When you woke up this morning, did you have the means to take a bath or shower? Did you get to brush your teeth and rinse them with fresh water? Did you have the privilege of doing your laundry and washing your dishes? These basics are often things we may take for granted. Not everyone does. Midwest Mission gets to help transform lives by sending humanitarian aid and supplies. You are integral in making it happen!

Guatemala is one of the many countries we continue to serve. Two shipments have gone out in the last two weeks through our partner, Food For The Poor (FFTP). On Thursday, Aug. 18, a 20-foot container for Angels of Hope was filled with 360 Home Care Kits in buckets, 840 Personal Dignity Kits in Midwest Mission logo bags and 840 tubes of toothpaste. Rockline Industries supplied 286 cases of disinfectant wipes (4 packages of 216 per case) and Rural King provided 187 cases of 16.9 oz of antibacterial hand cleaner. 

Value: $54,270.00

On Tuesday, Aug. 23, a 40-foot FFTP container was loaded for Guatemala. With the contents of this load, mothers will receive Birthing Kits to help with safe delivery of their babies. Layette kits for the 0-6 month babies filled with little girl and little boy outfits, Onesies, handmade diapers, hand-knitted sweaters and safety pins will allow them to better care for the new lives they are bringing into this world. Feminine Hygiene Kits are included and keeps girls going to school even when menstruating. 

Student Kits provide the basic necessities to help children learn - notebooks, rulers, pencils, colored pencils, crayons and more. Inside each Midwest Mission Kit is a Prayer card. The card is one of the most important pieces included, as it reminds the recipients that someone they may never meet loves them unconditionally. It’s another way we share God’s love in a practical way. When you assemble or verify a kit, pray over it and tuck the card into the kit, you are making a difference in someone’s life. 

This load, valued at $350,079.00 also included crutches, twin hospital bed mattresses, hospital gowns, redirected furniture, medical bassinets, ponchos, tarps and more. The following partners helped with this container:

Illinois Baptist Association, Rockline Industries, Rural King, the St. Louis VA Medical Center-Jefferson Barracks, Lamar Advertising and Hospital Sisters Outreach.

Each year, the Chatham Area Chamber of Commerce awards a Business Excellence Award to a non-profit for outstanding accomplishments in the community. This year, we were blessed to be the recipient of this award. We are honored to be recognized in our local community and are excited to share this joy with you.

Without our volunteers, donors, and supporters, we would not be able to do what we do. You are the reason we have received this award - so thank YOU.

Midwest Mission Development Manager, Lisa Rigoni, accepted the award at the Chatham Chamber Annual Meeting on behalf of Midwest Mission, Thursday, Aug. 25.

List of what is included in the kits here

Permanent Collection Sites here

Monetary donations here

Learn more about the events here

Sign up for the Ankeny, Iowa event here

Sign up for the Springfield, Illinois event here

Sign up for the Tremont, Illinois event here

MIDWEST MISSION WEEKLY PROJECTS

Work of the Mission Volunteers

Projects completed

• 684 UMCOR Cleaning Kits
• 672 Personal Dignity Kits (PDK's)
• 270 Student Kits
• 5,022 Rice Meal Packs, 2500 Hartford UMC, WI, 1802 Central Bay District Youth - Mt Pleasant, MI, 720 St Mathews - Belleville, IL

Other work done

• Student Desks - sand, poly, build
• Repaired bikes
• Rice Meal prep
• Sorted outfits
• Counted items into inventory
• Grounds keeping
• Replaced entrance siding
• Landscaping
• Traced patterns

Disbursements

• Food for the Poor General-in-kind, Mixco, Guatemala Value: $350,790.00, See story above
• Food for the Poor Angel Of Hope, Mixco, Guatemala Value: $54,270.00, See story above
• CICIM, Decatur, IL redirected furnishings and redirected clothing items Value: $8,644.00
• University of Illinois (UIS) International Students 3 Bikes Value: $135.00
• Ronald McDonald House, Wauwatosa, WI redirected cleaning, hygiene and school supplies Value: $534.00
• ACE-SAP Free Clinic, Waterloo, IA redirected shower chair Value: $120.00
• St. Martin de Porres 264 UMCOR School KIts, disinfectant wipes, and redirected cleaning supplies Value: $4,604.00

*Redirected items are those items received that do not fit into the parameters of our kits and projects.

Midwest Mission is able to do this work because of your generous donations and willingness to volunteer. Thank you!

Jennie & Stan Lowrey

Pattonsburg, MO

Rus & Tony DeBonis

Waterloo, IA

Up n Comers

Springfield, IL

NOMADS 2022

Oak Creek Community UMC

Oak Creek, WI

Hitzhusen Family

Geneseo, IL

John Richardson

Ken Anderson

Alison Schlichting

Mike Childress

Dan Blank

Beverly Drillinger

Bob Leach