Current Recipients | Thank Offering Resources | Applying for a Thank Offering Grant | Promotional videos and more!
The Thank Offering is one of Presbyterian Women’s two offerings. Received in the fall each year, it gives women a tangible way to express their gratitude for the special blessings in their lives. Thank Offering grants range from $5,000 to $50,000. At least 40 percent of the offering funds health ministries.
Thank Offering Resources
Promotional materials are mailed to each congregation, attn: PW/Women’s Group, in August. Order or download resources to promote and receive the Thank Offering.
Thank Offering Current Recipients
The Creative Ministries Offering Committee of Presbyterian Women reviewed 28 Thank Offering applications and selected 7 projects for funding this year. Six of the projects serve people in the United States and one is international. In keeping with the Thank Offering bylaws, more than 40 percent of the selected projects are related to health ministries.
NATIONAL
SYNOD OF MID-AMERICA
Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy
Light for the Darkness New Worshipping Community Grounded Gardening
$10,000
light4thedarkness.com
Grounded Gardening hosts a worshipful support group for people with mental health variances. Young adults are invited to come as they are, meet God through Creation and use gardening to combat depression and anxiety. The program combines a variety of activities that have been shown to improve mental health including social connection, prayer, exercise, gardening and time outdoors. This multifaceted approach is intended to help improve mood while also encouraging a connection to God and to each other. The grant will support gardening supplies, advertising and stipends for lead gardeners and facilitators who also guide meditation.
SYNOD OF MID-ATLANTIC
New Castle Presbytery
Presbyterian Church of the Covenant
Summer Arts Camp
$15,000
covenantde.org/program/summer-arts-camp
Created in 2020, the Summer Arts Camp meets a crucial community need for quality childcare and a supportive summer learning environment in Wilmington, Delaware. The program—a collaboration between Presbyterian Church of the Covenant and The Music School of Delaware—offers a safe, tuition-free summer camp that introduces children from households that struggle financially to valuable arts experiences. This innovative approach helps children who have experienced trauma to heal through music, art, dance, singing and drama. With the Thank Offering grant, the camp will offer a new full-day option and expand their capacity to accept fifty children. Through this arts-focused camp, children will explore and develop creativity skills, build confidence and find healing through artistic expression.
SYNOD OF SOUTH ATLANTIC
Peace River Presbytery
lmmokalee Fair Housing Alliance, Inc.
First Neighborhood Building
$50,000
immokaleefairhousing.org
Immokalee Fair Housing Alliance began in December 2018, following the destruction of Hurricane Irma that spotlighted the terrible living conditions of low-income families. This project will provide safe and affordable housing for agricultural workers and other families who pay up to seventy percent of their income to reside in dilapidated and crowded trailers. The Thank Offering grant will support the first neighborhood building consisting of sixteen apartments. These units will provide families with long term stability in clean, adequate housing that will improve family life and provide children with a healthy foundation so that they can study and learn.
SYNOD OF SOUTH ATLANTIC
Presbytery of St. Augustine
Gainesville Community Counseling Center, Inc.
Building Resilience Through Mindfulness
$50,000
gainesvillecounselingcenter.com
National surveys show that LGBTQIA+ youth are more likely to experiment with drugs and alcohol, experience harassment and bullying at school and suffer from mental health issues. By providing mental health support, community education and camping, this program will address the challenges facing LGBTQIA+ youth who have had little access to these services. The counseling center will offer mental healthcare through individual, group and family therapy that highlights mindfulness as an effective tool for managing many mental health conditions. Workshops and podcasts will be offered to help increase awareness in the general public and expand the network of community support.
SYNOD OF THE NORTHEAST
Albany Presbytery
Troy Area United Ministries
Tech for Teens
$35,890
taum.org
TAUM provides a safe space in an underserved and low-income area of Albany with few youth programs. Through Tech for Teens, an expansion of their Computers for Kids Summer Program, students will learn to use Microsoft Office to write resumes, prepare spreadsheets and create slide presentations while also acquiring basic web design and coding skills. Through this hands-on learning, students will increase literacy, build student collaboration skills as they work together on projects and develop important social skills that employers will seek in the future.
SYNOD OF THE SUN
Presbytery of South Louisiana
Okra Abbey New Worshipping Community Solar Power for Resilience
$35,000
okraabbey.com
Okra Abbey is a female-led, community-focused ministry for residents of the Pigeon Town neighborhood in New Orleans. Their sanctuary is a garden where food grows and where people
grow through sharing stories,scripture, prayers and relationships. The Thank Offering will provide a full solar power system and allow Okra Abbey to expand their services by having available outlets for power tools, an irrigation system and cell phone charging stations for low-income and often transitory individuals. The solar power system will also keep the community refrigerator running and provide reliable electricity during power outages, especially during weather disasters.
INTERNATIONAL
ZAMBIA
Church of Central Africa
Presbyterian Synod of Zambia
Church of Central Africa Presbyterian Synod of Zambia Health Department
Phalaza Rural Health Center
$50,000
ccapsynodofzambia.org
This project will provide rural residents of Phalaza with access to a health-care facility closer than their current centers, which also do not provide maternity services. Because of the distances people must travel, they frequently delay care, one of the primary causes for mortality and morbidity in women and children. This new health center will provide maternal services including prenatal, delivery, and postnatal care, as well as primary care of children and diagnosis and treatment of malaria and HIV/AIDS, as well as non-communicable diseases like diabetes and high blood pressure. The new health center will have the added benefit of relieving overcrowding and long wait times throughout rural eastern Zambia.
See a list of projects funded by the Thank Offering from 1988 through 2021.
Applying for a Thank Offering Grant
Grant requests come from a variety of national and international sources, such as PC(USA) governing bodies, health agencies, overseas churches, ecumenical councils, community groups, educational institutions and church-related groups.
Projects must meet the criteria outlined in the grant application.
To ask a question or to learn more about the Thank Offering, contact Cheri Harper.