Fabulous! Food Warmer! Finally! Hosanna!

Here is our cook, Ed Johnson, standing beside our brand new food warmer that was delivered this morning. The food warmer is not even yet out of its wrapping. This will be a wonderful improvement for our food service here at the church.

One of the issues when preparing a large number of meals to be delivered in a small window of time is to keep the food at a proper temperature - warm or cold. What the food warmer allows us to do is to cook warm food and to transfer it into the warmer where it can be kept at a constant temperature. If you look at the bottom you can see dials that allow picking a particular temperature. This is a commercial quality warmer that has a glass front so we can see what is inside without opening the door, and it is of a standard size so commercial sized pans fit exactly on the many racks. What a blessing!

The money for this warmer was given by the Community Foundation of the Great River Bend. We had applied first to a national program to benefit food providers to children. When we were not selected for that grant the Community Foundation stepped in and made a grant very promptly. We are so grateful. And this piece of equipment is expensive. What a big help for hungry children in Rock Island.

Good day!

Bike Rack Needed

When Rock Island Parks and Recreation decided to have one of their three Summer Day Camp sites at the Academy, our neighborhood school, right down the street, we figured there was not really much need to have a meal site here at the church. Who knew? We have been averaging between 40 and 50 children at lunch daily!



And this is in addition to the over 100 meals we cater to the children at the Academy, daily, for lunch!


I had been running and errand, and when I entered the church building today about 12:15 pm this is the sight that greeted me just outside the door. And when I walked down the stairs toward the Fellowship Hall, where meals are served, I encountered bicycles inside the building too. The bottom photo.




Clearly, we need a bike rack so that bicycles can be parked neatly and safely.

This would also be a real help for the ESL program. Some of our adult students ride to the church on a bicycle. And a bike rack would be where some of the strollers that the young moms use to bring their children could be locked safely.

If you have an inside track on a bike rack let me know.

Non-Discrimination Policy

On Sunday, June 26, 2011, at our regular June Congregational Meeting the Church of Peace United Church of Christ of Rock Island, Illinois, adopted a non-discrimination policy. This policy does not really represent new thinking at the church, but rather puts it into words suitable for posting for anyone who would want to know about who is eligible for the programs and services of the church. It reads:

The Church of Peace does not discriminate or refuse to offer programs or services to persons on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age or disability."

And they're off....

Monday, June 6, was the first day of the Summer Meals Program here at the Church of Peace United Church of Christ in Rock Island. It always begins a little slowly. We had about 16 children arrive for breakfast and over 30 children eat lunch. And in addition to the children who come to our church building for meals we deliver meals to various summer programs for children around Rock Island. And we have a satellite site this year at Hope United Church of Christ in Moline, Illinois, and they are delivering meals to similar programs in Moline. We estimate that we served over 600 children's meals per day in this our first week!

This is particularly exciting when we consider our history. The first year we provided meals for children in the summer time was 2004; and we served 440 meals in the entire summer. Here is the history of the year and number of meals:

• 2004 - 440



• 2005 - 812



• 2006 - 2517



• 2007 - 3412



• 2008 - 11529



• 2009 - 13089



• 2010 - 15388

Please keep us in your prayers!

Family Wedding

Last Saturday, May 21, we all attended a family wedding in Petersburg, Illinois. "We" is Nancy, Rebecca and I, along with Nancy's parents - John and Kathie. The wedding was for Nancy's cousin, the granddaughter of Kathie's sister; Rebecca, and her now new husband, Doug. It was a great privilege to see that whole side of the family, and good to be there for event.

The wedding itself took place at the theater at New Salem Historical Site, just south of Petersburg. (This is where young Abraham Lincoln spent some time.) It had been predicted that Saturday would be rainy, but it was sunny, warm and nice for the outdoor nuptials.

After the wedding we drove to Athens for a nice dinner. My daughter Rebecca came with me as I drove home that night so I could be at church on Sunday morning. Nancy and her parents stayed at a local Bed and Breakfast, and were able to stay later and visit more with family.

It is important to be there for family events when you can.

End of the Year Program for Family Literacy Class

Yesterday, May 19, was the end of the school year for the Family Literacy Program here at the Church of Peace, with is part of Lights ON for Learning. This program is a collaboration with Rock Island School District #41, the Regional Office of Education, the Rock Island Public Library, Blackhawk College and the Church of Peace. It focuses on English language learning for parents of students in the Rock Island district, and also has a childcare program to look after the younger children of the adult learners while they are in class. It is a very positive and upbeat program.

Well, yesterday the adult learners received their certificates of completion for the year, and they were very excited to get these. Here is one of the students receiving her certificate, presented by the teachers, Carolyn and Marilyn. The whole presentation is being photographed by another student. The students are proud of their accomplishments, and pleased with the recognition. There must have been 40 adult students receiving recognition.

On hand to observe the presentations were representatives of all of the above organizations, along with community members. There was a luncheon that followed.

Part of what seems to make this program so exciting is the great diversity among the students. In many of these ELL programs all of the students are from the same country of origin. Here at the church there are students from Burma, Burundi, Congo, Iran, Mexico, Tanzania, and students from the US working on their GED. It is an exciting and diverse population!

QCI Transportation Equity Community Task Force

This morning there was a meeting of the Transportation Equity Community Task Force of Quad Cities Interfaith here at the Church of Peace. Our organizer, Leslie Kilgannon, is the one in the pink top standing up. With the passenger rail service coming at least to Moline, and probably on to Iowa City, we here in the Quad Cities are in a good position to see that this major infrastructure development program also means workforce development and jobs for local people, minorities and others who are typically left out.

In this effort we are in touch with a national effort called the Transportation Equity Network, and information can be found at http://www.transportationequity.org/

Last week when I was in Springfield, Illinois, with Leslie and others from the Illinois Gamaliel Association we talked with State Senator Mike Jacobs about a Transportation Equity Agreement. He was most supportive, and it was encouraging to see that our legislators are coming "on board." Others from our Task Force met with Representative Pat Vershore and also received a positive response.

I am sure there is more to come; or rather more "down the tracks."