By Holly Bussey, Facilitator, Faith Expression and Funding Team Ministry
We, The Faith Expression and Funding Team Ministry (FEFT), decide where to send the 50% of the Plate we collect on Sunday mornings. Last financial year, funding from the Plate was more than $15,000. This year, we’ve already exceeded $8,000. Thank you.
Our mission is to help communities in New Jersey and Pennsylvania create a Better World. To do this we support four types of charity:
1) Neighbors in Need, such as TASK, and Loaves and Fishes
2) Sustaining groups already reaching out, like HomeFront, and Food Ministry
3) Community events
4) UU Emergency/Disaster relief
Our goal this year is to support groups where we already have connections. Our initial choice is Trenton Micro Loan Collaborative. (TML). It’s a young organization offering business loans and practical guidance to formerly incarcerated people in their quest to start a business in the Trenton community. We aim to create a long-term connection, enabling congregants to share their talents, participate in short-term commitments, and create connections.
An example of our support for a community event is Urban Promise’s Sneaker Ball, its annual fundraiser dinner, where we broke bread together and discussed with their staff the amazing work they have done in Trenton.
We hope this model of involvement by the congregation will grow as we identify other needy organizations in NJ and PA. Already, Urban Promise has approached us. Another possibility is Snipes Farm and Education Center, which teaches and feeds people in Bucks County and Trenton.
Sound exciting? Interesting? It is! Our meetings are lively. We have fun and laugh. FEFT is not just about money. We also build relationships and connect to our communities. Isn’t that what we want to be, a force to help change the world? We invite you to sit in on a FEFT gathering. Check us out. Be part of this excitement. The world needs you, and FEFT is a great vehicle from which to begin.
For more information, speak to any team members: Steve Fishbein, Bud Johnson, Jane Root, Jim Sanders, Dan Tuft, or Holly Bussey.