000

In addition to the above cash donations, CUMC made several in-kind contributions of goods to local charitable organizations. Some examples include lumber and bedding materials for Sleep in Heavenly Peace bed builds; over 600 items collected during the SHIP (Student Homelessness Initiative Partnership) Homeless for the Holidays Campaign to provide much needed supplies to school age children affected by homelessness in Frederick County; and food items collected in the wheelbarrow by Parish Hall and delivered to Frederick Food Bank by the Schwarzenbergs.

Thank you to all church members for your generosity in supporting Missions and Outreach activities in 2024. Let’s strive to do even more in 2025!

SHIP (Student Homelessness Initiative Partnership)  Homeless for the Holidays Campaign Update

A huge thank you to our Calvary congregation for all the personal care donations over the last two months.  Well over 600 items were collected to provide much needed supplies to school age children affected by homelessness in Frederick County. Through your generous donations, we are helping these students know they are not forgotten and can feel the love of our community.   Thank you so much for your support.

Walk for WASH

On October 20, 2024, Calvary’s Youth held the annual J. Ray Frank Memorial Walk to raise funds for the church’s mission and outreach activities. This year the walk supported the UMC Global Mission’s Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) program. Sixteen walkers and three volunteers helped to raise $2,410 to support WASH.  These funds will help the program provide clean and accessible drinking water, sanitation improvements, and hygiene programs in less developed countries around the world. Thank you to all who contributed to making this walk a success!

Student Homelessness Initiative Partnership (SHIP)

On Saturday, October 26, seven Calvary UMC members helped wrap 50 collection boxes in preparation for SHIP’s “Home for the Holidays” campaign. Keep an eye out for more details to come as Calvary will once again participate in collecting hygiene and personal care products to support the growing number of homeless students in Frederick County. Contact Beth Stitely autumn.purple@hotmail.com for more information.

Rise Against Hunger

On October 13, members of Calvary UMC completed a fifth meal packaging event with Rise Against Hunger. In just a few hours we managed to package meals that would feed over 10,000 people. Rise Against Hunger is a non-profit organization that works in countries around the world to alleviate hunger, targeting communities facing high rates of food insecurity. We at Calvary UMC are just one of many churches and organizations that packaged the shelf-stable meals that can be shipped wherever there is a need. Rise Against Hunger also provides school feeding programs to support nutrition, education and health for children and families facing hunger and work with local leaders to implement sustainable agriculture and income-generating projects that support long-term solutions to food security.

City of Frederick Food Bank

Calvary UMC members contribute food on a continuing basis to support households in the greater Frederick area. The food wheelbarrow where people can drop off food items is in the Bentz Street hallway, just outside the Parish Hall. Items left in the wheelbarrow are taken to the Food Bank Program location at 14 E All Saints St. that provides a three to five-day supply of food to individuals and families that are facing economic hardship and cannot afford to buy a sufficient amount of groceries. The Foodbank serves between 600 to 800 households each month ranging from very low-income families to moderate-income families that need food assistance.  Julie and Roy Schwarzenberg coordinate this work.