Hundreds of people will gather across the Dakotas Conference this fall to celebrate missional outreach. Semi-trailers will be loaded with United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) kits in Bismarck, Fargo, and Minot in North Dakota, and in Mitchell, Pierre, and Rapid City in South Dakota.

Southeast Pierre United Methodist Church in Pierre, South Dakota will hold a mission fair on September 21. The Black Hills Area Mission Fest will be held at Grace UMC in Piedmont, South Dakota on October 12 from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. Please note that there will not be a mission event in Sioux Falls this year. 

The events celebrate connectional mission giving. One common thread of all the events is the collection of the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) kits. Hundreds of school kits and health kits are hauled to one of these events or an identified site. Box after box is loaded in semi-truck trailers.

Brian Diggs, Director of UMCOR West Depot, said, "We receive the largest shipment of kits from the Dakotas Conference.  The number of kits from the Dakotas Conference is the largest we get at UMCOR West."

Moving vans will be available at locations this fall to accept your boxes of UMCOR kits. UMCOR collects only hygiene, school, and cleaning kits* for distribution within the United States.

UMCOR school kits no longer include homemade or purchased cloth bags. Instead, put the kits in one two-gallon plastic Ziplock bag. Here is information on how to assemble each of the kits. Please note that we will only be collecting school and hygiene kits this fall.

Hygiene Kit

School Kit

Cleaning Kit*

*Cleaning kits may be collected at the local church and transported to the UMCOR Depot West or the Midwest Mission Distribution Center in Chatham, Ilinois by the local church.

Contact JoAnn Schlimgen for more information by e-mail or phone.