Application deadline for second round of grants: February 26, 2021

At its October 2020 meeting, the Executive Council of The Episcopal Church approved United Thank Offering (UTO) grants to support 21 Episcopal Church and five Anglican Communion missions and ministries.

These grants are awarded for projects in The Episcopal Church and throughout the Anglican Communion, each year with a different focus. For 2021, the focus is Recovering with Love and Gratitude: An Episcopal Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic in Local Contexts.

UTO thanks everyone who, through a personal spiritual discipline of gratitude, contributed to the 2020 Ingathering through August 2020. As a result of this gratitude and generosity, UTO raised $450,000 in thank offerings in time for the first round of COVID-19 grants. The COVID-19 grants combine some historic traditions for UTO, namely sustaining previous grant winners to ensure that vital ministries continue in addition to funding innovative responses to the pandemic. Grants that sustain previous sites are indicated in the title. For the first time, the UTO Board offered funding levels to guide requests in the hope of funding as many grant sites as possible due to the extreme need the global pandemic has caused.

“Choosing which grant applications to fund and not fund is always difficult,” shared Sherri Dietrich, UTO board president, “but during this extraordinary time of suffering in the global COVID-19 pandemic we had to prioritize mere survival over thriving. As always, if we’d had more money to grant we would have been delighted to fund more of the excellent grant projects submitted, so please continue to be thankful and make your thank offerings to UTO.”

The UTO Board received almost $785,000 in requests for this first round of COVID-19 grants. With the help and encouragement that participants give to others to join the United Thank Offering, the Board hopes to raise additional funds in the remaining months of this year to support even more applicants during the second round of COVID-19 grants.

Every penny given to the United Thank Offering is given away to support innovative mission and ministry in The Episcopal Church.

Learn more about how to apply for the second round of UTO grants here.

Episcopal Church Award Recipients

• Episcopal Diocese of Alabama – St Mary’s Food Bank Cooler/Freezer Project: $10,000
• Episcopal Diocese of Arizona – Community Driven Streaming & Digital Ministry in the Time of COVID-19: $24,873
• Episcopal Diocese of Chicago – COVID-19 Spanish-Language Pastoral Care Relief Training Course Development: $23,560
• Episcopal Diocese of Eastern Oregon – Sustaining: Ascension Greenhouse Enhancements for COVID-19 Response: $7,200
• Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe – Digital Ministry Capacity Building for Europe: $9,322
• Episcopal Diocese of El Camino Real – Sustaining: Stepping Stones (formerly Project Bridge): $25,000
• Episcopal Migration Ministries – Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles New Start Asylee Orientation Program: $25,000
• Episcopal Diocese of Lexington – A Caring Place: Feeding the Soul and Body with Love and Gratitude: $20,800
• Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles – St. Luke’s/San Lucas Laundry Project: $10,000
• Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana – Sustaining: Anna’s Place NOLA: $25,000
• Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana – Sustaining: Jericho Road: $9,500
• Episcopal Diocese of Maryland – Claggett Center Mentoring & Tutoring Program: $25,000
• Episcopal Diocese of Maryland – Guardian Angel Food Pantry Director: $10,000
• Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts – Sustaining: ProGente Connections: $25,000
• Episcopal Diocese of New York – Bienstar en Portchester: $8,750
• Episcopal Diocese of Newark – Sustaining: All the Way Up: $25,000
• Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina – Sustaining: St. Augustine’s College Chapel, HBCU: $18,686
• Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania – The Hive: $25,000
• Episcopal Diocese of Southwest Florida – Sustaining: Benison Farm’s Feeding Response: $25,000
• Episcopal Diocese of Washington – Sustaining: Charlie’s Place: $25,000
• Episcopal Diocese of West Tennessee – Barth House Safe House: $4,500

Anglican Communion Award Recipients

• Bi-Lateral Partner: Brazil, Diocese of Brasila – COVID-19 – Emergency Project: Solidarity and Transformation: $9,745.04
• The Church of Ceylon, Diocese of Kurunegala – Food Security Programs at Polonnaruwa and Liyangala: $9,682
• Covenant Partner: Iglesia Anglicana de la Region Central America (IARCA), Diocese of Guatemala – Way of Love Emergency Relief: 18,064
• The Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East, Diocese of Jerusalem – Sustaining: Princess Basma Center: $25,000
• Province of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan, Diocese of Nzara – Emergency Campaign Against COVID-19: $3,600

Since the official founding in 1889, UTO has awarded 5,357 grants for a total of $140,625,355.77. (For a complete list of all UTO grants, please visit www.episcopalchurch.org/UTO and click on the Resources tab at the bottom of the page.)

Members of the United Thank Offering Board are: Sherri Dietrich, President; Joyce Landers, Vice-President; Kathy Mank, Financial Secretary; Lorraine Candelario Moctezuma, Appointed Member; Rosamond Daniels, Province III; Caitlyn Darnell, Young Adult Member; Gail Donovan, Province V; Diane Gabbard, Province IV; Sedona Jacobson, Young Adult Member; Jane Jellison, Province I; Hilda Lammar, Province IX; Kate Mietus, Province VIII; Maggie Noland, Province IV, The Rev. Christine Plantz, Province VI; Vernese Smith, Province II; Matthew Cowden, Executive Council Liaison.

Application information and forms for the second round of UTO grants are available here.

• The deadline for submitting an application for the second round of grants is February 26, 2021 at 5:00 pm Eastern / 4:00 pm Central / 3:00 pm Mountain / 2:00 pm Pacific / 1:00 pm Alaska / 12:00 pm Hawaii time.

For more information contact the Rev. Canon Heather Melton, staff officer for the United Thank Offering, 212-922-5130.