Click here to listen to Dan Houston, Brenda Mayer, Jan Fritcher, Sally Wilkie, and Sandy Arnold as they reflect back on Ingathering 2013 and look ahead to next year's event in a conversation with Dr. Art McClanahan
The 34th annual Thanksgiving Ingathering took place November 2, 2013.
The Ingathering supports missions in and through the United Methodist Conference and it is a way for Iowa United Methodists to address hunger problems locally and around the world.
This year’s Ingathering brought in $1,045,000, said coordinator Dan Houston.
“I know that’s our new high,” he said. “It indicates that people are still interested in giving to the projects that Ingathering supports, and do it through the Ingathering on that day.”
Projects supported by the Ingathering in include Church World Service, Heifer Project International, Self-Help International, Iowa-Nigeria Partnership, UMCOR Depot-Baldwin, LA, Personal Energy Transportation and also District hunger-related agencies.
Youth lock-ins, auctions, bazaars and food sales are among the activities that benefit the Ingathering.
Youth are a special focus for the event, both in terms of engaging young people in its execution and also in preparing them for their faith journey in life.
“If you’re mission-minded at all, Ingathering is a good way to put that to good use,” Houston said.