Missions

Adopt-A-Family

Each year at Christmas Dove “adopts” several families in the community to ensure that they and particularly the children have a Christmas to appreciate. Support includes dinners, presents for all and gift cards for later use.

Justa Center

The Justa Center is a day shelter that targets the needs of the elderly. We support this by donating items monthly that are requested by the shelter. These include laundry detergent, bleach, personal hygiene products, cleaning supplies, styrofoam cups, coffee, sugar & creamer, and socks. We also built bookshelves for their library and have donated hundreds of books and magazines. They are always in need of kitchen supplies and basic furniture for those who have been placed in an apartment. The Justa Center helps an average of 8 - 10 people each month get out of homelessness and return to some sort of normalcy in their lives.

One Great Hour of Sharing

Dove of the Desert participates in “One Great Hour of Sharing,” an annual observance planned by representatives of various denominations and related to Church World Service and Witness, the relief agency of the National Council of Churches. Originally one special worship hour during the year was reserved for people of faith to contribute over and above their regular offerings. Today different denominations celebrate One Great Hour of Sharing at various times throughout the year, but the cooperative spirit remains. The funding from One Great Hour of Sharing helps the United Methodist Communities on Relief (UMCOR) to support a variety of relief ministries worldwide.

St. Mary's/Westside Food Bank (www.westsidefoodbank.org)

In months with five Sundays, on the fifth Sunday, Dove collects food for redistribution through the St. Mary's/Westside Food Bank, which serves needy families throughout Arizona. The Alliance handles 60 million pounds of food a year, the equivalent of 200,000 meals per day for the working poor.

On the second Saturday of each month, Dove's youth and adults support the food bank by working on site.

Sidewalk Sunday School

The Sidewalk Sunday School ministry focuses on teaching urban children and their families the basic fundamentals of Christianity: teaching empowerment through Christ to turn away from the negative community cycles that face them, and to turn their hearts, minds and actions toward a lifestyle that contains promise and hope for the future. Volunteers travel to the same site each week, spreading the Good News of the Risen Lord. The mission is to help unchurched children, youth, gang members, homeless people, family members and anyone else, hear that there is Someone who loves them, who wants and desires a personal relationship with them, who considers them God's most precious child.

Souper Bowl Sunday (www.souperbowl.org)

Souper Bowl Sunday is an annual national community outreach program with funds directed to a local project. The program began in 1990 with a simple prayer from Brad Smith, then an associate youth pastor: "Lord, even as we enjoy the Super Bowl football game, help us be mindful of those who are without a bowl of soup to eat." That prayer gave birth to an inspiring a youth-led movement to help hungry and hurting people around the world. Parishioners are asked to leave $1.00 each for the needy as they leave church on Super Bowl Sunday. In 2005, more than 100,000 youth worked nationwide to raise almost $4 million for local charities. Dove’s participation in 2006 totaled $396, which was given to the St. Mary’s/Westside Food Bank Alliance.

Tumbleweed Center for Youth Development (www.tumbleweed.org)

The mission of the Tumbleweed Center is to serve abused, abandoned, neglected and troubled youth. Dove supports this program by collecting bottled water for homeless youth.

UMOM New Day Center (www.UMOM.org)

The mission of UMOM is to provide homeless and low-income families with food, shelter and tools to build a bridge to self-sufficiency. Dove supports the efforts of UMOM in many ways, including:

• Back to School Outfits – In late summer Dove provides each of the school age children at UMOM with one complete new outfit to start school off right.
• Shelter Dinner – Once each month Dove members prepare and serve a dinner for 150 people at the New Day Center. In winter, the dinner is served at the Winter Overflow shelter.