missions
John Wesley believed that, as Christians, we must reach out to the world with not only the Good News of Jesus Christ, but with our service to others in His name. With that tradition in mind, Grace Church supports over 50 local, national, and world-wide missions each year with monetary contributions and hands-on help. For more information about the many local, national, and global missions Grace supports and how you can be involved, please Gaye Lynn Loufek, Mission Coordinator, at gayelynn.loufek@peopleofgrace.org.
support hesed house
Grace Church has been supporting Hesed House since the early 1980s. Located south of downtown Aurora, it is the second largest homeless shelter in Illinois. We have been providing hot dinner, hot breakfast, and sack lunches on the second Tuesday/Wednesday each month. We have also been donating urgent items, such as personal products, sheets, towels, etc.
Hesed House opened an expanded facility in December 2024. We are now regularly serving 240 guests. With this higher need for food, we want to increase this ministry’s visibility and the opportunity for more of the Grace family to participate.
Here is how you can help:
-
Sign up to contribute specific groceries for the second Tuesday/Wednesday of the month from a list and drop off at church. Find the list and sign-up by clicking here.
-
Sign up to help cook and/or serve on the second Tuesday/Wednesday of the month at Grace Church kitchen or at Hesed House. See the specific needs and sign-up by clicking here.
-
Donate to the Grace Church Hesed House fund which pays for the remaining grocery needs (groceries that are not donated) by clicking here and selecting "Hesed House."
-
Donate personal care items from Hesed House “current needs” list at hesedhouse.org.
-
Pray for those who have no home and need our help.
If you have any questions, contact Larry Hartman via email.
Helping the Hungry
Households with limited resources often must choose between paying their rent and feeding their families. Food assistance can prevent the tragedy of homelessness for people who find themselves in the position of having to make such a difficult choice. Grace United Methodist Church supports the following food pantries with donations made on the first Sunday of every month (except for January's collection).
2026 First Sunday of the Month Food Pantry Collection Dates and Recipients:
January: Common Pantry
February: Loaves & Fishes
March: Aurora Interfaith Food Pantry
April: Marie Wilkinson Food Pantry
May: Common Pantry
June: Loaves & Fishes
July: Aurora Interfaith Food Pantry
August: Marie Wilkinson Food Pantry
September: Common Pantry
October: Loaves & Fishes
November: Aurora Interfaith Food Pantry
December: Marie Wilkinson Food Pantry
Monetary food pantry donations are also appreciated. Please place donations in the offering plate, the ceramic "Love Loaf" on the Welcome Desk with checks payable to GUMC and "Love Loaf" noted on the memo line, or click here to donate online.
In addition to our monthly food collections, Grace has participated in the Feed My Starving Children MobilePack for the past four years, with increasing commitment to the cause each year. CLICK HERE to sign up for this year's Mobile Pack on Saturday, March 8 and Sunday, March 9 at Benedictine University in Lisle.
Other hunger efforts we regularly support include Heifer International, Souper Bowl of Caring, Hesed House, KidsAboveAll, and RAO25, just to name a few. Contact Gaye Lynn Loufek at gayelynn.loufek@peopleofgrace.org for more information and ways you can get involved.
The neighbor project
During the current sermon series and study on Becoming Beloved Community, we have been hearing the call to love our neighbors. Over the last few months, the Racial Justice team has been learning about, and developing a collaboration with “The Neighbor Project” (TNP) in Aurora.
TNP helps low-to-moderate-income working families reduce debt, build credit, and ultimately own their first homes. How do they do this? By providing rental housing and payment assistance enabling families to live in TNP properties and save money toward the down payment on a house. With the help of volunteers, the TNP properties are refurbished as required, cleaned and painted between families, and exterior grounds are planted or cleaned up based on the season. The more volunteers that TNP has, the less money is paid for maintenance work, and the more they can help their clients.
We know there are many opportunities in which to care for our neighbors, and we are excited to share this new opportunity for all Grace members to join us on the 3rd Saturday of each month from 10:00AM to Noon to help with TNP tasks. At this time we are creating a group email list of interested people so that we are able to announce each month what/where the projects will be. You do not need to be a part of the Racial Justice team, no particular skills are required and regular monthly participation is not required.
This is a come as you are, come when you can, reoccurring project that, depending on the project, will be open to all ages. The only requirement is to want to get out and be in community with our neighbors, assisting others in their quest for home ownership. If you are interested in receiving the monthly informational emails, please SIGN UP HERE. If you would like to learn more before signing up, please reach out to Lauri Tredinnick or Jean Ives.
Local Support
Grace partners with Habitat for Humanity Fox Valley and 20+ churches in the area providing affordable housing in the Aurora community. Grace youth and adults serve as the "foundation laying" team, providing the initial construction of the home and then continue to support the project in various stages until the home is dedicated (typically in the late fall) and the keys are given to the homeowner. Grace provides construction support, monetary support, and a strong prayer commitment to these families receiving a hand up. In the summer, younger teens (6th-8th grade) and adults spend three days serving various organizations around the Chicagoland area in our "Hope@Home" Youth Summer Missions program.
Grace UMC has been a strong supporter of Hesed House since its inception in the 1980’s. Located a mile south of downtown Aurora, the mission of Hesed House is to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, and give people the chance to hope again. It has become a national model for ending homelessness: one person, one family at a time. It is the second largest homeless shelter in Illinois outside of Chicago. Find more information at hesedhouse.org. Each second Tuesday of the month, Grace UMC provides about 140 hot meals and 100 sack lunches. Grace volunteers work both at the church kitchen and at Hesed House. In addition to volunteer work, donations of food items, toiletries, and cash are generously provided by Grace families. If you have any questions, or wish to contribute or volunteer, please email Larry Hartman.
National and International Support
Grace goes beyond the Chicagoland area to provide hope to people and organizations throughout the country and across the world. Some of the National and International Missions Grace supports are:
Teens (9th-12th grade), college students and adults of the community are invited to travel with us to another state for a week each summer to work with communities in need through our "Side-by-Side" Youth Summer Missions program.
Our United Women in Faith, who sponsor several major fundraisers throughout the year, donate 100% of their proceeds to local, national, and international missions.