COMMUNITY
OUTREACH WEEK
aka "COW"
Community Outreach Week, aka COW is one of our newer, more innovative programs in which volunteers get to sample a wide variety of "help" programs. And judging by it's participation - over 100 for each of the past several years - it seems to strike a cord of need within both our congregants and the wider community. Here's what it is:
COW is an inspired and inspiring opportunity to fulfill our mission to create a more just world and a caring community while nurturing a spirit of generosity! Usually over a period of seven to fourteen days in October, a variety of volunteer activities are available to congregants and friends. Many of us want to volunteer and don’t know where to begin. This is a way to try out several kinds of activities. The hope is that these COW experiences will lead to ongoing volunteer efforts.
What
we've done: UUCCH has participated in serving dinner at homeless shelters
such as New Visions and Cathedral Kitchen. We have also fed the families
at the Ronald McDonald House. We have assisted the NJ tree foundation
in planting trees in Camden. The Rancocas and Palmyra Nature Centers
have benefited by our cleaning efforts. We build houses with Habitat
for Humanity. We work in the Goodwill thrift stores and we assist the
disabled adults who work at the Goodwill factory in Pennsauken. The
Voorhees Pediatric facility has requested our assistance to play with
the children there. We clean up at No Kill animal shelters. Consistent
with UUCCH’s pledge to assist in Camden, we have spruced up the
Lanning Square school’s playground. Fund raising walks for the
American Cancer Society and World Hunger are also offered. We add new
activities to our volunteer agency list every year. If you know of an
agency that can use our help, watch for announcements and newsletter
entries of the COW planning meetings that begin each May.
This is an opportunity to unite our congregation with a sense that we
are all working together and at the same time highlight our church’s
commitment to social action by providing help to the wider community
outside the UUCCH.
If you want more information about COW, please
contact Phyllis Feller at nfeller@comcast.net .