At the beginning of April, the Pennsylvania Southeast Conference pulled money from its “rainy day” fund from the proceeds of the sales of Camp Mensch Mill and the Collegeville Church House to send each of our 156 churches a check for $1,000 to help during the pandemic. Churches were instructed to used the money in their ministry settings for whatever purpose will benefit their congregations and the local helping ministries to which they are committed.

Some churches used the funds to help pay staff during the crisis, others used it to fund new online ministries to serve their congregations when they couldn’t meet. Some churches passed the funds on to other area churches who might benefit more or to support community ministries. One such church was St. Peter’s UCC in Tremont, Schuylkill Association.

On June 6, St. Peter’s held a food distribution at the Tremont Borough Building for those in their zip code whose income had been negatively affected by COVID-19. Volunteers handed out one box of food from “Blessings of Hope” ministries, one gallon of milk and one dozen eggs from Twin Valley Farmers Exchange, and bags of fish crackers into trunks or empty back seats of cars. 125 families were helped.

To share how the funds benefited your congregation or community, send an email to susan@psec.org.