Page 28 - FC Annual Report 2019-20

our efforts to provide more local aid, particularly in the area of hunger relief. Local, national and international needs can be overwhelming, but every donation
is important and reflects our generous congregation’s thoughtful Christian concern for others.
The ABC members serving on the Missions team this past year are Judith Sherman and Dana Pasquale. They would especially like to acknowledge the missions work done over a period of many years by Barbara Parsons, who died in July 2019 and Carol Murphy, who stepped down from the committee last September and has since moved to Lenox. Both Barbara and Carol were passionate about supporting local, national and international missions. They served on the committee before our churches came together, and they continued this work once we became First Churches. It was a privilege to work with Barbara and Carol, and we will continue to miss their guidance, their enthusiasm and their commitment to serving all those in need.
The Decisional Training Program was founded in Northampton by the Rev. Donald Ford of the First Baptist Church and Janet Dahlberg, Minister of Music at First Church and a member of the First Baptist congregation and has benefitted from continued support of ABC and UCC members of First Churches. Due to
the pandemic the program is on hiatus and Karen Banta, Director of Decisional Training agreed that there were greater needs in the community at this time. We plan to continue our support of this valuable program in the future.
First Churches raised and sent $5,997.89 this spring to CONESPEH, the
National Council of Spiritual Churches of Haiti. This gift is the largest amount we have ever raised during our scholarship and fundraising drive. Pauline Bassett, and David Entin continue to provide leadership for this project. Thanks to everyone for your amazing generosity.
Volunteers and members of First Churches generously supported the families and elders of the Treehouse Community in Easthampton with 45 Christmas gifts and numerous grocery cards. We are grateful that our congregation has contributed to Treehouse in this way for so many years. We have provided some additional information about the Treehouse Community and Treehouse Foundation.
The Treehouse Foundation - Re-Envisioning Foster Care in America, is a unique
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