This ministry seeks to coordinate the church's efforts associated with feeding the hungry.

1. Skeet's Food Pantry - locally we maintain a supply of food at the church to distribute to those in need on the 3rd Friday of each month.
2. Trenton Area Soup Kitchen (TASK) - for many years we have supported TASK with money and volunteers. Currently we serve the evening meal at TASK on the 1st Thursday of each month.
3. Crop Walk - this is an annual 10K walk to raise money for hunger relief held in October.
4. Bread for the World - this letter writing campaign seeks to impress on Congress the necessity for hunger relief.

1. Centurion Ministries - this Princeton-based group advocates nationally for death row inmates unfairly incarcerated.

1. Senior Fellowship Ministry - Senior members of our congregation and of the community meet regularly for fun, fellowship, exercise & outings.

1. Spring of Hope Mission, Guatemala - each year the Allentown and Cranbury Presbyterian Churches sponsor a one-week mission tour to Guatemala. We financially support the Promised Land Ministries food program for children.
2. IMCK Good Shepherd Hospital, Congo - The church has been involved with Good Shepherd Hospital since 2008.

Mission is the very heart of a church's' outreach, and we participate in mission in many different areas of concern, as well as in many different countries. In fact, the mission money we send to Presbytery literally reaches around the world because a portion of it goes to our national church which is part of the entire mission program supported by the Presbyterian Church (USA).

Sometimes our financial gifts just go on growing and helping. This is true with our contribution to the Princeton Seminary Scholarship Fund which was set up a number of years ago. The fund has reached the goal of $50,000, and the money generated from the fund has helped many students with scholarship. The student recipient this past year, Mr. Manoj Shrestha, is a third year Ph.D, who received $6,171.81.

Between the fundraising efforts of the Guatemala dinners in January and endowment money, we have given about $10,000 for the trip to Guatemala. For years we have assisted in a food program, Spring of Hope, in Guatemala, and we approved a grant of $5,200 for this program.

The contributions that we make are appreciated as is evidence from the following thank you notes received from recipients of our endowment interest checks. Trenton Area Soup Kitchen (TASK) thanked us for our $5,000 donation and wrote that they have a three-fold mission--meal service, help patrons achieve lives of self-sufficiency, and make the greater community aware of their mission and needs. Better Beginnings, the day care at the Hightstown Presbyterian Church which services families who live on the margin, used a card painted by one its small patrons to say "thank you" and an adult added appreciation for the donation of a rug, as well as $3,000.
NAMI Mercer, the National Alliance for Mental Illness, is grateful for the $5,000 support of their programs of education and help for families living with mental illness. Centurion Ministries has received $5,000 to help with their programs of seeking justice for wrongfully incarcerated individuals. And finally, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance expressed appreciation for our $3,000 for Haiti earthquake relief which was from endowment and also generous donations from the congregation. Our generosity allowed PDA "to bring hope to people who were in need of food, shelter, and safety in 20 countries and 40 presbyteries that experienced earthquakes, flooding, hurricanes, wildfires, tornadoes, and warfare." We have also supported the Albert Schweitzer Hospital in Haiti.

Through Medical Benevolence of the Presbyterian Church we have supported the missionary efforts of the Good Shepherd Hospital in the Congo with $7,000 for medical equipment. The money raised at the Mission Fair in November also went to Good Shepherd. They help women suffering from obstetric fistula, and the women "once rejected, are joyously welcomed back to their families and their villages."

But our local mission work has not been neglected. Connie Bauder, who chairs the Senior Fellowship, has a very active group who attend monthly varied educational and entertaining activities throughout the year. The many volunteers who help with this program often provide lunches as well.

Many thanks to those who have contributed extra gifts to Skeet's Pantry. Jane Huff, Helen Dickerson, and Carol Kientz help make this effort work along with other faithful volunteers. We had a special effort of providing fresh produce and breads added in this past year. The need is great, and over 100 people are fed by the bags that are packed and distributed each month.

We are grateful to John Sprout who is coordinating the Special Offering, starting with the One Great Hour of Sharing around Easter time. The confirmation class will be responsible for the Pentecost Offering in June. The Peacemaking Offering is in October, and the Christmas Joy Offering is In December. We are thankful for all who help to make these offerings so special to the needs of our church as well as the church worldwide.

The Annual Bread for the World Offering of Letters which will urge Congress to reform U.S foreign assistance to make it more effective in reducing hunger and poverty. Many of you are at least somewhat familiar with Bread for the World which is "a collective Christian voice urging our nation's decision makers to end hunger at home and abroad." Our church, together with our national church, contributes to this organization. In a recent bulletin they ask us to urge our members of Congress to make $20 billion available for needed changes in this year's reauthorization of the Child of Nutrition Act. Several programs help feed 30 million low-income children and these programs include: The National School Lunch Program which provides reduced price or free lunches on school days in 101,000 schools; the School Breakfast Program operates in 85,000 schools and serves 8.5 million children free or reduced price breakfasts; the Summer Food Service Program provides free meals and snacks during the summer and long school vacations on 32,700 sites to 2.1 million children; the Child and Adult Care Food Program provides meals and snacks in daycare centers and emergency shelters; the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) which provides monthly packages of nutritious foods 8.7 million people--low-income pregnant women, infants, and children up to the age of five-- 75 percent of whom are infants and young children. This last named must be funded by Congress every year; the others are entitlement programs. While many children are currently being fed, there are still nearly 10 million missing breakfast and 16 million going without food assistance in the summer. Let's urge our Congress to look on feeding children adequately as a major priority in next year's budget.