Local Outreach

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In this section you will discover the variety of ways that Williamsville United Methodist Church is involved in volunteering in local outreach programs that meet the needs of the less fortunate in Buffalo and the surrounding area.

Our local mission efforts have focused primarily on supporting Seneca Street United Methodist Church, Asbury Shalom Zone, and Gateway-Longview. For example, WUMC has sponsored summer camp scholarships to children from the Seneca Street church. We have also donated supplies that the children can take to camp such as sleeping bags, duffle bags, and personal items. We have also donated supplies for Seneca Street's after-school program.

We continue to support Asbury Shalom Zone through direct monetary contributions We also provide donations of clothing and other goods that can either be sold through their thrift store or accumulated to ship to third-world nations.

Each Christmas season the generous WUMC congregation participates in several projects to reflect Christ's love and bring joy to those in need. For example, each year we purchase gifts for over 50 Gateway-Longview residents and support that organization using a portion of our Missions budget.

An increasing number of church members have become involved with Habitat for Humanity. We are pleased to report that WUMC has become a recognized as a contributor to the success of this program in the Buffalo area.

In addition, several of our members are active in the Central City Café, which provides nutritious lunches every weekday for the less fortunate members in the Buffalo community. Other WUMC volunteers work with organizations that distribute food in the Buffalo area.

Ministries to Seneca Street United Methodist Church

Seneca Street UMC Christmas Party and Holiday Meal Bags
Each December our friends at Seneca Street Church ask us to help provide gift certificates for them to distribute to the parents of the children and teens that Seneca Street Church helps at their annual Christmas Party. Over the years WUMC members have been very generous in sharing the Christmas spirit by purchasing gift cards from a local stores such as Target, WalMart, and any store where general merchandise, electronics, or sports gear is sold. In addition, our church provides approximately 25 holiday meal bags for Seneca Street families. The donation of Christmas gift cards and holiday meal bags have provided holiday joy for many families in the Seneca Street community. We thank each participant for caring!

Seneca Street UMC Winter Coat Collection
With help from neighbors all over Western New York, the Seneca Street (United Methodist) Mission provides warm winter coats to hundreds of inner-city children and adults each November and December. Every year in October, our mission church, Seneca St. UMC, collects coats and other outdoor clothing to distribute to those in the Seneca-Babcock area who are in need.  They can use winter coats for children of all ages, teens and adults, both men and women.  They also need mittens, hats, scarves and boots.  A collection box will be set up in the narthex.  Donated clothing will then be delivered to Seneca St.  Williamsville has always come through in the past, and we hope that our church members will contribute again this year.

Asbury Shalom Zone

 Did you know that there are a number of immigrants from Ethiopia and Somalia living in the Buffalo area? Can you even imagine what their needs might be? Asbury Shalom Zone (ASZ), an organization funded by donations from local churches such as WUMC and other community organizations, provides for some of the needs of these immigrant groups and also a Hispanic constituency in the area.

In addition to operating a thrift store, ASZ provides a home for English as a Second Language classes, facilities for local Cub Scout and Girl Scout troops, and adult education classes on topics such as how to run a home, parenting skills, and home finance issues.

ASZ is a business incubator for the neighborhood in which it is located since it rents space to small businesses starting up in the area. Asbury Shalom Zone also helps to sponsor a camp for neighborhood children to keep them safe and occupied during several weeks of the summer.

In order to continue its significant mission in the Buffalo area, ASZ needs our help. Since their Thrift Store is a major source of ASZ's income, they welcome donations of usable clothing and household items. There is a special need for leather goods such as shoes, purses, and belts, which are shipped in bulk for distribution in Africa, South America, and Asia. This effort has proved to be profitable for ASZ since they are paid BY THE PIECE/POUND for these items.

You can help by making a contribution of these and any other clothing and household items. You can place the items you wish to donate to ASZ in the special collection area located in the narthex coat room. You are also invited to make monetary donations. Please help in whatever way you can.

Click the Shalom Zone icon at the top of this section to learn more about one person's experience volunteering at ASZ.

Habitat for Humanity

WUMC has a dedicated group of participants in Habitat for Humanity projects. On the third Saturday of every month volunteers from WUMC work at a Habitat home site to build affordable housing for residents of Buffalo. Some of us work from morning until noon, while others stay until mid-afternoon.

You do not need any special construction skills or experience since Habitat is a great opportunity to learn a little about how your own house is constructed. One month we may build walls, another month we might put up vinyl siding, and sometimes we paint. Habitat provides all the tools and has people on site who can teach you to do any job. WUMC also has experienced volunteers and we work in teams, so you are never in “over your head.”

Habitat for Humanity homes are built for low income people who otherwise would not be able to afford a house. Future homeowners must put in 500 hours of work on their own house or other Habitat houses. They must also have a steady income and be able to afford a mortgage. The benefit is that by building the house with volunteer labor and donated materials, the actual cost of construction is low, which impacts the cost of the mortgage and makes the house affordable.

If you are interested in learning more about working with other WUMC volunteers at Habitat for Humanity, please leave a message for Ed Howard at the church office and he will contact you. Make Habitat a regular habit on the third Saturday of each month!

Click the Habitat for Humanity icon to read about the experiences of one person who participates in our Habitat for Humanity project.

Gateway-Longview

Each year WUMC participates in Gateway-Longview's Christmas Angel program, which assures that each of the more than 750 children within their care receives a gift at Christmas. In November each year, our Mission Team puts an Angel Gift Tree in the church narthex that is covered with Angels that include the name, age, and gift that children are hoping to receive. And each year, every Angel is taken by a generous person in our church community, who donates a gift for the child or teen on their Angel. We thank each person who became an angel by bringing joy to a child who had a Christmas wish come true.

The Rachael Circle in our church also supports Gateway-Longview in a special way. This circle is responsible for providing birthday cakes to one of the cottages at Gateway-Longview. When a resident of their cottage has a birthday, the Rachael Circle makes a birthday cake and then delivers it. Each year they provide about 10 birthday cakes that add a special touch to the Gateway-Longview residents.

Central City Cafe

Soup Kitchen at Durham Memorial A.M.E. Zion Church
174 E. Eagle Street (corner of Eagle and Michigan), Buffalo

Since Pastor Richard Stewart began Central City Café in November 1990 in the half-basement of Durham Memorial A.M.E. Zion Church, his goal was to “give each person a gift of love wrapped in hope and tied off with a smile.” With generous food donations and monetary contributions, Pastor Stewart and the dedicated staff at Central City Café have fulfilled this mission to feed the hungry – whether they are homeless or among the working poor. Each Monday through Friday, a small staff prepares delicious, nutritious lunches that are served to between 125-175 people. Toward the end of the month when food stamps and welfare checks run low, often 250 or more people are served each day.

The lunches are far more than soup. In fact, a sample meal might include baked haddock, seasoned rice, green beans, bread, a piece of fruit, cookies, and coffee. Unlike other soup kitchens in Buffalo, diners are not limited to one serving. Instead, they can ask for as many refills on everything but the dessert as many times as they want!

Each day that meals are served, volunteers from other churches - many of them Methodist congregations from the suburbs but also Lutherans and others - help in the kitchen. In fact, on the third Friday of each month, three volunteers from WUMC work in the soup kitchen from 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

The soup kitchen gets some of its food from the local food bank, but much of the operation's support comes from small grants from the city, United Way, and donations from other churches. This combined effort of the staff and volunteers allows Durham Memorial to feed some 40,000 hungry people each year.

In addition to lunches, members and friends of the Durham Memorial church community prepare and serve a complete restaurant-style Thanksgiving dinners to more than 150 people and Christmas dinner to more than 200 people. At the Christmas dinner, each person also receives a gift bag that includes personal care items and usually a piece of winter clothing.
Several years ago, Durham Memorial built a beautiful brick building next to the older church building. This new facility not only houses the soup kitchen, but also includes

• Child Development Center that provides:
  • Day care
  • Headstart Program
  • After School Programs
  • Tutoring
  • Music Lessons
    
• Showers for homeless
  
• Information and counseling from organizations such as Legal Aid and the Veterans Administration

I recently spoke with a woman who has volunteered at Central City Café since the day it opened 19 years. When I asked what made her keep going back, she said, “Well, we went to the soup kitchen because there are so many people who don’t have enough to eat. We felt like we were doing a little something to help those who really need it. Of course, there are those who take advantage of the soup kitchen. But the majority of those we watched come in – the grandfather who brought his hungry grandson or the old man in a wheelchair or the homeless man wearing three coats in the summer – made us know it was just the right thing to do. And the way Miss Rose and Johnny Mae can take a can of tomato soup, add a few ingredients, and turn it into a delicious lunch simply amazed us! But truthfully, we mostly did it for ourselves, because each time we went to the soup kitchen, it lightened our hearts and lifted us up higher than we were when we went in. It just made us better people.”

If you are interested in learning more about volunteering at the Central City Café soup kitchen, please contact either Kevin Lyttle or Carol Forden.

 

Haven House

The primarily focus of Haven House is to provide a safe shelter for women and children who are seeking a haven from abuse. Haven House depends on donations to a great extent. For example, they are always in need of items for teenage boys. Since one source of revenue for Haven House is selling used cell phones, we encourage you to bring old cell phones to the church office so they can be donated to this worthy agency.

The Dorcas Circle at our church supports Haven House by collecting items for the personal use of its residents. Members of the Circle bring items to each meeting such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, combs, and deodorant. Each February the Dorcas Circle places these items in Welcome Bags that Haven House distributes to individuals seeking shelter through their agency.

Niagara Frontier City Ministries Gleaning Program 

During the late summer and early fall groups of volunteers help harvest potatoes, carrots, beets, and other root crops that are left behind after machanical harvesting devices have made their pass through local farms. These "gleaned" food items are then donated to local food banks and groups providing meals to the needy in the area. Please call the church office (634-4800) if you are interested in helping us glean produce.