The "Blankets Plus Program" works in conjunction with Church World Service to provide blankets to those in need throughout the world via our annual Blankets + donation drive. For only $10 you can buy a simple blanket that will be provided to someone in need. Church World Service distributes these blankets in the aftermath of natural disasters or in cases of large populations of transitory people wherever they may be. The blankets are available for sale in the first few weeks of advent each year.
For more information please contact any member of the Board of Christian Service.
The annual Blood Drive is held in the Upper Fellowship hall each spring in collaboration with the American Red Cross. The 2023 date was scheduled for May 126h, 11:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Check the Red Cross site for other drives nearby.
For further information please contact the Church Office. or any member of Christian Service.
The Caring Card Ministry sends notes from our church to someone in the hospital, suffering a loss, chronic illness, elderly, or perhaps a note of joy or appreciation. Birthday notes are sent to seniors over 80 (if we know who you are!) This ministry has six members who meet monthly. Names are rotated, so a recipient receives a message from a different person in our ministry. Notes are not signed, but are sent from "our church family". Donations of blank cards or money for postage is appreciated. If you know someone who would appreciate a note from our church, please call the church office.
Contact: Grace Taylor or the Church Office at 860-526-5045.
The Deep River Church supports the work of The Deep River Food Pantry every single month!
On the first Sunday of each month the DRCC does a collection for our local food pantry. On that first Sunday of each month anyone is welcome to bring non-perishable items and place them into the truck parked in front of the sanctuary at either church service. Your donations are appreciated any time of the year! Donations may also be dropped off at the Deep River Town Hall or at the Food Pantry, which is in the Tri-Town Youth office building on High Street on Tuesday mornings, 9-noon, or Thursday afternoons, 1-4 p.m.
Help DRCC to feed the hungry by earning rice for the World Food Program. With Free Rice you will participate in computer generated quizzes and just like it’s name, it’s free! It only take a little bit of time to make a difference. It’s an excellent way to study up on geography, foreign language, math facts, vocabulary, literature, and chemistry. You work at your own level, and advance as your knowledge expands. It’s a win, win! It takes 2,000 grains of rice to feed one person, so we need your help. And by joining our Deep River Spread Your Light for Rice group, we can keep track of how much food we collectively raise for the world food program.
Sign up today @ www.freerice.com and join our group! Please do not make your user name your real name and those under 18 need to sign up with their parents.
Thank you to all those who help this mission. We have surpassed the one millon mark!!
YEAR TO DATE TOTALS:
TOTAL RICE GRAINS: 1,124,380
PEOPLE FED: 562
TOP RICE EARNER: SGN
TOTAL GROUP MEMBERS: 24
Contact: Sybil Higgins at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Heifer International's mission is to work with communities to end hunger and poverty and care for the Earth. They have used a "teach a man to fish" philosophy for over 70 years and that philosophy still inspires their work to end hunger and poverty throughout the world once and for all. Heifer International empowers families to turn hunger and poverty into hope and prosperity – but the approach is more than just giving them a handout. Heifer links communities and helps brings sustainable agriculture and commerce to areas with a long history of poverty. Their animals provide partners with both food and reliable income, as agricultural products such as milk, eggs and honey can be traded or sold at market. DRCC raises money each year to support Heiffer International's work across the globe.
Contact: Sybil Higgins This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for further information.
In January each year the DRCC teens join with young people from across Middlesex County to brave January's cold and sleep outdoors for one night in order to raise awareness of the issue of homelessness right here in Middlesex County.
The annual Homelessness Awareness Sleepout is sponsored by 10 faith-based organizations in collaboration with the Middlesex Coalition on Housing and Homelessness (MCCHH), and leaders from the "End in Ten" plan to End Homelessness in the county.
Youth participants learn about the county's Ten Year Plan, discuss enlisting the help of communities of faith with homelessness, and examine their own personal perceptions of who the homeless are while also discussing what they would carry if they had to squeeze all their possessions into one backpack. The teens hear first-hand about the ordeal of homelessness from several speakers who are currently or formerly homeless. Participants are also able to ask questions. A simple soup and bread dinner is served prior to bedding down in cardboard boxes put together by the teens. Adult chaperones and indoor warm alternate sleeping options remains available all evening at DRCC.
Contact Chelsea C. through the church directory.
DRCC collects supplies to make hygiene and school kits to support the efforts of Church World Service. These kits are distributed by CWS throughout the United States and abroad when a disaster strikes. Our hygiene kit campaign starts in January and due to store sales during the summer/fall, we collect items for the school kits in September. All donations can be placed in the Donation Station located in the office hallway and are welcome year around. Our kits are assembled and prepared for shipping by our 7th/8th grade Sunday School class in the spring. For a list of kit contents and directions on how to sew school bags for us go to http://www.cwsglobal.org/get-involved/kits/ .
For more information contact Sybil Higgins at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
In over 1,000 relief missions per year, Midnight Run volunteers from churches, synagogues, schools and other civic groups distribute food, clothing, blankets and personal care items to the homeless poor on the streets of New York City. The late-night relief efforts create a forum for trust, sharing, understanding and affection. That human exchange, rather than the exchange of goods, is the essence of the Midnight Run mission. This project is open to adults and teens from DRCC.
This year's (2022) Midnight Run will beMarch 19th If you would like to participate in some way please contact Chelsea at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or if you have donations you can drop them off in Chelsea's office before March 6th.
Items needed include: Adult winter clothes new or used for men and women, mostly jeans, long sleeved shirts, sweatshirts, and jackets. New men and women’s underwear, undershirts, and bras of all sizes. Hats, gloves, belts, and scarves. Toiletries, including, toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant, hand sanitizer, individual wipes or tissues, washcloths, soap, shower gel, razors, women’s hygiene products, and masks. Reusable bags and backpacks are also appreciated as well as blankets and sleeping bags.
The mission program at the Deep River Congregational Church is a multi faceted intergenerational program seeking to bring Christ's love into the world at large. Our mission workers are as young as one year and as old as a hundred! They hand out clothing on the streets of New York City, hammer nails for hurricane relief, and gather items to send to people in need all over the globe.
In 2012 the Deep River Church sponsored three week-long group mission trips. One trip went to LaPlant, South Dakota and spent a week doing house construction and day camp programs. Another trip went to Las Delicias, El Salvador where they volunteered building houses and working at an orphanage. The third trip inoculated three thousand Mexican Villagers against rotavirus in Oaxaca.
Due to increasing prices of airline fares, we staying closer to home, and tending to needs in places that are within driving distance.
Along with week long trips we have closer, cheaper and simpler ways to volunteer right near our church! The need is great everywhere and we try to help wherever we can! If you would like more information on how to volunteer locally
One Great Hour of Sharing is the refugee, relief and development offering of the United Church of Christ. The proceeds from this yearly offering transforms lives through health, education, agricultural, and emergency relief initiatives in 138 countries. Ministries and Partners Supported by the One Great Hour of Sharing Offering include:
National Disaster Ministries
Refugee Ministries
Volunteer Ministries
Global Ministries
ECLOF International
IMA World Health
Oiko Credit Microfinance
Contact the Church Office for further information.
The Prayer Chain advises members of the congregation of those in our community who need healing prayer. Email notifications are made to group members to enlist prayers of support.
Contact: Kris Lindner, 860-526-5045 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The DRCC partners with the "Shoreline Soup Kitchens and Food Pantries" to host the Thursday night Soup Kitchen meal each week. All are welcome to attend these FREE community suppers at 5 pm each Thursday in Upper Fellowship Hall.
Volunteers are needed! Those who would like to volunteer to prepare and serve the meal need to attend an orientation session. Orientations sessions are held at the Grace Episcopal Church in Old Saybrook on the second Tuesday of each month at 6:30.
For more information please contact Shirley Rutan at 860-227-7724 or the church office by calling 860-526-5045.
Soda Can Tabs are collected all year to raise funds for The Ronald McDonald House. Ronald McDonald House charities focus on the the care of critically ill children and their families.The pop top tab from a soda can is made from a special quality of aluminum which can be recycled. Tabs can be donated in a bin outside of Sybil's office.
Contact: For further information please contact Janet K. by using the information listed in the church directory.
Each year children of DRCC are encouraged to Trick or Treat for UNICEF as they undertake their Halloween routine. Though Halloween is not a Christian holiday, we feel that putting a Christian emphasis on one of childhood's favorite days, we can help form a suitable view of this celebration. On the last Sunday in October, the youth are invited to dress in their costumes. The classes parade through the Sanctuary, listen to a UNICEF program and then onto a celebration to include Halloween goodies, games and crafts, as well as receive their UNICEF boxes.
UNICEF, The United Nations Children's Fund is a United Nations Program headquartered in New York City. UNICEF provides long-term humanitarian and developmental assistance to children and mothers in developing countries. Each fall on the Sunday before Halloween, DRCC's Sunday School children celebrate Halloween receive their UNICEF donation boxes.
Contact: Sybil Higgins at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or the Church Office at 860-526-5045
