• Putting our faith into action has always been very important to Unitarian Universalists.

Our church has many faith-in-action activities and events, some which happen year around and others that are seasonal. For some FIA projects, we partner with or support the efforts of other organizations. For others, our church members and friends plan and implement the entire project.

Check out the many faith-in-action opportunities below.

UPDATES & UPCOMING EVENTS

YEAR AROUND FAITH-IN-ACTION ACTIVITIES

Faith-in-Action meetings  

Usually First Sunday of the month.  Next meeting: October 4. Everyone welcome.

12:15 p.m. in the Martin House  (the brick building next to our sanctuary)

Faith-in-Action activities are open to everyone; you don’t need to be on the FIA committee to participate. However, attending FIA meetings allows you to be part of the decision-making and planning.  To share ideas for future FIA activities or for more information, contact the FIA meeting leader Elise Weber.

Offering in Action

         If you won’t be at church on those Sundays, please mail checks (with offering in action in the memo line) to UUCH, att: treasurer, 13245 Cearfoss Pike, Hagerstown, MD 21740.

Selection of the recipient of the Offering in Action donations currently rotates among six church groups to encourage input from a wide range of UUs: the Book Group, the RE students, the Women’s Spirituality Group, the congregation-at-large, the UUCH board; and the Men’s Discussion Group.  If you want to suggest an organization, talk to a board member.

This outreach project was proposed by board members who also participate in the Men’s Discussion Group, after reading Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative. Many UU churches of all sizes are now giving away all or part of their Sunday offerings and report increased donations for both the outreach and support of the church.

CASA shelter for abused women

Abused women and their children often arrive at the CASA shelter with little but the clothes they’re  wearing.

They need personal care items; bath towels, wash cloths, blankets; disposable diapers; children’s clothing and toys; paper products;  laundry supplies; grocery store gift cards; and school supplies.   Most needed now are cleaning supplies (especially laundry detergent and dish soap), toilet paper, towels and wash cloths, large and kitchen trash bags, and gift cards for groceries and gas.

Leave your donations in the CASA basket in the sanctuary foyer.

For more information, talk to Dodie Ruskie.

SEASONAL FAITH-IN-ACTION ACTIVITIES

School Supplies Collection

Put donations in sanctuary foyer box from July 12 – August 16

UUCH is collecting school supplies to donate to children at Emma K. Doub Elementary School (our Micah’s Backpack school). Most needed items are #2 pencils, 24-crayon packs, colored pencils, 2-pocket folders, and children’s scissors (rounded-end, sharp- point, or left-handed). For more information, contact Elise Weber.

Micah’s Backpack.  Packing resumes September 13

Feeding Hungry Children:

Through this program, over 1300 children in Washington County have food over the weekend, thanks to support from many churches and several generous grants.

      UUCH provides weekend meals during the school year for 13 students at Emma Doub Elementary (in the south end of Hagerstown), along with grocery gift cards to each family for winter and spring break and at the start of the summer break.

Every Friday, participating children receive a bag with two days worth of food (three meals and a snack daily) —fruits, vegetables, cereal, juice, shelf-stable milk, and microwavable main dishes, all in individual serving-size packages. Occasionally, we pack extra food to cover in-service or vacation days.

Beginnings: Several years ago, a Hagerstown student attending Virginia Tech became aware of a program called Micah’s Backpack which provided weekend meals for low-income public-school children. The student told her parents about the program, they shared the information with others at their local Lutheran church, and a seed was planted. After a lot of fundraising, community contacts, and many, many volunteer hours, Micah’s Backpack (MB) began serving school children in the Washington County Public School System in 2012. UUCH has been a participating church since the beginning.

By the Numbers: currently over 1300  students in 37 schools are served by the program, which has 49 sponsors, mainly churches. The program is funded in several ways. A variety of grants raise $55,000. A donor provides the funding for the plastic drawstring bags used for the weekend meals. A major fundraiser is the Hagerstown Area Religious Council (HARC) annual Hike for Hunger and Hope, which earmarks some of the proceeds for Micah’s Backpack. HARC gives each sponsoring church or organization a subsidy per student served. The sponsor group provides the balance of funds needed. Our church budgets money each year for MB :$6,300  for 2025-26.

The MB funds go farther because most of the food is supplied by the Maryland Food Bank, which offers bulk quantities at reasonable prices. (The food bank also maintains strict standards for quality, freshness, and storage/handling by sponsor organizations. Our UUCH MB pantry passed inspection.) Unfortunately the current federal administration has cut or ended grants already promised  to food banks and school lunch programs.

The Process: Three orders per year are placed with the Food Bank. For UUCH, Jerry Harness and Bill Pfoutz pick up the food (generally 50 – 75 cartons!), and unload it all into our Micah’s Pantry located in the Martin House basement.

On the second and fourth Sundays each month during the school year, 6 – 8 UUCH volunteers gather in the basement pantry after the service to pack enough bags for two weekends and carry them upstairs to the shelving area where they are stored until delivery.

Each week, our distribution team – Courtenay Elder, Marcia Kirby, Deb Russell, Elise Weber – collects 20 bags and delivers them to Doub Elementary, where school staff distributes them on Fridays.

How You Can Help:

       Help pack MB bags after the service on second and fourth Sundays.

Pack the food bags on the 2^nd and 4^th Sundays in the Martin House basement.  And if you can, help carry the filled bags upstairs to the storage shelves where they are stored until our UUCH volunteers deliver them to the school each week.

Contribute needed foods: Hormel Compleat meals, small pudding snack cups, and bags of clementines (fresh fruit only in packing weeks). These foods are a special treat for the children because they are not available through the food bank where most of the MB items are purchased. Food donations may be left on the wire shelves in the Martin House downstairs meeting room.

Donate money when you can:  Our congregation provides funds in the annual budget to cover the bulk of our food purchases but this may not be enough because of cuts to the food bank funding and the rising cost of food. We also provide $25 supermarket gift cards to our Micah’s families for Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays (when the children do not receive free school lunches) and before the summer break..

Give monetary donations, with “Micah’s Backpack” in the memo line of any check, to our church treasurer, Bill Pfoutz or mail to the church, att: treasurer, 13245 Cearfoss Pike, Hagerstown, MD 21740

Our MB Program Makes a Difference.

Each spring, the Washington County Public Schools conduct a survey with all the Micah’s Backpack recipients, their parents and the teachers involved with the program. The Micah’s Backpack survey always shows that most of the children share the food with their families. a majority of the teachers believe that the children are more engaged in learning. and even more parents feel their children are doing better in school.

Our UUCH MB coordinator, Elise Weber, says, “Our school, Emma Doub Elementary, is located in an area very close to a large complex of subsidized housing, so it is a school with a great need. I’m grateful to all our members and friends who enable us to provide this important support to our kids.”

If you are interested in helping or for more information about the program, contact Elise Weber.

REACH Cold Weather Shelter

Our UU volunteers provide a meal and other help at the Hagerstown homeless shelter at least one evening each winter, usually in December. UUCH volunteers  prepare and serve a snack at 2 p.m. when the shelter opens and an evening meal at 7 p.m. After the meal, they will clean the kitchen.

Anyone who wants to help must complete an online volunteer application on the REACH website  (reachofwc.org/volunteer-application)  Volunteers must be at least 16. People under 18 may work only in the kitchen. There are no restrictions on where people 18 and older may volunteer. Those who can not volunteer at the shelter are encouraged to make a donation for the purchase of needed food.

In the past, UU volunteers have sometimes helped the REACH staff in other areas, including check in at the front desk, security search, laundry coordination, and hospitality (chatting with residents).

For more information about REACH, visit  http://reachofwc.org/

The Annual Ed Poling Memorial HARC Hikes for Hunger & Hope 

The Canal Hike, Saturday morning June 5, 2027  on the C&O Canal Towpath

        The Canal Hike is a non-competitive fundraising event open to all ages with 4K, 10K and half marathon on the C&O Canal Towpath.  The event supports hikers with snacks and drinks along the way and a celebration meal afterwards. Early bird discount if registered before deadline  (but hikers can register until the event.). The Towpath Hike was renamed in 2025 the Ed Poling Memorial HARC Hike, in honor of the long-time minister, HARC volunteer, and hiker.

   The Challenge Hike on Saturday, May 22, 2027, 20 miles on the Appalachian Trail is for more experienced hikers.

              To register or for more information, visit http://harccoalition.org/hike/. 

LGBTQ events.

     Our church is a UUA-recognized Welcoming Congregation so of course we participate in area LGBTQ events.

UUCH members and friends staff our UUCH tables at Pride events in Hagerstown and in Chambersburg. Our displays  have information about the Side with Love movement and Unitarian Universalism’s long history of inclusion. (see the articles at the top about our plans for the Chambersburg Pride Fest this year.)

Hagerstown Hopes Annual Pride Festival.

On a Saturday,  in May or June, noon  – 6 p.m. in Doub’s Woods Park, Hagerstown. 

Hagerstown Hopes was established in 2012 to bridge the gap between the straight and LGBTQ community. The  annual Pride Festival activities include female impersonators, music, speakers, food, and displays by area vendors, organizations and agencies.   For more information, visit www.hagerstownhopesmd.org or the Hagerstown Hopes Facebook page.

Pride Franklin County

 Sunday, October 11, 2026 noon to 5 p.m.  at Wilson College, Chambersburg, PA.

  Pride Franklin County incorporates traditional Pride elements and activities while maintaining a family-friendly and welcoming atmosphere. All entertainment is PG-rated.

          The first annual Pride Franklin County celebration in 2018 was organized by  Franklin County Coalition for Progress and Franklin County Equality Center to increase the visibility of the LGBTQ community and their contributions to Franklin County, to bring the LGBTQ community and straight allies together, and to celebrate diversity, acceptance and respect in Franklin County.

          For more information, visit www.fccforprogress.org.

Berkeley County Pride Festival

 Saturday, October 3, 2026 at War Memorial Park in downtown Martinsburg, WV

Potter’s Bowl to support free clinic

Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026,  at the Elks Club. 

Previous events cost  $55.   Limited seating.    Tickets required

Enjoy a meal of homemade soups, in a bowl  hand-made by an area potter. You choose the bowl and take it home after the meal, which also includes bread, desserts, and drinks.  And while you enjoy the evening, you are helping the Community Free Clinic, which has been providing free medical care and prescriptions to medically uninsured Washington County residents since 1990.  More information at www.mycommunityfreeclinic.org/events

Mittens & More for Our UUCH Trees

       In December, we decorate trees in the sanctuary with mittens, gloves, scarfs, and hats—purchased or handmade—which are donated after the holidays to keep local children warmer in wintery temperatures. In recent years, the mitten tree contributions have been taken to Children in Need, located in downtown Hagerstown, which distributes children’s clothing free of charge to local residents in need.