With Missions

While your home probably shelters you and your family from cold and wet weather, many Central Appalachian families experience fall’s damp chill, winter’s ice and snow, and spring’s showers quite differently. Help make their homes warmer, safer, and drier by volunteering in the fall, winter or spring at an Appalachia Service Project Center in Kentucky, Virginia or West Virginia.

Amaze yourself at what you can accomplish for a family in need. Please prayerfully consider what you will do to help. For more information, please contact Jack Rosko.

What began as a mission of the Apex United Methodist Men in 1988 when the State of NC first started the Adopt-A-Highway program continues to this day at AUMC with trash pick ups 4 times a year. The group is led by Chris Finch who has been leading it for about 14 years and Chris has increased participation in this group (now informally dubbed “Trash Warriors”) from just the UMM to include all age groups in the church with “first timers” showing up at almost every collection. No experience is necessary and all are Welcome! The various pick ups range in size from about 15 to almost 30 and has been included several times in the Faith in Action weekend events. They meet at the Peak to get their supplies and nice “one size fits nobody” vests and gloves and bags and then head out to pick up the trash. It usually takes between 1-1.5 hours to complete our route. The only requirement is that participants come out to have a good time and want to help keep Apex the Peak of Good Living. You can register for an event by contacting Chris Finch or you can register on Church Center. 

The AUMC American Red Cross Team assists the Red Cross in saving lives. We schedule at least two blood drives in the CLC annually. Blood supplies are critically low. Help us make sure you, your family, or your neighbors have enough blood on hand if they need it! Sign up at www.redcrossblood.org. One unit of your blood can save up to three lives! Join the team and help us deliver on our mission of saving lives. For more information, please contact Jim Ahler.

Apex Outreach Service Project (AOSP) is a weeklong mission experience for youth and adults. Participants work in teams to make home repairs for seniors in Apex and surrounding areas. Typical work includes: painting, replacing siding, flooring, building ramps, etc. Eligible youth are rising 9th graders through graduating seniors.​

AOSP is typically the third week of July.

Eligible Participants: Rising 9th graders through graduating seniors. Adult leaders must be 21 years of age or older. These adults will serve as work team leaders during the week providing leadership and serving as a Christian role model for the youth. Adults should enjoy working with youth. For more information, please contact Tanner Johnson.

Our mission is to provide assistance with basic home repairs and maintenance for AUMC members who are unable to meet these needs themselves. We send a team of at least 2 volunteers to not only help with small projects, but also build relationships within our church community. All activities are authorized by church staff and supported with prayer. Please contact Ed Poston with questions.

The Christmas Store exists to provide new toys at Christmas to children in low-income families by engaging volunteers in meaningful community service. The store is hosted by United Church of Apex. Each client receives an appointment time upon registration and has an opportunity to “shop” at the store on that day and time. Free childcare is provided for clients who bring their children. The children will visit with Santa’s helpers, hear the Christmas story, and enjoy crafts, snacks or games. Meanwhile, the parents will speak with a volunteer, and are then given an opportunity to select 2-3 gifts for each child registered. When clients have finished shopping, the gifts will be wrapped.

Opportunities to help exist in every part of the Christmas Store – you can purchase toys, make a financial donation, or volunteer to work in the store. We will have tags to purchase toys on Christmas trees in all of our buildings by early November. Purchase a gift for that gender and age, then bring it back by the date specified.

For more information, please contact Mary Morris, or visit the Christmas Store website.

Christian Life Home provides a Christ-Centered, loving family atmosphere for young women, ages 10-23 in an unplanned or crisis pregnancy. Since 1985, CLH has served the needs of hundreds of pregnant young women with compassion and guidance to receive care, counseling and life-skills training. The ministry was started by concerned individuals in the community who wanted to provide a brighter future for pregnant women and their babies. Volunteers help with yard work, repairs, painting or spend time with the girls usually cooking a meal or sharing a short Bible study. For more information, visit their website or contact Jeanne Whittlesey.

CORRAL (Centered on Riding, Rehabilitation, and Learning) is a faith-motivated nonprofit that equips adolescent girls in high-risk situations through a long-term, holistic program of equine therapy and education to prepare each girl and her community with skills, resources, and opportunities so that she can gain access to a bright future. Come join our mission of serving some of our community’s most vulnerable youth and help them prepare for a successful life after high school! The opportunities are endless at CORRAL! Whether you want to work with the horses, tutor a girl, work in the garden, mend fences, write grants or thank you cards, prepare meals, or greet new volunteers, there is a place for you! Check out our website, corralriding.org, for more info and to sign-up for our next Volunteer Orientation! Volunteer Orientation is held every 3rd Saturday from 9a-12p. Contact Heather Brewer for more information.

We are currently seeking someone to lead our disaster relief efforts. We have the necessary tools and ability to serve in the event of a natural disaster and have been very involved in hurricane, flood and tornado relief in the past. However, at this time we are in need of someone to spearhead this area of missions. Contact Jack Rosko for more information.

AUMC volunteers travel to El Salvador to build homes with Volunteers in Missions or Habitat for Humanity El Salvador. Those on the mission work as part of an international team to help build homes for the poor. El Salvador is far away, but it is a place of great poverty and great need. A typical income is $4 per day. Many jobs can be seasonal and there is a great lack of opportunity. Between 1980 and 1992, a civil war killed 60,000 people; left thousands of children orphaned and further hurt the fragile economy. The economic conditions are further complicated by natural disasters. In 1998, Hurricane Mitch caused extensive flood damage and in 2001, a series of devastating earthquakes caused widespread destruction of housing. Right now, there is a need for 500,000 homes. A trip is being planned for summer of 2023.

For more information, please contact Bob Lempp or Randel Sink.

Family Promise has revamped its overall mission to address family homelessness in Wake County, not only by making the decision to permanently shelter the families needing emergency housing at the transitional apartment building adjacent to the Family Promise Day Center but also to become engaged in targeted financial assistance to prevent families from losing their existing housing, expanding the scope of transitional housing for families bridging between emergency and permanent housing, and further supporting families who are newly emerging from transitional housing in the hope that they will not ever again find themselves without permanent housing.

Here is the link for a power point presentation describing all that is now going on with the Family Promise mission.

In this new paradigm, Apex UMC will continue to participate in the emergency shelter program by providing meal support for the families in that program during assigned host weeks. Now that the Day Center and its grounds have recently been updated and renovated, and other social gathering spaces near the Day Center made available for Family Promise activities, volunteers from the participating churches are also encouraged to once again directly interact with the families during their respective host weeks through shared evening meals and social activities.

If you have any questions about what this new model looks like, or for information about this ministry in general, please contact Pam Keenan.

1 in 5 children in the Triangle go hungry every day. Feed the Kids takes action against childhood hunger in our community by providing weekend meals and snacks to food insecure kids through local schools. Not only does this ministry help individuals become healthier children, but it also enables them to be fully engaged students. Since the start of this mission 9 years ago, Feed the Kids has delivered over 54,000 bags of food to kids in need and serves an average of 180 kids per week.

Current needs: any individually packaged foods, but especially breakfast items (cereal/oatmeal/grits) and individual fruit packs. Please place items in the marked bins in the Crossroads Circle. Thank you! 

For more information, please contact Jenn Orr.

Green Chair uses donated household furnishings to renew lives of participants referred from area programs who are recovering after homelessness, crisis or disaster. Find out more at their website or contact Anne Harrison.

Imagine not having a home to return to each night. Habitat for Humanity offers safe, affordable homes for God’s people in need to help end the cycle of poverty for generations. Apex UMC is a long-time supporter of Habitat for Humanity of Wake County, by sending a portion of our offerings to them every year and by providing volunteer construction labor. No special skills are required for the volunteer labor; Habitat-Wake crew members provide on-the-job training and tools.

There are opportunities to volunteer as an individual on job sites in Wake County almost every week at this link: https://www.habitatwake.org/volunteer-habitat-humanity-wake-county

When there are builds taking place in or near the Apex community, Apex UMC will have several days assigned when members of the congregation are especially encouraged to enjoy the fellowship of volunteering together.

Build dates will be listed in the bulletin and there will be a special link. With Habitat-Wake anyone age 16 and above can participate. People ages 16-18 must be accompanied by a parent.

For more information contact Jeff Portzer.

Paper with Purpose volunteers gather once a month and create hand made cards that are used by the pastors, various ministries at the church and a prison ministry called Pardoned by Christ. No experience is necessary and all supplies are provided. Contact Lori Fahs for more information.

We need your help to make a wonderful memory for someone special! Attending the prom is important to many young women, and often the expenses associated with the event make it extremely difficult for many families, especially in difficult economic times.

The Prom Shoppe, an outreach ministry of the Apex UMC Family of Faith Communities, works to alleviate this burden. The shop provides prom dresses, as well as shoes, jewelry and accessories, to area teens. It serves the entire Wake and Chatham County areas. Monetary donations will also be accepted.

Prom Shoppe is held annually at the beginning of March.
For more information, please contact promshoppe@apexumc.org.

Apex UMC has paired with USCRI, World Relief of Durham, CWS and U4U to assist in the placement and preparations of homes for refugees who have relocated to the US from countries in conflicts. We coordinate the collection of household items, cleaning and setting up of the new home, and meal provisions for the family’s first night in their new home.

Please contact Ruth Wormald
ruthwormald@gmail.com or Kara Matthews kara.matthews@apexumc.org for more information or to get involved in this exciting ministry.

In the recent few years one of the greatest areas of vulnerability that has come to the forefront within our society is in mental health. There have been great strides made in dismantling the prejudices that often accompany this arduous journey that families face, but we have a long way to go. Apex UMC has an ongoing support group that focuses on the family members of those who battle mental illness. Please join us on the third Thursday of every month in CLC 206/207, 5-6pm. Register on Church Center.

Please contact Gray Southern, Susan Southern or Kara Matthews if you have any questions.

The Simple Gifts Community Garden was started in 2009 as a community mission of Apex United Methodist Church. From the start, this effort has been inclusive of the entire community. Membership is not dependendent on one’s address, faith, church, gardening ability or even ability to pay the $15 annual family fee (full and partial scholarships are available). Members of the garden share all the efforts and bounty of the garden. Through a communal approach, we work the soil, fight with the weeds, plant, harvest and share in the bounty and beauty of the garden. Food from the garden is shared with Western Wake Crisis Ministry.

For more information, contact Anne Harrison or visit the garden’s website.

Western Wake Crisis Ministry provides help to Apex, New Hill, Friendship, Holly Springs and Fuquay-Varina residents. Families may visit once every 30 days for food assistance and once every 12 months for financial aid due to an emergency situation. Information, advocacy and referral assistance is also available as needed. Visit WWCM’s website for their hours of operation and for more details on the services provided.

Food Donations: WWCM serves approximately 300 families per month, so food is always needed. Apex UMC sends different food items each month – see the weekly worship bulletin for the month’s donations. You can drop off food in the WWCM bins located outside by the Discipleship Center in the Crossroads circle. In November, a church wide drive is held to support WWCM’s special distribution of Thanksgiving meals to their clients. Details on the drive come out in October. 

Become a Volunteer: During office hours, volunteers weigh and sort food, pack grocery bags, interview clients, help clean up and run errands. Opportunities for after-hours assistance include picking up food from local grocery stores and organizing special projects. 

For more information, please contact Vicki Versprille or visit WWCM’s website.

Youth Engaged in Service (YES) is a weekend-long local mission project developed specifically for middle school youth. It’s open to students who will be in 6th, 7th or 8th grade (traditional and year-round calendars) during the event. Projects vary and could include anything from childcare to yard work to stocking shelves at a food pantry to harvesting food.

Eligible participants: 6th, 7th or 8th grade (traditional and year-round calendars) student. Adult leaders must be over 21 years of age. Work projects will range from landscaping to childcare to working at a local food pantry. For more information, please contact Tanner Johnson.

The ZOE Ministry’s Giving Hope Empowerment Project is about community-building, empowering lives, and God-sized dreams. The core focus of Giving Hope is to empower orphans and child-headed families in Africa to become self-sufficient in 2-3 years so they will not require lifelong assistance from outside relief programs. The program brings them back into both their local communities and into the loving, nurturing body of Christ.

The Zoe Empowers ministry equips vulnerable children in Africa and India with tools and multifaceted training to overcome life-threatening poverty for good so they will not require lifelong assistance from relief programs. Our Friends of Zoe team at AUMC collaborates with individuals to raise money, allowing us to sponsor multiple empowerment teams made up of approximately 30 families each. Each sponsored group requires a 3-year financial commitment. We are currently sponsoring and praying for 3 groups (2 in Zimbabwe, and 1 in Kenya), as we celebrate the graduation of 4 groups in December 2021 (2 in Liberia, and 1 each in Kenya and Tanzania)! In October and November, we produce and sell soup kits and we are planning for a virtual tour to visit the empowerment groups we sponsor in the near future.

For more information, please contact Ellen Daniels or visit the ZOE Ministry website. The Ihirwe Neighborhood (Kigembe Sector, Rwanda) has been our partner with ZOE since 2012.

The Apex Latino Arts Festival (ALAF) is organized by Fiesta Cristiana and the Town of Apex. This annual festival is enjoyed by Apex residents and surrounding communities. The Festival was piloted in 2010 in order to highlight the presence of Latino arts and culture in our local community and provide an opportunity to build bridges across cultures. ALAF takes place annually in June in historic downtown Apex.

For more information visit: www.apexlatinofest.com or contact Liz Guzman, liz@fiestacristiana.org, (o) 919-924-0414.

The Fiesta Family Resource Center serves Hispanic/Latino families in Western Wake with resources to  improve their quality of life, build self-esteem, and self-reliance and connect with local communities. Currently, the FFRC is working to mitigate the long-term health, education, and economic impact of COVID-19 on Hispanic/Latino families including food and PPE distributions. Parenting classes and support groups are available in Spanish incorporating a cultural lens.

 Fiesta Cristiana works to ensure that all families have the resources to thrive and grow.

Contact Jeannette “Gigi” Casellas, jeannette@fiestacristiana.org, (o) 919-444-2909 for more information.

Semillas de Unidad (SdU) is a tutoring program that seeks to address the educational gap of underserved Hispanic/Latino students. Through a collaborative approach Semillas also creates cross-cultural support systems for Hispanic/Latino families. Flexible tutoring opportunities are available throughout the school year. Currently, most tutoring is done hybrid.

To find out more visit their website: http://www.encounteringeducation.com/ or contact Mayra Armstrong, mayra@fiestacristiana.org or (787) 594-9871.