The 2018 Annual Report of the Board of Missions:
Our CCOB Missions Committee was very busy in 2018. Members are Jean Andersen, Lora LeDuc, Paul Cyr, Nora Cyr, Lyn Prentice, Janet Chase, and Rev. Jim Dowse.

During the month of April, we collected items for CWS School Kits from our congregation, assembling 32 school kits to be distributed to various places in the U.S. and the world. Also, in April we sent in one last donation from our penny jar to CAI (Central Asia Institute) which helps to build schools for girls in Central Asia. This donation was $106 and we had previously sent many more. We repurposed this jar for local missions during the rest of the year and in the future.

In October, two members from our church, Linda Murray and Pat Kay, participated in the CROP Walk for World Hunger which took place at the 2nd Congregational Church in Newcastle. Many of our church members donated and raised $400 (with a total of approximately $4,000 from all participants who took part in this walk).

Our church took part in our UCC Five for Five Special Offerings throughout the year. These are: Our Church’s Wider Mission, $2,600 which we give to annually out of our church budget, and 4 other special collections:  NIN (Neighbors in Need) for various help in U.S., Strengthen the Church, for helping new and growing churches and youth ministries, OGHS (One Great Hour of Sharing), World Help Christmas Fund, help with pension and health insurance for low income retired church workers and for emergency assistance for clergy families in need.

Sandy Holmes, once again, collected Coats for Seniors. She collected 15 coats and with those, LL Bean donated $5 per coat ($75 total) to help people with heating oil.

Our budget from the church this year increased from $2,000 to $3,000. This allowed us to increase our giving to 6 of our previous recipients and we were able to give token amounts to 3 other organizations for the first time. We researched various organizations before deciding which ones to help, choosing ones which give the most money directly to services (with smaller percentages used for their administrative fees). We gave generously to Caring for Kids, CHIP, Every Dollar Feeds Kids, Elder Care, Healthy Kids, Meals on Wheels, and New Hope for Women. And, we gave token gifts to 3 organizations: World Vision, Hearty Roots, and the Travis Mills Foundation. It has been a very productive year.

Respectfully submitted,

Lyn Prentice