NEPTUNE – Hamilton United Methodist Church in Neptune is well-known in the community for its charitable assistance to others including delivering meals to those in need, bringing cookies to shut-in’s and visiting the sick. It’s also highly regarded for mission work as members have made a priority for almost 20 years to embark annually on the Red Bird Mission to Appalachian Kentucky where they provide aid to a rural, distressed part of the country.
With all the support this church gives to others, they had to ask their local community for a helping hand. In fact, they asked the community to sing for it. The Hamilton UMC recently held a karaoke “Singin’ for a Church Van” fundraiser with all proceeds used to help with the purchase a new van.
“This was the first time we hosted such an event. We wanted to try a new fundraiser that the community would be interested in and a fun, safe opportunity to gather as a multi-generational community,” said Youth Director Jessica Tilton.
The fundraiser was open to the public with friends and family of the congregation encouraged to join the fun. Karaoke was set up in the church sanctuary and all language-appropriate music was welcome. Participants were asked to contribute $1.00 for each song. Adult admission was $10.00 and $5.00 for children 12 and under.
The Neptune congregation has a goal of raising enough money to purchase a 15-passenger van for mission trips, youth outings, Christmas caroling and other youth group and ministry team events.
“We are hoping to raise as much as possible but at the same time just provide a space for the Neptune community to come and be together,” said Tilton. “Our overall goal is $25,000 for the van. We will be planning a take-out dinner in the next few months. People can purchase meals in advance off our menu and pick them up in ready-to-go containers at the church to have a home-cooked meal for the night.”
Over 30 came out to the event, raising $350 towards the van. Tilton continued, “We believe that this karaoke fundraiser was a good fit for our church. We want to be involved with providing space for our community to come together. We want Neptune and our local communities to know our doors are open for them. This is something we never did before and we really hope it will take flight so we can do more events like these in the future.”