Committee aims to give bigger grants to kid ministries
By Annette Bender
The Change for Children Committee is changing the way it supports Holston ministries.
Instead of awarding grants benefiting needy kids twice annually – in spring and fall – the committee will now award grants once a year. Beginning in 2004, recipients of Change for Children grants will be announced at Annual Conference each June, according to Holston Children's Coordinator Anita Henderlight. The committee hopes that by announcing awards publicly – rather than through letters as they have in the past – children's ministries will receive more attention, Henderlight said. “We want the Change for Children awards to be as significant as the Denman awards.”
Effective immediately, the committee also will accept applications for grants on an annual basis. In the past, application Children from the community near Jellico United Methodist Church receive new backpacks and school supplies, a ministry supported by Change for Children grants.
deadlines were set each April and October. The next application deadline is April 15, 2004.
The changes also were prompted by the committee's interest in awarding larger grants to groups serving needy children in Holston Confer- ence, Henderlight said.
This year, 14 groups applied for more than $61,000 in Change for Children grants, she said. Most groups requested amounts exceed- ing $5,000, yet Change for Children grants have typically been awarded in amounts of $2,500 or less.
“We hope that by awarding grants once a year and to fewer groups, we would come closer to honoring the actual request rather than a portion of it,” Henderlight said.
So far in 2003, Holston churches have collected $38,000 for Change for Children. Half of all Change for Children funds go to Hope for the Children of Africa. The remaining half is designated for grants within Holston.
This year, the committee awarded a total of $11,000 to six groups, Henderlight said. The remaining funds have been set aside for grants to be awarded at Annual Conference 2004. “We hope to be able to give grants of $10,000 or more to three or four groups,” she said.
The committee has been inspired by previous winners of Change for Children grants and hopes improvements in the way the program works will lift up additional ministries, Henderlight said.
“They're looking for us to be a partner in their ministries, and we're hoping to give them some significant money to help children.”
Change for Children began in 1998 as a conference outreach of the Bishops' Initiative on Children & Poverty. Since then, grants have been awarded to church-sponsored after-school tutoring programs, homeless ministries, child-care ministries, Bible studies, Sunday school programs, camps, food pantries and clothing closets throughout the conference. Churches collect Change for Children funds in various ways. For a list of ideas and other information, go to www.holstonconference.com/ children/change.html, or call the Children's Ministry Office at (865) 690-4080.
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