In the church and our surrounding community, we strive to be Christ's hands and feet to those in need. To help us further this vision, we support a variety of local community organizations and programs.

Monthly Mission Project - each month our church family works together to collect items and funds for a specific mission project, chosen by the Mission Committee & Church Staff. Please contact the church office for more details or with questions - office@fumclg.org, or 708-352-1250. 

January Mission Project - End 68 Hours of Hunger

• End 68 Hours of Hunger seeks to end childhood hunger, one school at a time. For a child enrolled in a school feeding program, 68 hours is the amount of time from when they receive their lunch in school on Friday until they eat their breakfast in school Monday morning. Program results have shown that providing food over the weekend results in 50% higher reading scores, 30% higher math scores, and are twice as likely to successfully complete the third grade.
• The LaGrange-area chapter of this nation-wide organization is housed right here in our church. We invite you to make a financial donation toward their work (checks can be made to the church, with “End 68 Hours” in the memo and on the donation envelope), or help stock the shelves!
• The food is specifically chosen to be easily kid-recognizable and kid-managed, so these are the requested items (wallet-sized-cards with these items listed are available on the counter in the Gathering Space so you can keep the list in your wallet and take it with you each time you go to the grocery store!) 
  
  • Peanut butter (18 oz plastic jars)
    
  • Individually wrapped crackers
    
  • Jelly (20 oz. plastic bottle)
    
  • Ramen Noodles (no cups)
    
  • Cans of fruit
    
  • Granola/nutrition bars
    
  • Cans of kid-friendly soup
    
  • Box of individual oatmeal packets
    
  • Cans of pasta
    
  • Juice boxes
    
  • Cans of tuna or chicken
    
  • Individually wrapped snack items

Apportionments - As United Methodists, our local church is connected to all other United Methodist churches in the world. Apportionments (a portion meant for others) are the way that local churches combine their financial resources to enable our vision for mission and ministry at every level of the United Methodist Church.

BEDS Plus - Building Ecumenical Discipleship through Sheltering (BEDS) seeks to help vulnerable individuals stabilize their lives through housing and supportive services. Part of their work is to provide overnight shelter, meals and access to community resources. FUMC LaGrange is the Thursday evening BEDS shelter location. 

Blood Drive - each year, Heartland Blood Center is invited to our church for an afternoon/evening blood drive. Congregation members are invited to sign up to donate, but walk-in donations are encouraged, too!

Cradles to Crayons - We are newly the LaGrange-area drop-off site for this Chicago-based organization that collects new & nearly new children's items to be processed by volunteers in "The Giving Factory", and then distributed to disadvantaged children in Chicago through a diverse network of service partners. A list of needed items can be found on the outside of the donation box located in the Cossitt entrance lobby. 

End 68 Hours of Hunger - A list of food items for this school-year collection is available on orange wallet-sized cards in the Gathering Space or outside the End 68 store-room (upstairs by staff offices). Food donations can be left in the shopping carts located by the church library or church office, or outside the End 68 store room. 

Feed My Starving Children - FMSC is a non-profit Christian organization committed to feeding God's hungry in body and spirit. The approach is simple: children, youth & adults hand-pack meals specifically formulated for malnourished children, and ship these meals to nearly 70 countries around the world. Our church sends several teams of all ages each year to pack meals.  

LeaderShop - This is a local youth-empowerment organization that we support through occasional facility use as well as an annual back-to-school supply drive. 

Pillars/Community Nurse - This is the largest nonprofit provider of mental health and social services in the western and southwestern suburbs of Chicago, serving 10,000 people each year through direct client services. Our church supports this organization financially and in a number of other ways throughout the year. 

Salt Creek Clean-up - Members of our church volunteer once a year with the Salt Creek Watershed Network on their annual clean-up day to remove debris along and in the Salt Creek. 

St. Barbara's Food Pantry - we have an ongoing collection for non-expired boxed and canned goods to take over to St. Barbara's Food Pantry. Please leave donations in the shopping carts located by the church library or in the church office. 

Suits for Success - Suits and other dressier items of clothing that might be worn for job interviews can be left on the clothing rack in the lower level hallway at the bottom of the Cossitt entrance stairs. These are periodically picked up by a Prison Ministry organized by United Methodist Men in western suburbs. 

Big Kid, Little Kid, Baby Brigade - Introduce your child to the "grandmas and grandpas" at Plymouth Place and enjoy the magic of this multi-generational playdate for babies, toddlers, preschoolers, school-age kids, and their caregivers. The group meets in Greg's Place, a memory support community within Plymouth Place, on the the first Monday of the month at 9:30am. Please email Joe in the church office (office@fumclg.org) with questions or to sign-up to attend. 

Boy Scout Troop 14 - Troop 14 is a very active scout troop for boys and girls ages 11-18. Our scouts go on outings every month and high adventures each summer. They meet Tuesday evenings at our church. 

Cub Scout Pack 14 - Pack 14 is a very active cub scout pack for boys and girls ages 6 to 10. These younger kids go on outings with their parents and have summer camp experiences as well. 

CROP Hunger Walk - Crop Hunger Walk is an annual fall community event that promotes hunger education and fundraising for local hunger relief, sponsored by Church World Service. 

Environmental Stewardship - Our church has an Environmental Justice Committee that works to raise awareness of environmental issues and provide opportunities for the congregation to participate in the healing and reconciling of all creation. 

ELIM - This organization works to support individuals with disabilities, and we support this organization through our annual back-to-school supply drive. 

Interfaith Community Partners - This organization helps older adults maintain their independence. Volunteer opportunities include transportation, telephone calls, and visitation. 

Kids Above All - Our congregation annually supports this Chicago-land organization that believes in placing the safety, well-being and education of kids above all else. In November, we provide Christmas gifts for children & youth for the annual Holiday Gift-Giving Program,  and in summer we do a school supplies drive.

Methodist Attic Rummage Sale - Members from our church organize a massive rummage sale each fall. Whether helping publicize the event in the community, dropping off donations, sorting and pricing donations, volunteering during the sale, showing up to shop, or helping clean-up after, this event is truly a church-wide effort. Proceeds go to support the various missions & ministries of our church. The Book Room from the sale is open year-round - head in to purchase a book or leave your donations. All proceeds go toward next year's sale. 

Salvation Army - All leftovers from the Methodist Attic Rummage Sale that aren't donated to local service organizations are loaded up and carted away by the Salvation Army. 

Saturday Meals - This is the weekly meal program at the First Congregational Church of LaGrange. Our youth volunteer during the lunch shift once a month throughout the year, helping set-up, serve & clean-up.