A few months ago, Brownback’s United Church of Christ in Spring City (Ursinus Association), started a new ministry to help the church’s children learn about generosity and supporting charities. The “Change 4 Change” initiative collected almost $300 for Good Samaritan Services.
Good Samaritan Services responds to poverty-related challenges in Chester and Lancaster counties. According to their website: Good Samaritan Services serves “up to 200 people a day; providing a flexible spectrum of services ranging from emergency shelter to permanent housing, along with personal development and financial stability resources to help people get back on their feet in a sustainable way.”
In August, a building owned by Good Samaritan Services was heavily damaged in a fire. Brownback’s UCC pastor, Rev. Mark Stryjak, says that he hopes the funds from the Change 4 Change initiative donated to Good Samaritan Services will help with the additional needs following the fire.
About the Change 4 Change initiative, Rev. Stryjak wrote:
The way the money was originally collected was that we gave the children a purple pail to begin collecting change in. The pails morphed into a 5-gallon water jug that was donated and painted by a family, which had some 6,000 coins and pennies in it.
I learned that banks do not take 5-gallon water jugs of coins and we needed to separate that ourselves. Fast forward a few weeks and another family took and sorted them out and wrote a check instead!
I thought it was a great way for the children to see what change can do to effect great change around us!
If your PSEC church would like to share a story about a successful mission or ministry your church is working on, please send a few paragraphs – along with any available pictures! – to brea@psec.org.
