Shared Bread
Shared Bread is a ministry of our church that supports individuals living within the Kent School District boundaries.
Our primary focus is on offering financial assistance to prevent evictions and to prevent utilities (including heat and electricity) from being shut off. People are eligible for assistance once every 12 months. We typically assist around 600 individuals per year. We have volunteers on Mondays who schedule interviews for clients to take place the following Wednesday by phone.
Shared Bread Corner
Many of us in our congregation are grandparents. We all know what a great feeling it is to enjoy our grandkids and have fun together. It could be a very different experience if we were called upon to raise our grandchildren. In the United States today, 2.7 million grandparents provide daily care for roughly 7 million grandchildren. Grandparents raising grandkids without a parent present are often older than 60, have lower income, lower educational attainment, and higher disability rates. Often, many challenges can arise: financial strain, health issues, legal and custody issues, social isolation, and role adjustment. This is becoming a very real societal human services issue with few avenues for those in need of help to turn to. Grandparents raising their grandchildren have saved taxpayers over $6 billion each year by keeping kids out of foster care. In addition, it usually helps the child experience less trauma to enter somewhat of a familiar situation when their initial family situation falls apart.
Going out into the world beyond our church walls and doing what our faith asks us to can be found in many areas. This is one we probably do not emphasize as a society, supporting grandparents raising grandkids, yet it is so needed. Last week, we did just that: a grandmother was preparing to take on the huge responsibility of raising her grandchildren. She had some financial means, yet with all the needs to make adjustments for the kids to come, her budget was overwhelmed trying to secure a larger apartment to house her new, larger family. Shared Bread, emergency assistance offered that helped and let her know she was not isolated; our congregation understood the financial challenges facing her, and we eased that connection as she walked down a tough pathway ahead; "we put that into action."
God sightings come in many ways, and surely it was alive and well when a grandparent faced a tough journey ahead, and her neighbors and KUMC heard that ask and acted upon it.
A Happy Easter and a big thank you for your continual generosity to our emergency assistance program.
Your Shared Bread Team,
Leslie, Pat, and Rhonda
Shared Bread in 2025
We gave out $95,093.12.
We received 3 grants.
We had 2 major gifts given by members.
We helped Auburn Methodist Church with an assistance request.
We met with both Coeur d'Alene Methodist and Fairwood Methodist, who wanted to model their programs after ours.
In January 2025, we reached our million-dollar mark after 20 years of giving.
We helped 5 members of our congregation.
We did a presentation to the Covington Kiwanis.
Kent UMC reaches $1 million milestone for assistance program
Kent United Methodist Church is celebrating a remarkable milestone! Over the past 25 years, the church's Shared Bread Program has surpassed $1 million in donations, providing vital rent and utility assistance to local families in need. Discover how this community-driven initiative continues to make a difference.