What You Can Do
- Hold legislative candidate forums in your local church to give an opportunity for the congregation to pose questions related to children's issues. If there is more than one United Methodist church in your community, it could be a cooperative venture with several churches.
- Develop a system to help low-income families enroll their kids into KidCare. Call 1-866-4-OUR-KID (1-866-468-7543) for more information.
- Encourage your church members to let legislators know how they feel about children's issues. Help them know how and where to write their legislators. Provide addresses and letter writing support.
Raise Your Voice For Children
We'd like to publish accounts of the work of our child advocates. Send your advocacy story to Debbie Rogers, c/o Wesley United Methodist Church, 21 E. Franklin Avenue, Naperville, IL 60540, or e-mail to umvoices4kids@yahoo.com.
For general mail to UVC or information about the 5th Sunday appeal, send to: Debbie Rogers, c/o Wesley United Methodist Church, 21 E. Franklin Avenue, Naperville, IL 60540, or e-mail to umvoices4kids@yahoo.com.
United Voices for Children exists to encourage congregations to advocate for children through supportive ministries that assist families in the nurture of their children. We also promote the 5th Sunday Appeal that provides financial resources to the four United Methodist-related related child-serving agencies in the Northern Illinois Conference of The United Methodist Church. These organizations are: ChildServ, Marcy-Newberry Association, Methodist Youth Services and the Rosecrance Health Network.
How to Reach Out to Children
- Do work projects (one day or more).
- Donate good (used) clothing, furniture, birthday and holiday gifts, new books, new baby items, certificates for movies, eating out, family events.
- Mentor foster children at ChildServ Group Homes or foster-care sites.
- Volunteer for holiday events, summer camp programs, respite care, activities.
- Sponsor a foster family or program site with contributions.
- Request a speaker to give a presentation for adult, children or youth education class, Bible study, Sunday worship service.
To help in these ways, please contact Ms. Jennifer Collins, Volunteer Coordinator, at (773) 693-0300, or by e-mail: jcollins@childserv.org.
Volunteer Opportunities
Methodist Youth Services is looking for volunteers in a variety of areas and is willing to work with your schedule and special requests.
Call (773) 728-1818 for more information or by e-mail: mysprogram@aol.com.
Say Yes for Children
Take a few moments to be added to an important group whose voice needs to be heard. The General Board of Global Ministries Women's Division encourages United Methodists to sign a pledge of support promoting the rights of children around the world.
http://gbgm-umc.org/umw/sayyesbak.html
Action Alerts
ChildServ promotes Child Advocacy in local congregations of the Northern Illinois Conference of the United Methodist Church through its participation in United Voices for Children, a coalition of the four United Methodist agencies serving children in Northern Illinois.