Duke Endowment Summer Literacy Initiative

The Summer Literacy Initiative is funded by the Duke Endowment to help rural North Carolina congregations combat learning loss for rising first through third graders over the summer months.  Students are recommended by local schools for participation in these 6-week summer literacy programs that include class work, enrichment experiences, and a weekly family fellowship meal.  The goals are to improve literacy outcomes for students who are at risk for reading failure and to encourage families to play an effective role at home to support the students’ learning.

Each year since 2023, Long Memorial has hosted this program with wonderful outcomes.  Each year we have increased the broader community’s participation in this endeavor and hope to partner with another Person County United Methodist Church campus in 2026.  To learn more, visit https://www.dukeendowment.org/project-details/summer-literacy-initiative.

Backpack Pals – Stories Creek Elementary

Reading Buddies

Today more than ever the children in our midst need our help!  By partnering with local schools, we can have a lasting impact on the lives of the children and youth in our community.  Participation is easy and only requires:

• 45 minutes per week
• PCS Volunteer security screening and background check
• a brief orientation session

For more information or to join the team, contact:
at South Elementary School – Jessica Moss  336-599-7133
at North Elementary School – Bridget Burton  burtonb@person.k12.nc.us

Handmade’ns Prayer Shawl Ministry

 The Handmade’ns Prayer Shawl Ministry was begun at Long Memorial in 2014 as a physical extension of God’s love.  Caring hearts and the joy of knitting and crocheting are combined into a prayerful ministry that reaches out to those in need of comfort and solace.  Many blessings are stitched into every shawl.  The knitter begins each shawl with prayers for the recipient and continues praying throughout the creation of the shawl.    When the shawl is completed, a final prayer of blessing is offered by the congregation before the shawl is sent on its way.  Our group includes and welcomes all members of the community as we provide love, support, and healing to shut-ins and others in need.  For more information, visit www.shawlministry.com or contact the Church Secretary at 336-599-1193 or longmemorial@esinc.net .

Christian Help Center

Long Memorial supports the ecumenical ministry of the Christian Help Center of Person County in a variety of ways.   We contribute financially and we collect food on a regular basis for the CHC Food Pantry.  Each month one of the Long Memorial United Methodist Women’s Circles or the Long Memorial United Methodist Men provide a home-cooked meal and serve it in the CHC Soup Kitchen to approximately three dozen clients.

The Christian Help Center of Person County provides the following services: 

• Soup Kitchen for weekday lunches
• Clothes Closet
• Food Pantry
• Financial Aid for rent, utilities, and medical co-pays
• Self-Sufficiency Training and Mentoring
• Fire Victim Aid
• Transient & Homeless Aid

For more information about CHC, visit http://www.christianhelpcenter.net.

Sweet Potato Gleaning

Since the Society of St. Andrew was created in 1979, more than 169 million pounds of fresh produce have reached people in need in North Carolina and South Carolina.  Through the North Carolina Gleaning Network, the Society of St. Andrew coordinates volunteers across the state who enter fields after farmers have finished harvesting and simply pick up the tons of good produce left behind, salvaging over five million pounds of fresh produce for the hungry each year.  Long Memorial youth and other members of the congregation participate in the North Carolina Gleaning Network.  Visit http://endhunger.org/north-carolina/.

Life Choices

Members of Long Memorial participate in the Annual Baby Bottle Blessings Drive, collecting change in baby bottle “blessing banks” for  Life Choices of Roxboro (formerly the Pregnancy Support Center of Person County).  This local ministry offers free pregnancy tests, counseling, pregnancy education, parenting classes, adoption referrals, and material aid to women experiencing crisis pregnancies.   In 2016 Life Choices expanded its support program to include the dads.  They also provide counseling and support for women and men experiencing post-abortion grief and guilt.  For more information, call Life Choices at 336-597-2811.

AGAPE (American Greater Armenian Project Effort)

Project AGAPE — ministry to Armenia and to some of our most desperate Christian brothers and sisters — is a collaborative effort of the North Carolina and the Western North Carolina Conferences of the United Methodist Church in a joint effort with the Armenian Apostolic Church.  Members of Long Memorial, contribute financially, donate designated items and pack shoe boxes to be sent to Armenian children for Christmas.  Visit http://nccumc.org/outreach/project-agape/.

UMCOR assists the most vulnerable persons affected by crisis or chronic need without regard to their race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation.  UMCOR’s work in more than 80 countries, including the United States, encompasses programs and projects in disaster response, health, sustainable agriculture, food security, and relief supplies.  UMCOR works to provide humanitarian relief when war, conflict, or natural disaster disrupt life to such an extent that communities are unable to recover on their own.  UMCOR spends 100% of designated donations on the projects its donors specify.  Members of Long Memorial contribute financially to this mission.  From time to time we participate in hands-on projects such as donating supplies and assembling Cleaning Bucket kits for flood relief.  Visit http://www.umcor.org/.

Rise Against Hunger

Long Memorial supports Rise Against Hunger (formerly Stop Hunger Now) by raising money and hosting meal-packaging events.  The assembly process combines rice, soy, dehydrated vegetables and a flavoring mix with 23 essential vitamins and minerals into small meal packages.  The Rise Against Hunger mobile unit brings the necessary equipment and supplies; our volunteers set up and take down packaging stations and equipment, fill bins with raw ingredients, scoop ingredients into meal bags, weigh and seal the bags, box and stack them on pallets, and load the pallets and equipment onto a truck.    A group of about 40 volunteers can package 10,000 meals in about two hours.  The food is stored easily, transported quickly, and has a shelf-life of two years.  The meals are shipped throughout the world to support school feeding programs, orphanages and crisis relief.  The mission of Rise Against Hunger continues to evolve and expand with a goal of ending world-wide hunger in our lifetime.  From the meal packaging program to the implementation of sustainable community development projects, the organization strives to make a global impact on hunger by building resilience, self-sufficiency, and empowerment among the communities with whom they work.  Visit http://www.riseagainsthunger.org/.

Methodist Home for Children

Methodist Home for Children, whose offices are located in Raleigh, North Carolina, works to provide safe, stable homes where children can thrive and live fully into their God-given potential.  While not always traditional or biological, an MHC home is where both child and family are equipped to succeed.  It may be a group home that helps juvenile offenders transition to healthy, independent living or a foster home that shelters a child while his family is stabilized.  Whatever form it takes, the end goal is always the same—a safe, stable home.  Members of Long Memorial  contribute financially to this mission.  Visit  http://www.mhfc.org/.