As we move into the holiday season, our thoughts turn to those in our community who continue to struggle with food, clothing, and housing. In an effort to ease the struggle, we have begun our annual Holiday Appeal to benefit the Church and Community Program.
What is the Church and Community Program?
In 1974, the members of our church were very concerned about the limited access many in our community had to the essentials for living. The Unitarian Universalist Church of Canton combined their resources with six other Canton churches and proposed a program that would serve the urgent needs of folks in our community, with emergency access to food, clothing and referrals to other services. Thus, the Church and Community Worker Program was born, with a startup grant of $2000 from the New York Universalist Convention. Mary Logan was appointed as our first Church and Community Worker to get this new startup off the ground.
For the past 48 years, this collaborative project has continued to serve residents in need of assistance living in the towns of Canton, Hermon, Clare, DeKalb, Lisbon and Russell, and the villages of Rensselaer Falls, Richville and Heuvelton.
Today, the renamed Church and Community Program is housed at 30 Court St in Canton, and it continues its original mission of meeting essential needs with its Food Pantry, Thrift Shop, referrals to other services, and special projects like the holiday Giving Tree project and the Back-to-School backpack program. The churches of Canton provide needed support to our neighbors through donations and the efforts of volunteers.
Each year, the Holiday Appeal of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Canton is dedicated toward support of this vital service. The generosity of our members over the years has allowed the Church and Community Program to grow and serve ever more needs. The needs for 2023 are great, but with our collective efforts, we can assure that persons in need in our community get help when they need it most.