Church expands efforts to relieve hunger

Sussex — The Sussex United Methodist Church in Sussex has begun to expand its efforts to relieve hunger, through mission activities both within and outside the community in which the congregation resides. Led by Nurture Committee chair Terri Peter and Outreach chair Madeleine Greenaway, the congregation has gathered a wide variety of items to send to people affected by the recent earthquake in Haiti. The church has also been collecting non-perishable food items, plastic bags and aluminum can tabs for CUMAC (the Center of United Methodist Aid to the Community) in Paterson. Recently, a team of 10 members from the congregation traveled to Paterson to help assemble hundreds of bags of food (collected by CUMAC from a wide variety of sources) for families in northern New Jersey. Praised for their energy and eagerness to help by Director of Volunteers Stephanie Ames, the Sussex team helped feed many families, but the ongoing need remains very great. After the Sussex team worked at the center, CUMAC provided food to 150 families. During all of 2009, CUMAC fed 31,408 people, over 30 percent more than during the previous year. The United Methodist Church has a long history of concern for hunger relief. Pastor Dan Gepford said, “Our local congregation has maintained a long-standing ministry of support for the Sussex Help Center, right here in Sussex, and we are still excited to participate in that ministry. We feel it is very important to minister to our own community. It is also important to continue to expand our vision, so that, in some way, we can minister both to the wider community in New Jersey and to the world.” All of the members of the team expressed enthusiasm for the expansion of mission efforts, and indicated that they are looking forward to another trip to help the CUMAC ministry. To learn how to help fight hunger in Sussex County and northern New Jersey, call the Sussex United Methodist Church at 973-875-5852.