By Heather Melton, UTO Staff Officer

It is hard to believe it, but the summer is coming to a close for 2024, which means that it’s time for our special summer edition of the newsletter. The day this newsletter goes out is the first day of school in my community, so “fall,” in the ways it is centered around the beginning of the school year, is officially underway. For many of us, fall will really start after Labor Day, but the planning for it begins now. Once again, UTO has been hard at work this summer creating materials to help individuals, families, and congregations focus on gratitude this fall. This newsletter is a little different than the ones we usually send out, but we hope it serves as a guide to the fall resources UTO has created. We will feature these resources and provide more information in the September newsletter, but we wanted to make sure to get the news out to everyone thinking ahead. 

There are some big changes to our fall materials. We have gotten the feedback that many congregations are focused on stewardship in November and would prefer our fall resources to focus instead on a different month. So, we’re trying something new and moving our materials to October. We have also structured them in a new way to help us connect with the global community and learn about how gratitude is expressed elsewhere. You can read more about those materials later in this newsletter. (For those thinking about stewardship for November, we have got you covered, too—free stewardship resources are available at www.unitedthankoffering.com/generosity.) We have also organized all of our Thanksgiving holiday resources into one place for those of you looking for prayers to use, conversation starters, or resources to learn more about Thanksgiving.  

In addition to our fall resources, we have also made a couple of big changes to the UTO grant application process. We have added a training for those who want to help applicants locally, and we have moved all applications to a dual deadline, so we can help ensure that every application is complete, within the focus and criteria, and eligible for funding. Our goal for 2025 is to not turn anyone away because they struggled with the application process. You can read more about these changes below or on our grant application webpage.

All of us at UTO hope you are enjoying the end of summer; there’s much to give thanks for this time of year, from longer days, to cookouts, s’mores, and getting together with friends. We are thankful for time to do all of these things even in the midst of getting ready for pumpkins, warm spices, and cooler weather. Have a great rest of your summer, and we will be back to our usual format in September.