United Thank Offering awards more than $2 million grants for global, local mission
Episcopal News Service. August 17, 2010 [081710-03]
ENS staff
The United Thank Offering has awarded more than $2.16 million in grants for 2010 to assist the mission and ministry of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion, according to an Aug. 16 press release from the public affairs office.
UTO grants are awarded annually for projects "that address human needs and help alleviate poverty, both domestically and internationally," the release said.
The 2010 grants, totaling $2,163,740.93, were awarded for projects in 43 Episcopal Church dioceses, 11 companion diocese relationships and 15 international provinces. The UTO received 120 grant applications, totaling $5,741,594.73.
Most of the grants focused on assistance to food ministries, health clinics, refugee needs, young adults and the construction of classrooms and program space, the release said, noting several examples the 2010 recipients:
- the Diocese of Alabama was awarded $17,750 for a handicapped-accessible playground;
- the Diocese of Central Gulf Coast was awarded $60,000 to rebuild a parish hall that had been destroyed in 2004 by Hurricane Ivan;
- the smallest amount awarded, $1,300, went to the Diocese of Lexington to support Camp Haven, a summer camp for children of the incarcerated;
- fourteen grants totaled $50,000 or more, with the largest at $90,000 to the Diocese of the Dominican Republic for school construction to include an addition of seven classrooms;
- the dioceses of Maine and Upper South Carolina were awarded funds to assist their companion Diocese of Haiti following the devastating earthquake in January;
- the Diocese of South Dakota received a $13,000 grant for its companion Diocese of Bor in southern Sudan for access to sustainable drinking water.
The international grants were awarded for programs and projects in Brazil, Burundi, Congo, Guatemala, Japan, Liberia, Madagascar, Mexico, Pakistan, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Uruguay, and Yemen.
"Among the international grants were $46,000 to the Church of Pakistan towards the costs of a medical facility, and $32,000 to the Anglican Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East for the modernization of an eye clinic in Yemen," the release said.
The complete list of grants is available here.
The United Offering was established at the General Convention of 1889 and became the United Thank Offering in 1919. In 1970, the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church gave its permission for the offering to be allocated on an annual basis and the UTO grant committee was formed.
Further information about UTO is available here.