Harckham Presents Commendation Awards To Food Drive Volunteers, Mask Makers Written by Office of Senator Harckham
New York State Senator Pete Harckham presented Commendation Awards to two groups recently.
First, Reverend Martha E. Vink, rector of both Drew Methodist Church in Carmel and First United Methodist Church in Brewster, and Maureen and Rick Warren of Somers were recognized for their exceptional efforts at the food drives Harckham has hosted over the past nine months.
Also, the 14 women who called themselves the Somers Mask Army were given Commendation Awards for making and distributing more than 5,100 protective masks during the coronavirus pandemic.
Harckham Holds Holiday Food Drive in Carmel Written by Office of Senator Pete Harckham
New York State Senator Pete Harckham held a holiday food drive over the weekend in Carmel, where 30 volunteers collected about 8,000 pounds of donated food and $600 in contributions for the food pantries of the Gilead Presbyterian Church in Carmel Hamlet and the Putnam Community Action Program, both of which will help feed members of the community, including many seniors.
The food drive, which was held on Saturday, Dec. 12 at Drew United Methodist Church and lasted around two hours, resulted in over 250 packed boxes of food, which included oatmeal, peanut butter, vegetable oil, rice, cold cereal, tuna, beans, canned soup, pasta, tomato sauce and other staples. Diapers, feminine products and reusable grocery bags were donated as well.
Martha E. Vink (left) and Alka Lyall (right) lead a Holy Communion service at an Advent gathering in 2019 at St. Andrew United Methodist Church in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. (Photo courtesy of LMX)
A group of progressive United Methodists and other Christians have launched a new denomination named the Liberation Methodist Connexion, or LMX.
The new church aims to center on the voices of people of color as well as queer and transgender individuals those the LMX organizers see as marginalized in the United Methodist Church.
“We are a grassroots denomination of former, current, and non-Methodist faith leaders working on the unfolding of the kin-dom of God,” the LMX says on its website. “We intentionally invite the full participation of all who are living out their God-given identities and expressions.”