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CWS Speak Out
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Church World Service Partners with Festival of Sharing
 Festival of Sharing Committee meets at Church of the Master in Westerville.
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 Festival of Sharing is an Opportunity for a "hands on" approach to mission.
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 The Campus Center on the campus of Otterbein College will be the home of the Festival of Sharing.
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 Our goal is to fill a 53-foot truck with kits for CWS.
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 Festival of Sharing committee member, George "Tator" Jenson continues his work to help end hunger in Ohio and around the world.
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The Festival of Sharing is a celebration of what God in Christ has done for us in providing the harvest, and our year-long efforts in bringing in the harvest.
The Festival of Sharing is an awareness of the needs of others in the world and ways to express solidarity with our sisters and brothers.
The Festival of Sharing is a fellowship with persons from other churches who have mutual concerns and interests.
The Festival of Sharing is an opportunity for a “hands on” approach to mission.
The Festival of Sharing is a motivation under the power of God to become more involved with the ministries of our local congregations.
The Festival of Sharing is an event to celebrate and inform people about the various ways The United Methodist Church in the West Ohio Conference is touching the world through mission work.
The theme of the 2008 Festival of Sharing is “Hunger: An Emerging Disaster in Ohio”.
The events of the day will be held at the Otterbein College Campus Center and it’s adjacent areas at 100 W. Home Street in Westerville.
Churches are encouraged to participate in the mission of giving by collecting kits for the Church World Service Kit Program. Ever since the beginning of the CWS Kit Program, United Methodists have worked hand in hand with Church World Service to assemble and ship kits to parts of the U.S. and around the world. CWS and UMCOR have an agreement to share kits when needed and available to fulfill shipments.
Our goal for this year’s Festival of Sharing is to fill a truck with 35,000 pounds of Kits.
In order to reach this goal, we need your help. The kits we will be collecting are Hygiene (Health) Kits, School Kits, and Baby Kits.
For more specific details on the Church World Service Kit Program, follow this link.
Church World Service is proud of our partnership with The United Methodist Church and the West Ohio Conference Festival of Sharing Committee. We would like to thank everyone who is offering their time and love to be a part of sharing Christ’s love throughout our world.
To find out more about the work of the West Ohio Conference of The United Methodist Church, check out their website at www.westohioumc.org
To find out more information about Otterbein College, check out their website at www.otterbein.edu
Church World Service Partners with Festival of Caring
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The mission of the Festival of Caring is to educate and promote mission opportunities for local churches and the community. The Festival of Caring is an event to celebrate and inform people about the various ways The United Methodist Church in the East Ohio Conference is touching the world through mission work.
The day will be filled with special events including:
Chili Cook-off
Silent Auction
Quilt Auction
Craft Show
Life Share Community Blood Drive
Home-Baked Pie Auction
Pedaling Parsons Bike Ride
Children’s Poster Contest
Cornhole Tournament
One of the highlights of the day will be a conference-wide worship and communion service led by Bishop Hopkins. The worship service will be held at 10:00 am in the John Hartz Building.
Churches are encouraged to participate in the mission of giving by collecting kits for the Church World Service Kit Program. Ever since the beginning of the CWS Kit Program, United Methodists have worked hand in hand with Church World Service to assemble and ship kits to parts of the U.S. and around the world. CWS and UMCOR have an agreement to share kits when needed and available to fulfill shipments.
Our goal for this year’s Festival of Caring is to fill a truck with 35,000 pounds of Kits.
In order to reach this goal, we need your help. The kits we will be collecting are Hygiene (Health) Kits, School Kits, and Baby Kits.
For more specific details on the Church World Service Kit Program, follow this link.
Church World Service is proud of our partnership with The United Methodist Church and the East Ohio Conference Festival of Caring Committee. We would like to thank everyone who is offering their time and love to be a part of sharing Christ’s love throughout our world.
To find out more about the work of the East Ohio Conference of The United Methodist Church, check out their website at www.eocumc.com
For more information on the Richland County Fairground follow this link: www.richlandcountyfair.com/index.php
Otterbein Students Receive Volunteer Award
 Otterbein College was the site of the 2007 Festival of Sharing.
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 Otterbein College students help assemble disaster relief kits during the Festival of Sharing.
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 Chaplain Monty Bradley leads the Religious Life Program at Otterbein College.
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 Otterbein College volunteers take a break to have their picture taken with Governor Strickland and Bishop Ough.
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 Megan Witt, an Otterbein College Senior and chair of the Religious Life program, receives the "Golden Sneaker Award" from Matthew Stevens, Ohio Regional Director of Church World Service.
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 "The Golden Sneaker" Award.
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 Chris Wyse, an Otterbein College Senior and president of Sigma Delta Phi Fraternity receives the "Golden Sneaker Award" on behalf of his fraternity.
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 Matthew Stevens presents the "Golden Sneaker Award" to the men of Sigma Delta Phi Fraternity.
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 The "Golden Sneaker Award" is sponsored by Church World Service and The Festival of Sharing Committee of the West Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church.
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The day could not have been possible without the willing hospitality of a small group of Otterbein students led by their chaplain Monty Bradley. The students were from the Religious Life programs and Sigma Delta Phi Fraternity. For both groups, service to others is at the heart of their organizations.
The students helped in taking care of the physical arrangements for the weekend. Some of their responsibilities included setting up for the event on Friday night, unloading the care kits from cars, packing boxes and assembling flood buckets. Their biggest responsibility included loading the entire 53-foot semi-trailer. All of their efforts (and sweat, because it was a hot and humid day) made the day run smoothly. What a contribution!
In order to recognize the efforts of these student volunteers, a special dinner was held in their honor on November 19, 2007. Sponsored by their chaplain Monty Bradley and the Religious Life program, the students were treated to a steak dinner and a time of fellowship to honor their participation in the Festival of Sharing..
After dinner, students from both the Religious Life program and Sigma Delta Phi Fraternity received the “Golden Sneaker Award” for their outstanding contribution to the success of The Festival of Sharing. Sponsored by Church World Service and the Festival of Sharing, this award recognizes the dedication of the students to “get on their feet” and to make a difference both locally and around the world.
Matthew Stevens, Ohio Regional Director of Church World Service, presented the awards to Megan Witt and Chris Wyse. Megan is a senior and is the chair of the Religious Life program and holds many other leadership roles on campus. Chris is a senior and he is the president of Sigma Delta Phi and an active member and leader of Religious Life.
Church World Service is proud of our partnership with The United Methodist Church, the West Ohio Conference Festival of Sharing Committee and Otterbein College. We would like to thank everyone who offered their time and love to be a part of sharing Christ’s love throughout our world. A special thanks is offered to the Otterbein College students who made the Festival of Sharing a huge success.
Mark your calendars now to join us for the 2008 Festival of Sharing, to be held on Saturday, October 4th on the campus of Otterbein College.
Church World Service Partners with the Festival of Sharing
 Otterbein College in Westerville, Ohio was the site of the Festival of Sharing.
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 Under the direction of Rev. Doug Dowson over 300 flood buckets were completed for UMCOR.
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 Volunteer youth help to assemble fllod buckets.
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 Taking a much needed water break! Notice the empty football stands? Otterbein's football team had an away game in Wilmington on that day. The Otterbein Cardinals won 58-41.
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 Governor Strickland and Bishop Ough help to load the 53-foot trailer.
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 Governor Strickland and Bishop Ough interact with all of the volunteers, including students from Religious Life and Sigma Delta Phi Fraternity.
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 "Tater" Jensen encouraged people to donate over 2,600 pounds of potatoes to provide meals for families in need.
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 Chris (white shirt) President of Sigma Delta Phi kept the volunteers busy all day.
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 Jane Gray, Ohio Regional Director gives early morning last minute instructions to the volunteers.
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 Festival of Sharing volunteers at the end of a long (but rewarding) day.
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October 6, 2007 was a beautiful autumn day on the campus of Otterbein College in Westerville, Ohio, the site of the Festival of Sharing. Hundreds of people gathered together in celebration of the annual tradition of the West Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church. For 21 years, Church World Service has partnered with the Festival of Sharing each year to help provide health kits, school kits and baby kits to thousands of families and individuals around the world. These gifts of love from so many hearts and hands across the state were witnessed in a 53-foot semi-truck trailer filled with kits for Church World Service.
Under the leadership of Rev. Doug Dowson, pastor of Calvary United Methodist Church in Circleville, volunteers assembled cleaning supplies in flood buckets for the UMCOR Disaster Response Teams. They completed over 300 buckets with close to 200 partial buckets also being completed. Several smaller trucks were filled because of the efforts of so many people. The buckets are an important part of the ministry of the United Methodist Church.
The day could not have been possible without the willing hospitality of a small group of Otterbein students led by their chaplain Monty Bradley. The students were from the Religious Life Organization and Sigma Delta Phi Fraternity. For both groups, service to others is at the heart of their organizations.
Matthew Stevens, the new Ohio Regional Director for Church World Service, is a 1989 graduate of Otterbein College and was a member of Sigma Delta Phi Fraternity and Religious Life. He said “It was great to work with the students from Religious Life and the guys from Sigma Delta Phi. Although it was a three-day weekend for the students and the majority of the students had left campus, this small, but mighty group of students made the weekend an outstanding success! These guys and gals were just great. I am proud to see the tradition of serving others is still alive at Otterbein.”
The students helped in taking care of the physical arrangements for the weekend. Some of their responsibilities included setting up for the event on Friday night, unloading the care kits from cars, packing boxes and assembling flood buckets. Their biggest responsibility included loading the entire 53 foot semi-trailer. All of their efforts (and sweat, because it was extremely hot and humid) made the day run smoothly. What a contribution!
Under the leadership of “Tater” Jensen, the members of the West Ohio Conference also collected of 2,600+ lbs. of potatoes. Tater then delivered these spuds to food pantries throughout the state. Tater said, “It is amazing how many people can be fed with a 10# bag of potatoes.”
Just down Grove Street, in the middle of the tree-filled campus, more Festival of Sharing continued at the Church of the Master, where inspiring music, messages and sharing occurred. Bishop Bruce Ough challenged the audience by sharing stories of global outreach in changing hearts for Christ.
Governor Ted Strickland, shared his personal gratitude for the Wesleyan heritage of caring for both body and soul. Later in the day, Governor Strickland joined Bishop Ough and the students from Otterbein as they continued to load the 53-foot semi trailer. The Governor and the Bishop thanked each person for their hard work and dedication to The Festival of Sharing.
Church World Service is proud of our partnership with The United Methodist Church and the West Ohio Conference Festival of Sharing Committee. We are also pleased to be a new partner with Otterbein College. We would like to thank everyone who offered their time and love to be a part of sharing Christ’s love throughout our world.
To find out more about the work of the West Ohio Conference of The United Methodist Church, check out their website at www.westohioumc.org
For more information on Otterbein College go to www.otterbein.edu
Kits Resources
- Visit the CWS Kits page for instructions on assembling and shipping your kits.
- Order materials online or phone our national service center, 1-800-297-1516