Outreach at FPC
"Celebrating Christ and serving community at 6th and Lincoln and throughout the world."
First Presbyterian Church has a long history of reaching out to those in need. Whether you are a first-time guest, a long-time member, or someone in between, please join us in serving our community and sharing God’s love with others.
We volunteer with local agencies already committed to helping children, elderly, refugees, families, and adults experiencing poverty, hunger, inadequate housing, and/or homelessness. We also travel and work with partners in our national and international mission efforts.
Helping Children In Need
Addressing Housing Insecurity
Combatting Food Insecurity
Working for Justice and Peace
National & International Mission
Pop Up and Emerging Needs
Boys and Girls Clubs of Bloomington
Boys and Girls Clubs of Bloomington is an organization dedicated to serving the youth in our local community. They provide camps and programs during after-school hours, holiday breaks, and summer vacation. They have three locations in Bloomington. See our Pop-Up page for current volunteer opportunities.
FPC contact: David Giedroc – giedroc@indiana.edu
Monroe County United Ministries
Monroe County United Ministries provides services and support for low-income households throughout Monroe County, , including year-round affordable childcare for children 1 to 6 years old. First Presbyterian helps by collecting food and other supplies for the pantry on a regular, on-going basis, gives financial support, volunteers in food distribution, and helps at Opportunity House, a non-profit resale store that supports the MCUM ministries.
FPC contact: Judy Fulford – fulfordjudith@gmail.com
First Presbyterian Church was one of MCUM’s founding congregations back in the 1930’s. Various FPC members have served or are currently serving on the board of MCUM.
Habitat for humanity
Habitat for Humanity builds homes for families in need of improved housing. The families provide “sweat equity” during the construction of their home and pay a mortgage over time. We and others in the community work with the local agency by providing funds and many opportunities for tool-wielding volunteers to help with building new homes for children and adults who need them.
FPC contact: Dan Conkle – conkle@indiana.edu
Wheeler Mission
Wheeler Mission in Bloomington helps people experiencing homelessness in the Bloomington area with housing, food, and support. First Presbyterian is working on specific ways to partner with other local churches to help support the work of Wheeler Mission.
FPC contact: Dan Watts – wattbush@gmail.com
Area 10 Agency on Aging
Area 10 Agency on Aging supports seniors in Monroe and Owen Counties. In addition to financial support, First Presbyterian members help by bagging and distributing groceries to seniors who have difficulty getting out, collecting Christmas gifts for seniors in need, and helping with home repairs to improve accessibility for mobility-challenged individuals.
FPC contacts for monthly grocery project:
Gail Dunning – gdunning45@sbcglobal.net
& Allan Edmonds – Allan.Edmonds@gmail.com
FPC contact for other Area 10 projects: Debbi Conkle - debbiconkle@gmail.com
Beacon/Shalom Community Center
Shalom Community Center provides services and support seven days a week for individuals experiencing
homelessness in Bloomington. Contact Allan Sather for more information at asather7@gmail.com
working for justice and peace
Refugee Support Network
Refugee Support Network is a volunteer network of individuals and organizations who support asylum seekers and advocate for refugee resettlement in Indiana.
FPC contact: Ann Schechter – earsch@comcast.net
Equal Exchange Fairly Traded Coffee, Tea, and Chocolate
Equal Exchange Fairly Traded Coffee, Tea, and Chocolate are made available one Sunday each month at the FPC Coffee Cart. Members and friends are given the opportunity to buy products that are organic and sustainably-grown by small-scale farmers from around the world. The farmers are better able to provide for their families, improve their communities, and care for our planet. The profits from the coffee cart go toward our mission in Posoltega, Nicaragua.
FPC contact: Debbi Conkle – debbiconkle@gmail.com
Posoltega, Nicaragua
Posoltega, Nicaragua: For more than 25 years, we have been blessed to partner with the congregation of the Jesus of Nazareth Parish in the impoverished village of Posoltega, Nicaragua. We sponsor biennial mission trips to Posoltega and also provide ongoing mission support for the congregation, an active children’s music program, university scholarships, and a hot lunch program coordinated through the Bloomington-Posoltega Sister Cities organization.
FPC contact: Dan Conkle – conkle@indiana.edu
Biennial Posoltega Mission Trips
Biennial Posoltega Mission Trips (next trip: June or July 2023) We spend about 10 days in Posoltega, living, working, worshipping, and serving alongside members of our sister church, the Jesus of Nazareth parish. We live with local families, but eat meals together as a group.
Every day, we are out in the community, helping with projects identified by our Posoltegan partners. Recent projects have included working to refurbish a local community center, helping to repair homes of elderly Posoltegans, gathering with local children for English lessons, and tending to needs on the church grounds. We also have the opportunity to see other aspects of our partnership at work, whether that is enjoying the amazing sounds of the children’s music program or helping serve hot lunches to local children.
But our projects, however important, are secondary to our larger goal: maintaining and enhancing our sister-church relationship and the deeply personal connections on which it rests. Be a part of this trip if you’re able; it could change your life!
Participants in the trip are high-school-age youth to adult.
FPC contact: Dan Conkle – conkle@indiana.edu
West Virginia Mission Trip
For many years, volunteers from First Presbyterian Church have participated in annual mission trips to West Virginia. Working with our friends at West Virginia Mission and Advocacy Work Camps, we help repair homes in the area. Those who are skilled carpenters work alongside those who barely know which end of the hammer is which to transform homes for others! Participants in the trip are middle-school-age youth to adult.
FPC contact: Michael Williams – miedwil@aol.com
Heifer International
Heifer International: Each fall, we support Heifer International through our "Heifer Market." We fill our fellowship hall with live animals and invite all to join us. Heifer International provides livestock, bees, and trees to impoverished families in economically-challenged areas throughout the world. The organization also provides training and continuing technical support. For their part, the families are expected to broaden the impact of Heifer’s assistance by giving some of the animals’ offspring to neighbors in need.
FPC contact: Mary Beth Novy – marybeth@bluemarble.net
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance: Responding in times of crises and catastrophic events, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) works with other aid organizations to provide relief, protection, and support. This agency is often the last to leave a disaster area, helping affected people get back to a more normal life on a long-term basis.
pop up and emerging needs
AREA 10 Food Delivery Volunteers Needed!
Our Area 10 Food Delivery team is looking for a few new volunteers.
Once a month a group of about 25 FPC members gather to bag groceries and deliver them to older folks in need in our community. At this time, we need two new drivers and a couple of substitute drivers. Each driver has a set route of about 8 or 9 individuals. The time commitment is about 1-2 hours, in the morning or early afternoon on the 4th Wednesday or Thursday of each month. Training and encouragement are provided!
Several of our FPC members who volunteer with this project feel it is a very rewarding way to help others. That was especially true during the pandemic as we continued our deliveries each month.
If you are looking for a way to help those in need, please contact Gail Dunning, gdunning45@sbcglobal.net or Allan Edmonds, allan.edmonds@gmail.com.
Sack Meals for Wheeler Mission Guests
Several in the congregation have commented that they miss the opportunities to work together for a good cause that were provided by the Saturday morning breakfast groups and the Interfaith Winter Shelter. The Outreach Committee has received a request for assistance from the Wheeler Mission Center for Men that could provide a chance to rebuild some of the focused team efforts that we have had in the past.
We are seeking 12 families or individuals in the congregation who will volunteer to purchase supplies and prepare 10 sack lunches once a month. Items in the sack meals could include a sandwich (PB+J, Lunch meat, etc.), apple or orange, chips or cookies, granola bar, fruit snack or candy, and a drink (water or Gatorade).
The Outreach Committee will coordinate collecting all 120 sack meals and delivering them to Wheeler. Later, when social distancing procedures change, we may decide that doing this as a group at the church might be preferable.
Please let us know if you are interested in this, or have questions, please contact Dan Watts, wattbush@gmail.com