Archives for September 2021

A 12 week support group for single, pregnant women of any age…it’s all about grace and friendship.
A free baby shower is provided at the end of the semester. We meet each Monday at 6:30pm. Contact us to sign up!

Location: Katie’s Place (A Community Center of Washington Square UMC)

540 Washington Avenue, Hagerstown Md

Cost Free
Contact information for questions or RSVP Terra at Terrad78@gmail.com

Family has a Kimball piano to give to a new home or church.  Piano is 35 years old, in good shape, originally purchased at “Grand Piano” in Hagerstown.  Needs to be tuned, and the recipient must move it.  If interested, call John at 301-992-2517

From August 1 – September 9, 2021, a total of 48 houses of worship, businesses, and organizations throughout Washington County, Maryland collected or donated 13,300 children’s books for the ninth annual Community Book Drive.  22 of these were houses of worship.  The books were sorted, stickered with reading tips, counted and boxed on the United Way’s Day of Caring, September 16 at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

After skipping a year in 2020 due to COVID, the books were greatly needed to refill the shelves of the Community Book Warehouse, which distributes the books to organizations working with vulnerable children, and allows families to pick out books they couldn’t otherwise afford to buy.

The goal of the book drive is to improve literacy rates in Washington County and prepare young children to enter school “ready to learn.” Childhood literacy and school readiness is an important issue in our community. If our children are to be prepared for college or trade school, a successful career and life, we must ensure that they are first prepared to enter school. In 2019 57% of children in Washington County Public Schools began Kindergarten without the expected literacy related skills, including word recognition, verbal skills and vocabulary skills. While Washington County had made some gains over previous years, we anticipate a backslide due to COVID and all efforts are needed to close the gap.

Thanks to everyone who collected books (click here and scroll down for a list) and participated in the Day of Caring book sorting!  The following groups helped out that day:  Washington County Public Library, Reach, Dot Foods, The Judy Center, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and several individuals.  Weis Brothers picked up all the books and transported them to the Community Book Warehouse, and United Way GenX Volunteers helped unload the books.  Bester Community of Hope, Hagerstown Community College, and several individuals helped pick up books from collection sites, and Lowe’s donated boxes.  This truly was a community effort!

The Community Book Drive is a partnership of United Way of Washington County, Hagerstown Area Religious Council (HARC), Hagerstown Rotary Club, The Judy Center, Bester Community of Hope, and The Early Childhood Advisory Council.  Special thanks goes to Terry Gwizdala for coordinating much of this big project.

Links to photos from the book sorting: in Dropbox and on Facebook

The Hagerstown Housing Authority is looking for help from 3 ministries/groups to provide meals for vulnerable residents of Potomac Towers once per month.  Currently 7 churches/ministries serve monthly meals and two more help periodically.  The gaps we hope to fill are the 2nd and 3rd Thursday and the 2nd Tuesday of every month.  40 meals are needed – grab-and-go bagged lunches are requested due to COVID and Community Room renovations.  Once renovations are completed, groups can choose to serve the residents on site or to continue with dropping off bagged lunches, depending on comfort level.  Meals can be dropped off 11-11:30 on your day. For more info, contact Deena at Dholder@hagerstownha.com or  301-733-6911 x 163.

The Literacy Council is looking for students!!  If you know someone who would like some help with reading, writing, or speaking English, or math help (up to, and including, GED prep), please contact them at 301-739-4208 or office@literacyofwcmd.org.  They can help.  Their services are free of charge.

Michele Reichard, Relief Society President of The Hagerstown 1st Ward, has a vision of having a Community Christmas utilizing their building by having a live Nativity on the front of their church lawn, a Creche display inside their very large gymnasium, and hot chocolate served while choirs from our local community sing Christmas songs outside.  She is looking for help reaching out to the local churches to see if any choirs are interested in donating their time.  The dates are December 11th and 12th from 6-9 pm. She is looking for 6-8 choirs each night to perform for 10-20 minutes. If you know of a choir that might be interested, they can get in contact with her directly Micheleleereichard@gamil.com or via her cell phone number 301-343-2444.

 

 

St. Mark’s has brown metal folding chairs available. Please contact the church (301.733.7550) for more information. You will need to pick them up. There is no sale price, a donation is requested.

https://lutheranchurchhagerstown.com/

Saturday, September 11 was a glorious day for the HARC Hike for Hunger & Hope, with great weather, perfect conditions on the C&O Canal Towpath, and a good crowd nicely spaced among 6 different start times.  100 people came out to enjoy the day and a handful more did the Virtual Hike, raising funds and walking on their own time and location.  Thanks to participants, sponsors, and individuals who raised funds for the cause, more than $21,000 in proceeds are projected so far to support the ministry and programs of HARC, with a significant portion going to Micah’s Backpack.  This includes funds raised to date for the HARC Challenge Hike, a 20-mile hike on the Appalachian Trail that will take place Saturday, September 25.  13 participants are registered for this hike and many are still fundraising.

Thanks to everyone for coming out and helping to make this a fun event and successful fundraiser for HARC and Micah’s Backpack! Thanks especially to our amazing Hike Team (Rev. Ed Poling, Beth Johnston, Deacon Sue Wert, Ed Maloy, Butch Eigenbrode, Bill Pike, and Erin Brennan) and other volunteers who made it happen, and our generous sponsors (see below).  We are also grateful to churches who provided transportation for our hikers:  Christ’s Reformed Church, Celebration Ministries, St. John’s Episcopal Church, Hagerstown Church of the Nazarene, and Valley Grace Brethren.

Pictures from this year’s hike can be viewed on the HARC Hike Facebook page or in our Dropbox file.  Thanks to Chris Horsch for most of the pictures!

Thank you to this year’s HARC Hike sponsors:

MS Johnston & God’s Grace Fund sponsored  lunch, catered by Kreeative Kreations, a local, black and woman-owned business.

       

Antietam Radio Association
Brethren Mutual Insurance Company
Coldwell Banker Innovations
Hebron Mennonite Church
Hub Labels
Rotary Club of Hagerstown
St. Andrew Presbyterian Church
Trinity Lutheran Church

Allegany Dental Care
Bitner-Henry Insurance Agency
Weis Market

Link to the recording on YouTube:  https://youtu.be/o55zGotp6o8

In September Washington County “goes purple” to raise awareness of the opioid/addictions epidemic and foster action to support those in crisis and prevent others from this terrible disease. At our September 14 HARC meeting, we heard from:

Clarence Horst, Celebration Ministries and Celebrate Recovery

Laura Sheffield-Bishop, Social Work Supervisor, Washington County Health Department & Kelly Marquart, Certified Peer Recovery Specialist, Washington County Health Department

This program focused on how the faith community can support people who are in recovery or struggling with addiction. We also learned current Washington County data and some helpful tips for how to handle the challenges of those in or around our houses of worship who are struggling with addiction and homelessness.

Haven Lutheran Church in Hagerstown is offering an eight-month program of group spiritual direction. Under the leadership of Ed Poling and Rebecca Rothenhoefer, this is an opportunity for deepening prayer and personal sharing. Participants meet monthly for three-hours in small group circles to  prayerfully listen to God and to one another. The session will meet on the first Tuesday of each month from October 5 to May 3. The opening and closing sessions are a six-hour retreat format. Both leaders are trained by Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation.  For more information contact Ed Poling at elpoling1@gmail.com or 301-766-9005.

Download a brochure here.