Free Christmas Eve Banquet!

Free Christmas Eve Banquet for low-income families and those experiencing homelessness. Santa Claus will be there to hand out toys to Children! December 24th, 10am-12pm, at the American Legion Hall, 939 W. Main Street, Merced.

WAYS TO GET INVOLVED:

Volunteer Information: Contact Tim Adam, (209) 947-1394

Toy Drive: To donate toys towards this event, please drop off new, unwrapped toys for ages 0-13 at our office, 644 W. 20th Street, Merced.

Holiday Food Drive: Collecting non-perishable food to help with this banquet and meals throughout the year! All donations will be appreciated!!

THANK YOU!!

Toy Drive Update

The Rescue Mission would like to thank the County Department of Education for once again donating hundreds of shoe boxes filled with toys for needy children. These will be distributed at our Christmas Eve Banquet by Santa Claus at the American Legion Hall on Dec. 24th, 10am-12pm.

The Mission still needs more toys. If you're able to donate towards our Holiday Toy Drive, any donations are appreciated! We're collecting new, unwrapped toys for ages 0-13 now through Dec. 24th. Please drop off donations at our office, 644 W 20th St., Merced.

Your Gifts Make Hope Possible!

By Dr. Bruce Metcalf, Executive Director of Merced County Rescue Mission

I want to let you know how much we appreciate your generosity and your role in supporting the Rescue Mission. We could not exist without YOU! There are two important ways we would appreciate your support of the Rescue Mission with a year-end gift. Our immediate need is for donations towards our faith-based programs. These donations carry the Mission through to the Oasis Dinner in May. When you donate to our faith-based, life transformation programs, you are supporting men and women as they leave the streets, addiction, and incarceration to find a new life and begin their journey of faith.  The powerful testimonies that we share are the result of our programs and your support. They give men and women a place where God can work in their lives and help them discover the person they were created to be! Our faith-based men and women programs rely solely on individual donations from our community – YOU make a difference! Likewise, over half of the funding for the faith-based buildings on our future campus depend on your donations (Building Hope Campaign).

A great beginning! The Mission wants to also share with you some exciting news about funding we’ve received for the Respite Care facility that will be the first to be built on our new campus! Central California Alliance for Health (CCAH) and Dignity Health are making it possible for the Mission to begin building on the five acres of land we purchased last December on Cone Avenue just south of the Fair Grounds. Plans for the new campus include a Respite Care facility for 32 participants, a 10-unit apartment building for homeless Veterans, a 10-unit apartment building for homeless families with young children, three buildings for men and women in a faith-based recovery program (Building Hope Campaign), and a building for homeless pregnant women. 

While we continue the development of this new campus, we are looking for grants and major donors to help, but it will be the contributions from all of us put together that God will use to make all this possible!

Please consider a year-end donation to the Mission to keep our men & women faith-based programs going strong into 2020! Men and women, who want life change, depend on your contributions. Be a part of their journey of faith by supporting our participants!

From all of us at the Merced County Rescue Mission, we wish you and your family a Blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Mission feeds 1,000 on Thanksgiving!

This Thanksgiving, the Merced County Rescue Mission fed about 1,000 people, of which approximately 650 attended the Thanksgiving Banquet. The Mission would like to thank the whole community, including churches, clubs, businesses, organizations and many individuals who joined us to make today possible. May God bless all of you for all that you have done.

Those In Need Serving Others In Need

By Kevin Borges
College & Small Groups Pastor
Gateway Community Church, Merced

I am one person who is thrilled to see the impact the Rescue Mission has upon our Merced Community, from the perspective of the local church. There have been many times I have had the opportunity to see the men and women help us in church activities, serve seniors, or even help needy families move. Stories tell the story!

As one of the pastors on staff at Gateway Community Church, I get to hear needs and find ways to serve people. Just this past weekend, on a Friday night, I was receiving calls about a need that had just arisen. One of our church families, who was in great need, had been told they had to be out of their home by Saturday, which was the next day! I was out of town and yet was being asked to help solve the problem of helping move the family.  Fortunately, I have gotten to know Tim Adam, the Chief Operating Officer at the Rescue Mission and he has let me know to call if there is some way the Mission can assist. This was a slight emergency, and so I gave Tim a call late on Friday night. His response, as usual, was “No problem Kevin, we’ll send the men over in the morning!” What a blessing to have men in need be able to serve others in need. This is just one story I can share, among others, which helps paint the picture of one way the Rescue Mission is not just a place for people to get help… but to show that it’s a place whereby they can be used to bring help! In fact, it appears to me those who are in need get better when they serve and I am one person thankful for the way in which our local mission is training up those in need, to be solutions for others in need! Thank you, Merced County Rescue Mission!  

Upcoming Serving Hope Events!

Holiday Food Drive, October 1 - December 24
Join us in collecting non-perishable food items now through Dec. 24th. All donations go to our holiday banquets and meals throughout the year. Your business may sponsor a barrel, or drop off donations at our office, 644 W 20th Street, Merced. Questions, please call Tim Adam, (209) 947-1394.

Thanksgiving Banquet, November 28
Free Thanksgiving meal with all the fixings for low-income families and those experiencing homelessness at the American Legion Hall, 939 W. Main Street, Merced. Volunteer information, (209) 947-1394.

Giving Tuesday Events, December 3
Prayer Breakfast, 8am at First Baptist Church - Tickets, $25
Birthday Party for Jesus, 5pm at First Baptist Church, bring your family! - Tickets, $10
To reserve a table or purchase tickets, call (209) 349-2912

Holiday Toy Drive, December 1 - December 24
We are collecting toys for children ages 0-13 to hand out to children who attend our Christmas Eve Banquet on Dec. 24th. Your business may sponsor a barrel, or drop off donations at our office, 644 W 20th Street, Merced. Questions, please call Tim Adam, (209) 947-1394.

Christmas Eve Banquet, December 24
Free Christmas meal for low-income families and those experiencing homelessness at the American Legion Hall, 939 W. Main Street, Merced. Volunteer information, (209) 947-1394.

What does the Merced Rescue Mission mean to the community and the County of Merced as a whole?

By Lloyd Pareira, Merced County Supervisor

As I look back to a time before the Mission lost their home, they had about 30 people being housed either in their building or in their women's home. They were doing great work, and then one day they lost their home. Many of us thought that would be a great loss for Merced, but God had a different plan. He blessed the diligence of the Mission staff with many more opportunities. Today, the Mission has 128 beds in an array of settings. Probably the most vital is the discipleship program, because of the eternal salvation of the men and women. Close behind is the respite care facilities in both Merced and Los Banos. As homeless people come out of the hospital and return to the streets, their chances of being back in the hospital in the next few days is very high. With the love and care of the Missions staff, people who are homeless are now provided with a place to call home, where they can recover. Nurses visit or clients are taken to clinics to make sure wounds are kept clean and medicines are taken correctly. Healthy meals are provided, and the men and women are helped to feel human again. Next comes the sober living homes that house the balance of the men and women.

Here we are today, and the impact of the Merced Rescue Mission has been profound. The skills and talents of the staff are enhancing not only the lives of those in the Mission's programs, but they are permeating out through the larger homeless community as well. There are a tremendous amount of people working together to help reduce the homeless population in Merced County. The CoC (Continuum of Care) is the hub for this work, and the Rescue Mission is an engine that provides a lot of the power through leadership in many of the arena's making a difference. Many of the organizations that fund different portions of this care rely on the Rescue Mission to carry out the work and make a difference in the lives of the most vulnerable in our community. I personally am thankful for the Merced Rescue Mission, their board, staff and the work they accomplish here in the County of Merced.