Mission
Our mission is expressed as we offer hope and help to those in need in our community, and beyond. Through hands-on service and financial giving, we make our resources available to further God's healing intentions for people and the planet.
Reach 2012
July 22-28, 2012, Reach Workcamps will work to improve more than 60 homes within a 30-mile radius of Ontario. Over 400 Sr. High youth and their adult leaders will offer basic home repairs and renovations to community members in need, such as low-income, elderly, or disabled residents at no cost to the homeowners. Projects will include weatherization, interior or exterior painting, drywall, flooring, roofing, repair/construction of porches, steps, and wheel-chair ramps. Reach Ontario is sponsored by the First Presbyterian Church of Ontario Center, in collaboration with the Wayne Central School District, Reach Workcamps, and numerous community partners.
In Our Community
Locally, we offer volunteer help and financial support in partnership wth the following service providers.
Reach Ontario 2012 applications.
Reach WorkCamps for Sr. High and Adults
Since 2001, we have sponsored a team of Sr. High students and adults, who serve elderly and low-income residents of targeted communities, by offering free housing repairs and renovations. Linking with Reach Work Camps, Inc., our team participates in a week-long summer work camp. As work campers develop basic skills in home maintenance and repair, they also build a commitment to community service, experience enhanced self-esteem, and learn teamwork, perserverance, responsibility and flexibility. WorkCamp is also a setting in which our youth will experience relationship-building and spiritual growth through daily small group and worship. In the summer of 2009, we sent a workcamp team of high schoolers and adults to Niagara Falls, NY.
New Orleans Hurricane Relief Mission for College Students and Adults
"Three years after Hurricane Katrina, our waiting list is not getting shorter, it is getting longer" --- Liz McCartney, St. Bernards' Parish Project, New Orleans
Responding to the significant and on-going needs on the Gulf Coast, since 2007 we have sponsored Hurricane Relief Teams. Our teams, comprised of college students and adults representing several churches and many colleges, have spent a week in January offering help to residents seeking to restore their homes.
This project not only benefits the residents of New Orleans, it is also building new community partnerships in Ontario, Walworth and beyond. And, it is giving college students and adults alike, a significant experience of volunteer service that has life-changing impact
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Ontario Food Pantry
The Ontario Food Pantry offers non-perishable food and household goods to individuals and households in need. Food Pantry clients may receive a special circumstances referral for assistance once a week for six weeks, or a standard referral for assistance once a month, for six months. Referrals are available through Pastor Cheryl
The congregation receives a monthly food offering, the first Sunday of the month, and participates in offerings of food needed for seasonal holiday food baskets for Food Pantry Clients. Food and household goods received through these offerings are donated to the food pantry. The congregation also offers two teams of volunteers who assist with food distribution to Food Pantry Clients.
Ontario Clothing Closet
Operating in tandem with the food pantry, the Ontario Clothing Closet makes gently used clothing available at very low cost.
Members of the congregation server as volunteers who help organize and distribute clothing.
Pines of Peace
Pines of Peace is a home, located in Ontario, NY, that offers a residence for the terminally ill. This independent, inter-faith, inter-community ministry offers pain and symptom relief to residents and emotional/spiritual support to their families. The First Presbyterian Church of Ontario Center provides financial support to this ministry, through budgeted church funds and in collaboration with Geneva Presbytery, through mission grants.
For more information about Pines of Peace, see www.pinesofpeace.org
Christmas Sharing Project
The Christmas Sharing project is a community collaboration to help families in need, during the holiday season. Through this project, families receive a basket of food and specially purchased and wrapped Christmas gifts. Our congregation receives food and gift requests, which are filled through individual contributions. Many look forward to picking the stars bearing gift suggestions and going shopping to pick out the gifts that will make Christmas a little brighter for those who struggle to meet basic daily needs.
AA- Alcoholics Anonymous
The Ontario AA group meets every Thursday evening, 8:00 p.m in the lower level of the church building. All who are seeking support and encouragement in recovery from addiction to alcohol or drugs, are welcome to attend.
Girl Scouts
Our buildings have been widely used by the Girl Scouts of America. From troop meetings and leader training to a cookie distribution center, our roomy Parish Hall and the recently renovated space in the lower level of our church building lend themselves well to the programming offered in support of women and girls.
P.I.N.S Counseling
In partnership with the Wayne Central School District and Catholic Family Center, we make space available to individuals and families who have been identified for counseling through the “Persons In Need Of Supervision” program. By offering space locally, it is possible for families to receive the help they need, without traveling to access Wayne County services, located in Lyons.
Beyond Our Community
Our financial giving reaches beyond our local community. Special offerings give the congregation opportunity to make God's love present and visible to those in need, in our nation and in our world.
2 Cents a Meal
The Two Cents-A-Meal offering is received in worship, monthly, on the fourth Sunday of the month. This offering is targeted toward alleviating hunger, locally and internationally. By giving 2 cents for every meal we eat, we contribute to a pooling of resources gathered from the Presbyterian Churches in the geographical region served by Geneva Presbytery. Funds, administered through the Hunger Committee of Geneva Presbytery, are distributed to such hunger ministries as food pantries, soup kitchens, lunch programs, and meals on wheels.
Some funds are also allocated to international hunger projects.
One Great Hour of Sharing
This offering, received on Palm Sunday, is distributed through the Presbyterian Hunger Program, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, and the Self-Development of People program.
In tangible ways, this offering makes a tremendous difference to people experiencing need around the world.
To learn more, check out www.pcusa.org/oghs
Peacemaking Offering
Through this offering, received on World Communion Sunday, we have the opportunity to offer support to ministries that further God’s intentions for peace in our communities, nation, and world.
Twenty-five percent of this offering remains with the congregation and is used to help fund our Mission WorkCamps. Through our WorkCamp experiences, young people and adults put peacemaking into practice as they work to improve the living conditions of elderly, low-income, and disaster-stricken residents of the communities they serve.
To learn more, check out www.pcusa.org/peacemakingoffering
Christmas Joy Offering
Received on Christmas Eve, this offering assists retired pastors and church workers who are in need of financial assistance and it helps to support the racial ethnic schools and colleges of the PC(USA).
To learn more, check out www.pcusa.org/cjoffering