Annual Report 2024-2025 - Flipbook - Page 21
BOARD OF BENEVOLENCES
Chair: Randy Breese
Vice Chair: Matt McCoy
Secretary: Janie Wine
Staff Liaison: Luke Stringer
Mission from Bylaws:
It shall be the duty of this board to: supervise, promote, and
interpret the benevolence activities of this Church; promote
representation of Church members in decision-making bodies
of the denominational and ecumenical agencies to which funds
are given; and advise the Board of Trustees in the most effective
use of benevolence resources by presenting a budget at the time
designated by the Board of Trustees.
Major Events/Achievements in 2024-2025:
With the congregation’s generosity and matching donations from
the Marlon Laverman Benevolence Fund, Plymouth Special
Offerings was able to provide nearly $120,000 in help to those
most in need in our community.
• The recipients of the Thanksgiving Special offering were the
Plymouth activities of Food Buddies and Shelter Meals.
• The recipients of the Christmas Special Offering included the
Arabic Outreach Center, Black Child Development Institute
— Iowa, FreeStore, Inc and the Urban Bicycle Food Ministry.
• The recipients of the Easter Special Offering were Des
Moines Refugee Support, Iowa Safe Schools, Love For Red
and Lutheran Services in Iowa.
• The Pastor’s Discretionary Fund, which receives a contribution
from each of our Special Offerings, is used to provide emergency
funds to our neighbors to cover costs such as rent assistance,
utility bills, medical bills and bus/travel expenses. During the
2024 calendar year, this fund provided nearly $9,000 to 38
individuals in need.
Food Buddies is finishing its seventh year of partnering with
Hubbell Elementary School to provide students who have food
insecurities with weekend back pack meals, including double bags
with larger, family sized items during the longer Christmas and
Spring breaks. The Food Buddies program is made possible through
the generous donations of Plymouth members to the Thanksgiving
Special Offering, a generous match from the Marlon Laverman
Benevolence Fund, a grant from the Frisbie Fellowship, and
ongoing food and financial donations from Plymouth members.
• This year the Food Buddies program delivered regular food
bags to approximately 40 Hubbell students — a total of
roughly 1,600 food bags!
• Twenty classrooms were provided with healthy snack foods to
nourish students so they can focus on learning.
Shelter Meals, which is Plymouth’s long-term relationship and
support of Central Iowa Shelter and Services (CISS), continued
to provide volunteers and funding to serve two meals a month.
• This year a variety of media was used to communicate the
importance of our Plymouth members volunteering and
donating to this outreach mission. This included articles in
the weekly news, an article in Plymouth magazine (including
volunteer testimonials and photos) and a presentation by the
CEO of CISS at Sunday Forum.
• Over 100 Plymouth members gave their time to serve meals
this year.
• During each meal service, between 250 and 300 of our
neighbors were served.
• Church Center continues to be used for volunteer
registration, communication and monetary donations to
support this mission.
Whether it’s gifts of food and/or dollars, the Food Pantry
Committee is thankful to the members of Plymouth for their
generous and continued support of the Little Free Pantry. They
cannot do this important work without your donations!
• The pantry is stocked daily by a member of the committee
and members of our community use the pantry well.
• The Food Pantry Committee consists of the following
members: Cathy McMullen, Elaine Van Dyck, Maggie Tillman,
Phil Sickles, Jo Oldson, Cathy Jury, Sheena Thomas, and
Karen Wendt.
Board Members:
2024-2025
2024-2026
2024-2027
Tom Drake
Randy Breese
Jim Ferguson
Dave Everett
Melinda Collins
Jane Hemminger
Marilyn Stone
Thomas Wedd
Matt McCoy
Jainie Wine
19
