Yep, we're still here!

Coming of off a very successful school-supply campaign through which every student at Satanta Elementary School was given a kit complete with all the supplies needed for the school year, the 21^st Time has shifted its efforts to Christmas giving. The class’s annual Christmas Angel campaign will begin this year at the Satanta United Methodist Women’s fall bazaar on Friday, November 8^th. At the bazaar (and in the narthex after that) church and community members will be encouraged to pick up an ornament bearing the name of an underprivileged Satanta child. For children in grades 5-12, the 21^st Time has purchased long-sleeve Satanta t-shirts from the SHS freshmen class at a cost of $20 each. That means that 39 of these ornaments will bear the words “t-shirt” donation. All other ornaments will be for children 4^th grade and under and will include the child’s gender and age. Checks for t-shirts can be made out to the 21^st Time—SUMC; all other gifts can be dropped off at the church by Sunday, December 15. Please place your gift in gift bag topped with tissue paper and paperclip the ornament representing the child for whom it is intended onto the front of the bag. In conjunction with this project, the 21^st Time class will be selling Christmas candies (including homemade peanut brittle) and other goodies in the narthex on the four Sundays leading up to Christmas. These funds will be used to help defray the cost of the Christmas Angel campaign. Please help us share the joy of Christmas with a child in need.

Slackers?

It's been some time since our last post here, but it's certainly not because we've been slacking!

Having successfully completed our school campaign, which gave a free school-supply kit to every student in grades PK-6 at our elementary school, we tackled another issue: band instruments. In order to keep four junior high students in band, we rounded up three clarinets and two trumpets along with cash donations for their repair. An oboe may also make its home at USD 507 depending on the level of repairs it needs. We hope to work with the Satanta Lions Club to ensure that all our 5th and 6th graders in band have access to school-owned instruments. Plus, we've already initiated project Christmas Angel by purchasing 39 long-sleeved Satanta t-shirts (for kids in grades 5-12) from the Satanta freshmen class, and we've renewed our church's membership to the Satanta Booster Club. We are also working to ensure that our youth program gets off to a great start by hosting a kick-off event with food and games in the park. We will set-up for this event at 5:00 on Wednesday, 9/11.

School Supply Campaing Funding Update

21st Time Account Balance (as of 8/8/13)  . . . in case you were wondering

Current 21^st Time Account Balance: 3,223.47

Pending Deposit: +1,275.00

Balance after Pending Deposit: 4,498.47

Cookie Pledges (not yet collected): +200.00

Balance with Cookie Pledges Included: 4698.47

School Supply Invoice: -3,593.68

Difference: 1,104.79

This, of course, does not reflect the costs of baking the monster cookies.

School-Supply Monster Cookies

The 21st Time is currently accepting donations of $20 (or more) to help defray the cost of the school supply kits that are being given to EVERY student at Satanta Elementary School. The deadline for donation is August 9 with a baking day set on August 10. Pick-up will be available on August 11 before and after church services at the Satanta United Methodist Church; deliveries will be made on August 12. Donations can be made at the time of pick-up or delivery or can be mailed to Ryan Burrows, PO Box 74, Satanta, KS 67870.

School Supply Project Expansion

The Satanta United Methodist Church’s 21^st Time class is proud to announce an expansion of its school-supply project for 2013-2014. For the next school year, every student in Satanta Elementary School will receive complimentary supplies courtesy of the Satanta United Methodist Church and a number of sponsoring organizing who have signed on to make this possible. These organizations include the Satanta Lions Club; the Satanta Parent-Teacher Organization (FOKS); Centera Bank, Satanta, and its employees; the Satanta High School Kayettes, and the Satanta High School FCCLA organization. Please take the time to thank these organizations for the work they do in our community. 

This project represents an expansion of an original project initiated by the Satanta United Methodist Church in 2012 when the church’s 21^st Time class launched school-supply project for USD 507 students in grades PK-6 aimed at providing low- or no-cost school supply kits for students attending Satanta Elementary. Virtually every student at the elementary participated in this project, and the feedback from parents and teachers was so positive that the 21^st Time decided to expand this project to cover all students.

The 21^st Time will begin fundraising to generate the remaining funds needed to cover the cost of these supplies, which average $15 per student, beginning with a June 8, 2013, garage sale at the Satanta Community Building. Please consider setting items aside for this sale in support of this project. Pick-up of items the week prior to the sale will again be available this year. Contact Ryan Burrows for information on the upcoming garage sale and/or the newly expanded school-supply campaign.

More Fun from the Easter Egg Hunt! Recognize These Shining Faces?

Easter Egg Hunt 2013

The snow complicated things for us a bit, but we pressed forward with the hunt anyway. By 3:00 p.m. most of the park was clear, and the sun was out. The consensus was that our decision to cancel our indoor activities--Resurrection eggs, games, snacks, and photos with the Easter Bunny--was a good one in light of the mess that could have been created inside the building. Shirley McDonald and the Outreach Committee saved the items that they purchased for these indoor activities, and we'll plan to do them next year.

Other things that we plan to do again next year include the following:

• Ordering eggs from Net Eggs. The 2,000 we ordered seemed to be a good number. The Chamber covered the cost of these eggs, which was $240. 
•  Having the Easter Bunny make an appearance is always a hit, but we might be able to make less complicated by having the Chamber purchase a bunny costume. 
• The multiple smaller prizes (we did four per age division) worked better than one grand prize. Ryan plans to do shopping for prizes for next year the day after Easter this year. 
• Getting quarters from Centera works well.

Here are some ideas for next year:

• Purchase an air horn to signal the start of the hunt.
• Purchase golden eggs for all prizes.
• Limit prizes to one per child.

Garage Sale Date Selected

The 21st Time will host its annual garage sale on June 8, 2013. Start saving items now to donate toward this fundraising event. We'll need $2,000 to cover our share of the school-supply project expenses, and this will be a great place to start!

Possible School Supply Expansion

In an effort to give ALL Satanta students in grades PK-6 school supplies FREE of charge next year, the 21st Time is seeking a partnership with two local organizations: The Satanta Lions Club and Satanta PTO/FOKS. The following letter was sent to both organizations outlining how this project would work:


In 2012 the Satanta United Methodist Church’s 21^st Time Sunday school class launched a school-supply project for USD 507 students in grades PK-6. This project—which utilized Kits for Kids, an organization dedicated to providing non-profit entities a source for affordable school supplies—allowed us purchase school supplies for the 71.89% of our community’s elementary school population who are classified as economically disadvantaged and, therefore, qualify for free or reduced lunches. These students received their supplies free of charge; others were asked to pay $15 to cover the costs of their supplies.

Virtually all 185 students at the elementary participated in this project, and the feedback we’ve received from parents, teachers, and school administrators has been so positive that the 21^st Time seeks to expand this project next year to provide no-cost school supplies to every student who attends Satanta Elementary.  While we understand that many families are financially able to purchase school supplies, we believe that offering supplies to all students will help remove the stigma of receiving assistance and that providing supplies to all students will eliminate the confusion of asking families to self-identify whether or not they are in need of assistance. More importantly, we seek to expand to this project so that all children in our community may experience a simple gift of grace.

Meeting our goal of providing supplies to all children cannot be done, however, without the support of other organizations in the community of Satanta. With this in mind, the 21^st Time has developed a plan to make this goal a reality: The 21^st Time pledges to fund 70% of the entire cost of this project, the total cost of which is equivalent to roughly $3,000 (the average cost of a kit is $15; we’ll need about 200 kits).  The remaining 40% ($900) would be divided between two other local donors: Satanta Lions and Satanta PTO (FOKS) with each providing $450. While the 21^st Time will take care of all the logistics of ordering and delivering supplies, all three entities would receive equal recognition for their donations toward this important project, which, we hope, will become an annual event.

Should you want further details on this project, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I will be happy to explain the 21^st Time’s plan in more detail to you individually or at a meeting of your group. Thank you for taking the time to consider this proposal and thank you for all you do to make Satanta a better place.