Holiday Activities at MCUM

Please join Monroe County United Ministries in making this a great holiday season for individuals and families who utilize MCUM's services. Here at MCUM we love to celebrate - so we are already in preparation mode so that we can make the most of what is sure to be a wonderful holiday season.

There are at least 17 holidays celebrated during this season, by groups ranging from Christian and Jewish to Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Hispanic, Scandinavian, German, African American, even Zoroastrian. Kicking off the holiday season is the late fall Hindu celebration of Diwali, the festival of lights.

MCUM will be closed December 24-January 1.

• Food Drive: Host a food drive at work, with a club, at a school, or in your neighborhood. MCUM provides a list of most needed items for hosts to hand out. (10-15 drives needed, as well as commitments for specific items.)
• Holiday Food Baskets: Use a shopping list provided by MCUM to create food baskets that are distributed to clients between Thanksgiving and Christmas. (80+ needed)
• Family Gift Program: Sign up to purchase gifts for one of the families we serve. Donors purchase 3 to 5 items per family member. A wish list is provided to you. (80 needed)
• Support the Arts @ MCUM: This year, we have moved to an Amazon Gift Registry for our Arts & Crafts budget. If you would like to provide capacity for enriching art activities at Compass Early Learning Center, you can check out our registry, pick out a much-needed item, and have it sent directly to MCUM for use in our classrooms.
• Merry Merch: Select from wreaths, poinsettias, and other MCUM swag to keep or to gift! A generous portion of each item directly supports MCUM's Prosperity Fund. 

Our client-choice food pantry has been feeding about 350 families each month. To do so, we require more than 10,000 items every month. 

This year, we are specifically seeking Helper Meals, Pasta Sides, Potato Sides, Ramen Noodles, Canned Fruit, & Peanut Butter as these items are our most-requested items and are more difficult to obtain through our recurring partnership donations. If you/your group can commit to collecting a number of specific items, that will help us keep them in stock for the first three months of 2024!

We also rely on food drives that collect a variety of items. If your group is better suited to collect food this way, we will be grateful to receive your donations.

For ideas on hosting a successful food drive, a list of items we can distribute, and answers to frequently asked questions, be sure to check out mcum.org/fooddrive.

Food Basket Guidelines & Shopping List: 

Double Bag 

A food basket will need 5-6 double-bagged paper or cloth sacks. Please double-bag your paper sacks or they are likely to rip!

Identify your Basket

Mark your food basket bags distinctly from others by stapling a bright piece of wrapping paper or attaching a ribbon to each bag in your set.

Check off each item as you add it to your basket:

Here is the list of items that make up each food basket. 

(We will also email you a list once you sign up.)

If you would like to support our Compass Early Learning Center with the purchase of Arts & Crafts supplies for our children to use at school in 2024, please click the link below. You will be directed to our Amazon registry, where you will see an assortment of options and prices. Please select any items you would like to purchase and opt to have them sent directly to Compass Early Learning Center.

CLICK HERE

Celebrate the season with our Merry Merch! A generous portion of the costs associated with the items below will go directly into MCUM's Prosperity Fund, which intentionally invests your dollars into community members' paths to prosperity. 

Group order of Merry Merch has passed its deadline.

MCUM Honor Card

Already wondering what to get that person who has everything?! How about giving the gift of prosperity to a local family in their honor? Choose a gift level of $25, $50, $75, or $100 and we will send the Honor Card to the recipient OR to you to gift. 

Please pay at the time of submission.