Join us for our next Meal with a Mission

to benefit Christian Churches United

Caitlin's Smiles does wonderful work for children who are very sick.

Wednesday, September 23, 2026

5:30 - 7:00 PM in the Fellowship Hall

Come share a meal and make a difference in our community!

The next Meal with a Mission is Wednesday, September 23rd at 5:30 pm in the gym. We will serve a simple supper and afterward preparing Welcome Home Kits for Christian Churches United. See article below here for more on Christian Churches United.


The items being collected are:

 

  • Laundry Basket: rectangular, plastic, 2 (two) bushel -- one per kit
  • Cleaning Buckets: 2 to 2 ½ gallon – one per kit
  • Toilet Brush – one per kit
  • Spray Bottle of All Purpose Cleaner – one per kit
  • Spray Bottle of Bathroom Cleaner – one per kit
  • Cleaning Cloths/Rags (new) – two per kit
  • Liquid Hand Soap – two bottles per kit
  • Laundry Detergent – one box or bottle per kit

 

There are bins to place the cleaning supplies in the Gathering Place and by the Preschool; the laundry baskets and cleaning buckets can be stacked by the bins.

 

Thank you for your support of the Meal with a Mission projects.


Three ways to RSVP:

  1. Call the church office at 717-766-0204.
  2. Sign up HERE on Realm.
  3. Use the sign-up sheet in the Gathering Place.


How "Meal with a Mission" Gifts Help Those in Need

Laundry baskets brimming with cleaning supplies will serve as “welcome home” assistance for people returning from prisons, those living on the streets and others starting a new life after sleeping in cars, or “couch surfing,” said the executive director of Christian Churches United (CCU), a non-profit social service agency.

Members and friends of Silver Spring Presbyterian Church are donating cleaning supplies and filling the baskets on Wednesday, September 23, 2026, at 5:30 pm in the gymnasium as part of the church’s Meal with a Mission program.

 

CCU is an ecumenical coalition in Cumberland, Dauphin and Perry counties supported by 140 churches including SSPC. Matt Reichard, the staff director of CCU, said an example of a recipient helped by the program included a mother who formerly lived with three daughters in a car. Reichard sat for an interview with SSPC Enlighten Editor Brad Bumsted about the use of donated resources to CCU with the help of its 38-member staff focused on the homeless and recently homeless.

 

Reichard, a former United Methodist associate pastor, said CCU’s mission is to “love our neighbors by walking alongside those experiencing homelessness, poverty, and incarceration.”

 

Referring to SSPC’s Meal with a Mission program, the Reverend Doctor Don Wahlig said, “We do this 4 times per year and choose different non-profit organizations to benefit each time. The format is a simple supper to which the community is invited. In advance of the event, our folks donate materials for whatever kit /package is required by the organization we are helping. At the event we assemble the donated items into the desired kits. The next day we deliver the kits.”

 

Why cleaning kits in this case? Isn’t food a top priority for those moving in from the street? The people who are moving into assisted housing are already plugged into food resources, through CCU’s staff and existing programs. Getting a basket of cleaning supplies “takes a little pressure off when you’re moving,” Reichard said. “It takes the edge off these expenses. The costs can be a couple hundred bucks.”

 

A typical case would be the mother with three kids living in a car and “parking lot surfing” most often in the night, Reichard said. They were symbolic of the need for a basket when their urgent need for housing resulted in their placement in a just cleaned apartment, Reichard said. They will still need the cleaning supplies in a week or so. And a week after that, he said.

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(Silver Spring Presbyterian Church will address the issue of food insecurity later this fall.)  

 

Brad Bumsted, Bob Davis and Susan Neville combined to produce this article.