UMW Holiday Luncheon

8/8/2019 UMW Holiday Luncheon

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GIVING OF OURSELVES UMW HOLIDAY LUNCHEON

By Jennifer L. Hipple,2011 UMW President

Do you remember Saturday, Dec. 4? It

was a cold—a very cold—and icy morning

(yes, we’ve had several of those this

season); the kind that makes it easy to

hit the snooze button, roll over, pull

the blankets closer, and wait for better

conditions before rousing for the day.However, the anticipation of the UMW

Holiday Luncheon was enough to get

dozens out and about, braving the poor

weather (and roads!), and on their way for

an enjoyable morning of holiday bazaar

shopping, fun and fellowship, and a

hands-on opportunity to reach out to

underprivileged children in our midst. It

sounds like quite a morning doesn’t it?

The annual event attracted more than

70 attendees who got to warm up, coffee

and cookie in hand, by shopping at a

variety of “booths” in Carlson Hall

representing Hennepin’s international



partnerships, the youth group, Knotty

Quilters, Steeple People, and more. The

hall was filled with color, charm and

warmth. The group then gathered in the

Art Gallery for singing and a message

from Sally Johnson. Next it was time to rollup our sleeves and dive into our selected

community service project: creating birth-

day bags for children in need. We learned

how Cheerful Givers, a local, grass-roots

nonprofit, partners with a variety of groups

and organizations to provide tens of

thousands of birthday gift bags to area

shelters and food shelves. The UMW

leadership team purchased enough toys

and goodies to fill 100 birthday bags for

boys and girls. It didn’t take long at all

to assemble the bags and prepare them

for delivery to People Serving People in

Minneapolis.

As a special added feature, our

church youth were invited to be a part of

our event, too. They sold Hennepin church

ornaments, passed out treats in Carlson

Hall, and joined in our carol singing. After

helping with our Cheerful Givers service

project the youth also proved to be

talented actors as they performed

“Inventing a Christmas Story,” a four-partplay about a youth group working on their

annual Christmas drama. In between acts,

these young men and women served up a

three-course lunch to delighted guests in

the social hall. We loved having them with

us!



Our United Methodist Women are

pleased to provide everyone in our church

family with a variety of opportunities to

grow and support each other in our faith,

share in fellowship, and reach out to

others through mission projects andfinancial support that positively impact the

lives women, youth and children. We hope

you’ll join us at our upcoming spring

events. Stay tuned!

[photos courtesy of Stacey Grimes]

Documents

UMW Holiday Luncheon