One great hour of sharing

Collection Date:  Sunday, March 31st

One Great Hour of Sharing® is the Lenten Offering of the United Church of Christ that supports disaster, refugee, and development activities.  

From the UCC One Great Hour of Sharing Offering and Endowment Fund:
​
"Thank you for your past support. Because of your generosity,
in 2018 we were able to respond to a number of disasters
worldwide. We provided disaster relief in places you most likely
heard of in the news. We responded to: Hurricanes in Puerto
Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, North Carolina, Texas and Florida;
Fires in California; Earthquakes in Mexico, Indonesia, and Haiti,
Flooding in El Salvador, Hawaii, and South India; and Volcanos
in Guatemala, just to name a few. We helped people who were
displaced from their homes due to conflict and violence, while
providing sustainable solutions in places lacking adequate
education, agriculture or health, internationally. The impact that
the OGHS offering makes in the world has done more than we
could imagine.

But now more than ever, it would be easy to focus our attention
on the places and people near and dear to us. If you are like me,
you don’t have to look far to see a need that requires your help.
Natural disasters have impacted many communities, the cost of
almost everything continues to rise, and money just doesn’t seem
to go as far as it once did. We may want to help, but think there is
only so much we can do.

Yet, there is more that needs our attention. Jesus calls us to love our
neighbor, to feed, clothe and visit those whom the Bible calls the least
of these. And it isn’t supposed to matter where people live. They are
still our neighbors. They are still within our reach through our desire to
help, through the arms of this church, and through the One Great Hour of
Sharing offering."