25 YEARS of Sharing Celebrated October 21, 2006

(Reported following the October 2006 Festival of Sharing)

The twenty-fifth annual Festival of Sharing was held on Saturday, October 21, 2006, at the State Fairgrounds in Sedalia. Throughout the day, churches, denominations, faith groups and individuals brought their monetary and material gifts to share with needy people in Missouri, the U.S. and around the world.

At this year’s event, a tractor-trailer was filled to capacity with Church World Service kits. The vast majority of those items will be sent overseas for use by needy people there. Seventy-seven agencies from around the state came to pick up kits made for use in Missouri, as well as beans, rice and potatoes. Youth and adult volunteers persevered in loading their vehicles these items despite rain and dropping temperatures.

The speaker for the Festival worship service was Donna Derr, Director of the Church World Service (CWS) Emergency Response Program. Donna shared the moving story of a family and their struggle during the 2004 tsunami that impacted Indonesia and nearby parts of the world. Despite their very best efforts, the couple lost their six-year old son, their young infant and the woman’s mother, as well as their home. This is an example of the type of people CWS supports through the gifts such as those received at the Festival of Sharing.

The Quilt Auction was of particular interest this year with the inclusion of a spectacular “whole cloth??? quilt with the Festival logo and a 25th anniversary banner appliquéd in the center. Quilters and other friends of long time Festival volunteer, Joe Trower, surprised him by pooling their resources to purchase the quilt for him. The proceeds from all of the quilts sold will be sent to the Church World Service “Tools and Blankets??? program.

For pictures of this year’s Festival, check the Festival web site at www.umocm/festival.htm. The total of all Festival gifts (including those received at mini-ingatherings around the state) will be printed in the 2006 Report of Giving, available in January 2007.