Mission Central
Our first opportunity to serve came when we were staying near Gettysburg, PA.
Mission Central, located in Mechanicsburg, PA, has a mission to “Connect God’s Resources with Human Need”. Their focus areas are outreach, education, and disaster response. They respond to need in their local community, the United States, and over eighty countries worldwide. All of this effort with a staff of five! Fortunately, they have a wonderful group of faithful volunteers to assist in making this mission so successful.
We joined that group of volunteers one morning by preparing cleaning buckets for disaster relief. With September being their busiest month of need, we arrived just in time to assist in preparing these buckets. Our job was basic – adding seven scrub sponges to already filled buckets to complete them for shipment. The task sounds simple but I seemed to have difficulty taking the covers off the large paint buckets so I could add the sponges. I was advised I might need my hubby’s help in removing those covers and I did! He was nice enough to let me have the easier buckets as time went on, so I was able to complete them on my own.
We were able to complete six pallets which we believe was 216 buckets! Our hearts were filled with joy especially since we worked through the lunch hour, and I am known to occasionally get hangry. Jesus said, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” John 6:35. I remembered that verse as I saw the time on the clock and felt my stomach rumble. Indeed, He kept me filled and Jim was very thankful!
We were also fortunate to have the opportunity to tour the facility and learn more about Mission Central. On our tour, we learned they have over 6,800 volunteers assisting 2.7 million people totaling $7,814,576 in resources (2019 data)!!!!!
We all are very aware of the difficulties of 2020 and Mission Central was not immune. However, good can come from hardship if we only seek it. Mission Central was able to donate 100,000 N95 masks last year for COVID needs since they already had these items in their buckets. As Jim knows from his former employment in healthcare purchasing, this was an amazing donation in a time when resources were so limited.
We were told the Girl Scouts were not able to sell cookies last year, so they donated them to Mission Central, providing a sweet offering to people in need. Many more God moments were shared with us along the tour, some heartbreaking, yet heart-filling.
Our tour revealed resources for medical needs, food, pets, schools, diapers, furniture and more! We were impressed with the computer resource. Volunteers arrive weekly to re-build donated computers for students lacking these resources. For children in other countries that is such a blessing, but as we saw last year, children in our own country unexpectedly had to attend school remotely without the resource of computers. These computers were able to fill that void.
Not long after leaving the Gettysburg region, Hurricane Ida’s remnants passed through the area causing flooding and fires. As our heart went out to the people we met along the way, we were thankful to know Mission Central would be there to assist with needs from this disaster.
Our heartfelt thanks go to Laurie for setting us up with our volunteer assignment and Stephanie for a wonderfully informative tour of the facility. To learn more about Mission Central or assist with current needs or donate, visit them at missioncentral.org.
