by Alison Pierce

In honor of Pride Month, the Missions Committee donated $500 to the Trevor Project. The Trevor Project is a national organization with the mission of ending suicide among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender,
queer, and questioning young people. It is estimated that there are over 1.8 million LGBTQ+ youth in the United States considering suicide each year. The organization provides 24/7 direct suicide prevention
and crisis intervention services via phone, text, and chat. In addition, the Trevor Project invests in four key program areas that help ensure that LGBTQ young people never enter a state of crisis in the first place:

• A community of peer support through an international social media platform for LGBTQ youth
• On the ground advocacy efforts
• Research on LGBTQ youth and their mental health
• And education and public awareness to help youth and adults support the LGBTQ young people in their lives.

Our donation will make an impact as the Trevor project works to change the world and end LGBTQ youth suicide once and for all.

As a thank you for the amazing amount of enthusiasm and support that the North Smithfield Boy Scout Troop 1139 gave to our church during the Rise Against Hunger meal packaging event, the Missions Committee voted to donate $250 to the troop. They were there for setup, cleanup, and everything in between and did a lot of heavy lifting for the this event. It is always heartwarming to see young people volunteering their time for such a great cause!

Thinking ahead to Thanksgiving, the committee agreed to set aside $2,000 of our funds to help provide gift cards for the Thanksgiving food baskets provided by the North Smithfield Food Pantry.

Lastly, we also discussed continuing our Blessing Bags ministry. Blessing Bags are put together with snacks and essential items and distributed to those in need throughout the wider community. We hope to put together these bags with items donated from the church community in October, so stay tuned for further information and updates later this summer.