Wesley Sandwich Sunday Replaced by Power Pack Program (P³)

For 18 years, the congregation of Wesley United Methodist Church has faithfully participated in a mission to feed the hungry and homeless of Northern Virginia by collecting or purchasing dried and canned goods and placing them in the Food for Others containers located under the coat rack near the church library and making sandwiches on the last Sunday of every month.

After recent conversations with the Director of Operations of Food for Others, the requirement for sandwiches has greatly diminished and emphasis is now being placed on feeding our community’s children, who are getting their principal nutrition for the week through school-served meals and are receiving very little food in their home environment over the weekends.

Based on these conversations and discussions with Pastor Ray Brill and Tom Bowen (Chairman of the Wesley Missions Committee), the collecting or purchasing of dried and canned goods will continue, but the sandwich-making portion of the mission is terminated. Instead of making sandwiches, the members of our congregation will be asked to provide non-perishable food and beverages that will be packed up into gallon-size plastic bags on the last Sunday of every month and taken to Food for Others for distribution to needy children in Vienna who are attending Vienna’s elementary schools. This new mission is called the Power Pack Program or P³.

The purpose of Wesley’s P³ is to provide needy Vienna elementary school children with non-perishable food and beverages to nourish them over a weekend when they are not being served school meals. To accomplish this mission, Wesley volunteers will be asked to meet on the last Sunday of every month in the Fellowship Hall during the Sunday School hour and pack gallon-sized plastic bags with items to provide each child with two breakfasts, two lunches, two dinners, two snacks, and two beverages. The program assumes the needy children’s households have microwave ovens, pots, and water.

To fill the P³ bags, the Wesley congregation will be asked to contribute the non-perishable items and drop them off in a designated P³ container in the church prior to the last Sunday of every month or make monetary contributions to Wesley United Methodist Church with a designation going to the P³.

Examples of appropriate P³ items by meal are as follows:

Breakfast

• Packages of dry oatmeal or Cream of Wheat
• Small cereal boxes
• Pop tarts
• Granola Bars

Lunch or Dinner

• Bag of Ramen noodles
• Small cans of food such as Chef-Boyardee, Swanson, Star Kist
• Small bag or container of Macaroni and Cheese (Easy Mac)
• Cup O Noodle Soup

Beverages

• Capri Sun
• Hi-C

Snacks

• Small bags of cookies, chips, dried fruit, crackers
• Food for Others requested that candy not be put into the P³ bags

Wesley’s P³ will begin the last Sunday of January 2012. If you have any questions, please contact Tim Davidson. Your participation in this new mission will be of great service to the needy children of Vienna.

Please help, as you are able. and when you shop for food for yourselves or your families, please consider purchasing some of the items on the list above to make this mission a real success. Thank you!