FOOD Missions    |    Missions serving CHILDREN   |    HOUSING Missions

Ready to get involved? Sign up at: WAYS TO SERVE page

Click the image above to view the current WEEKLY WANTS at the CUMC Food Pantry. 

Mission of the Month: for January 2026
Sierra Leone Missions

             As we look ahead into 2026 for our partnership with missions in Sierra Leone, we cannot help but look back into 2025 and reflect on all that took place this past year. In January, we sent a team for two weeks to build relationships with our partners in Freetown and Taiama. We met up with our beloved pastor friend, Daisy Gbloh, who gave us a tour of the preschool and seminary we support as a church. In 2024 we gave funds for new bathrooms at the preschool and on that trip we got to celebrate their opening!

             We saw the stairs up to the chapel at the seminary that we funded as a church so the seminarians could worship together in a sacred space. We spent a week with the students at the Taiama Enterprise Academy, a trade school where our church funds 25% of the students. It was a mission trip filled with celebrations.

             Sadly, in June, Carmel UMC’s mission leader, Karen Gould, died unexpectedly from a recurrence of cancer. She was a fearless, driven leader who partnered with the Bishop in Sierra Leone and the Operation Classroom board to launch the Taiama Enterprise Academy. Her work with the academy has changed hundreds of students’ lives in the five short years that it has been open. That reach goes beyond just the students and out into the villages of Sierra Leone where graduates take their newly learned trades to start businesses and teach their home villages innovative ways to farm.

             This ministry partnership is important. As we move into the new year, Pastor Patti Napier, a long time supporter of Operation Classroom and current board member, will visit our congregation to talk about this ministry. We ask that you listen closely and prayerfully consider if this partnership is something that you would like to step into. Without leaders from Carmel UMC to drive our mission initiatives, we have to let them go. Will you be the one to step into this mission?

Questions? Feel free to contact missions@carmelumc.org

THANK YOU!

to every person who donated items, money, time, and more to the efforts of Serve Week 2025. So many neighbors were helped, and so many missions were supported! 

      The CUMC Food Pantry serves about 350 families each month. We partner with local churches, school organizations and members of the community to serve healthy food to HAMILTON COUNTY RESIDENTS. Please bring: a photo ID and proof of residence, such as a utility bill or rental agreement, with you when you visit the food pantry.

      Since 2022, St Christopher's Episcopal Church, Carmel Christian Church, Cornerstone Lutheran, and Noblesville First UMC, have donated bounty from their own gardens to the CUMC Food Pantry. Orchard Park Presbyterian Church donates all of the eggs given to guests of the pantry.

If you are interested in volunteering in the Food Pantry, fill out the form at THIS LINK. If you have never volunteered at the pantry, please sign up for a Newbie Shift for training before you volunteer as a Guest Shopper. Newbie Shifts are every Tuesday night 5-7pm and Saturday 11am-1pm.

You can also email foodpantry@carmelumc.org

Soup's On joins Roberts Park UMC in downtown Indianapolis to serve meals to the hungry and homeless of downtown Indy on Sundays each week. Meals are provided from 12-1pm. Personal hygiene items are also available. CUMC serves several times per year. Contact Natalie Oehler at nataliejoehler@gmail.com about volunteering to serve. Read more about 'Soup's On' on page 13 of theAugust 2025 edition of THE CONTACT - (click here) ... and past information can be found on page 5 of the July 2023 edition of THE CONTACT - (click here)

If you would like to make the SINGLE LAYER TIE FLEECE BLANKETS that are used in the Bags of Hope mission, find the instructions at this link: https://carmelumc.org/mt-content/uploads/2023/09/blanket-instructions.pdf 

They need over 500 blankets each year!

BAGS OF HOPE

Most children in foster care enter with nothing of their own. Bags of Hope provides foster children with their own mongrammed duffle bag filled with books, blankets, toys and a few item that will hopefully bring them joy.

More Info HERE.

CARMEL COAT CLOSET

Carmel Coat Closet serves students at Carmel Clay Schools, as well as adults. New this year, each church will be serving their school district in deeper ways connecting directly with the schools in their community and the counselors or social workers to reach kids that need a coat not only at the giveaway, but also on a school-level until winter is over.

More Info HERE.

carmelumc.org/coats 

We have a list of popular items on our AMAZON WISHLIST, if you would like to buy online and have it shipped to: 

Carmel United Methodist Church

c/o CARMEL COAT CLOSET MISSION

621 South Rangeline Road

Carmel, IN 46032
(shop the wishlist by clicking the button below)

SALVATION ARMY:
ANGEL TREE

      This is our fifth year working with the Salvation Army for the Angel Tree Program. Our CUMC leaders are Beth Lotti and Margaret Kettle. They led the Christmas drive in November and met with the Salvation Army to map out the Family Life Center (FLC) and the volunteer slots for set-up and the event on December 6!