Food Bank
Needs: Specifically—cold cereal, canned tomatoes, rice or rice helpers, pasta, crackers, dry soup, and canned items, including soups, fruits, beans, baked beans, and tuna.

Heritage and Horizons
The Heritage & Horizons Fall 2016 series – “Taking Care of Yourself…Taking Care of Others Part 2” – will be held on Tuesday mornings from September 27 through October 25. The program will include topics such as: Meet Your Lancaster Neighbors, Elder Nutrition, a discussion panel by the Interfaith Coalition of Lancaster, and more. There is a $15 registration fee. The full program can be found at the Welcome Center.

Volunteers Needed
The Amos Herr Dream Park project in Landisville is underway! After an initial weekend of building the new playground from September 9-11, they found that they will need many more volunteers to complete this ambitious playground plan. Volunteers are needed today and from September 27-October 2 to help cut boards, put pieces together, and build. There are jobs for everyone 14 years and over of any skill or activity level. Everyone involved is sure to reap the rewards of volunteering. To volunteer, please contact Kristi Newport.

Special Mission Offering — October 2
Neighbors in Need (NIN) is a special mission offering of the UCC that supports ministries of justice and compassion throughout the United States. One-third of NIN funds support the Council for American Indian Ministry (CAIM). Two-thirds of the offering is used by the UCC’s Justice and Witness Ministries (JWM) to support a variety of justice initiatives, advocacy efforts, and direct service projects through grants. NIN grants are awarded to churches and organizations doing justice work in their communities. Funding for these grants is through donations to the Neighbors in Need offering, which will be received on October 2, 2016 by most UCC congregations as part of their World Communion Sunday observance. The 2016 theme for NIN is “This We Believe” and connects the issue of child hunger to the work that the UCC congregations are doing to serve their communities and address this injustice. An excellent example of how COA is supporting the cause is through Outreach to the Power-Packs Project, support of the food bank through monetary, food, and produce donations through our Seeds of Hope Garden! Please consider this special offering on October 2^nd.

New Beginnings
New Beginnings will kick off the 2016-2017 season on Thursday, October 13^th in the Fellowship Hall. A dessert social will begin at 1 pm with the program to follow at 1:30 pm. The program will feature Mr. Bill Uyeda, a resident of Homestead, who will speak about his experience in an internment camp during World War II. Come and learn about the life experience of one of our own.

Becoming an Apostle
During the months of October, January, and April, we will be hosting informational sessions on Sunday afternoons at 2 pm in the Youth Center. The purpose of these sessions is to reflect on: “Who are we?” “What do we believe?” and “Where and when are we serving?” These sessions are open to both visitors and members seeking answers to these questions.

Honduras Email List
Central American Relief Efforts will be going to Honduras on the summer mission trip the last week of July in 2017. The exact dates are not yet set, but it will be between the 23^rd and the 29^th.  If you would like to be added to the “Summer Trip” email list, please send your email address to Andy Appel. Joining the list is does not require any commitment on your part, it is just a way to be updated as plans are made.