Click on each Mission to learn more!
In 2020, OPPC decided to partner with Carmel United Methodist Church, who has operated a food pantry for nearly 30 years.
Today, we deliver 400 dozen fresh eggs per month, have a cadre of OPPC volunteers who help staff the food pantry, organize food drives, and financially support the pantry through OPPC’s mission budget.
In 2024, OPPC members and preschool participated in a Reverse Advent Calendar and contributed many food items including cake mixes, pasta noodles and sauce, canned veggies and fruit, macaroni & cheese and laundry detergent to assist Food Pantry guests with their needs. Learn more at Mission (carmelumc.org).
OPPC partners with Carmel Clay schools to provide clothing, free of charge, to students who are identified as needing help by school counselors and social workers. We collect new and used clothing, sort and launder the donations and fill and deliver requests as they come in.
From August to December 2024, we supplied clothing to more than 70 elementary and middle school students.
Family Promise is a ministry of hope for homeless families in the Indianapolis area. Since the pandemic, homeless families have been housed in apartments with OPPC helping to supply dinners, housewares and furniture, as well as contributing financially from the mission budget. Learn more at www.fpgi.org.
In 2012, OPPC members began collaborating with Harvest Christian Fellowship to host Black History Celebrations, provide music, bags full of groceries, clothing and medical check ups at HCF’s annual fall festival and prepare 30-40 Thanksgiving dinners to residents in the HCF neighborhood. During the pandemic, some of these activities continued. Today, OPPC still provides Thanksgiving dinners, sacks full of groceries, school supply backpacks, food boxes.
OPPC hosts a weekly program of social time, games and lunch for promote and support independent lifestyles for adults 55+ in Hamilton County. We partner with Shepherd’s Center of Hamilton County and provide a welcoming space for folks to gather on Wednesdays from 9:30 am to 1:00 pm. Learn more at https://shepherdscenterofhamiltoncounty.org/together-today/.
The first Friday of every month, OPPC hosts a fellowship benefiting physically and mentally handicapped challenged individuals. Approximately 30-40 adults gather on the first Friday of the month in the evening to enjoy fellowship, snacks and entertainment such as dances, Bingo, karaoke and music groups.
For many years, OPPC children and youth have attended Christ-centered camps at Pyoca Camp & Retreat Center, with many of the kids later “graduating”
to become summer camp counselors.
Each year, OPPC hosts a week-long Camp Friendly and Junior High Camp. Learn more at www.pyoca.org.
For many years, OPPC has partnered with the local Carmel Clay school system and Merciful H.E.L.P. to provide weekend breakfast and lunch meals to at-risk students. In 2024, we purchased, packed and distributed sacks providing food for all the weekends in March and October.
For more than 13 years, Fountains of Hope has been working on the vital issue of providing clean water to humans by installing over 265 water purifier systems worldwide and bringing safe water to over 125,000 persons each and every day.
FOH teams install systems world-wide including Ukraine, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Kenya and the United States. To learn more about what FOH is up to click here.
In 2012, Dr. Renaud Gerve opened a mobile clinic to serve the remote villages in the
Central Plateau area of Haiti. The clinic serves 20 remote mountain villages and routinely treats
between 500-1,000 patients per month. In addition, a stationary clinic is being built in Mombin Crochu, Haiti with financial assistance from OPPC. Each year, OPPC also assembles birthing kits for use by midwives and village care workers. Learn more at https://www.profamilleclinique.org/.
OPPC and its members are primary contributors to a post-high school scholarship program for students in Central Plateau, Haiti. Courses of study range from 3 months to 4 years, focus on marketable educational opportunities and include studies in nursing, education, accounting, construction, computer science and even a diplomacy. Learn more at https://www.facebook.com/cpsprogram/.
OPPC members routinely step up to help neighbors around the world but especially when disaster strikes. We support mission causes close to home through the Whitewater Valley Presbytery (Westminster Neighborhood Services, Hispanic Ministries, Camp Pyoca, Congo Helping Hands), as well around the world through the Presbyterian Mission Agency / Presbyterian Disaster Assistance.
Special offerings taken for One Great Hour of Sharing and Christmas Joy support Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, Presbyterian Hunger Program, Self-Development of People and support and leadership development opportunities for Presbyterian ministers. Learn more at http://www.whitewatervalley.org/ or https://specialofferings.pcusa.org/
Caring for our neighbors near and far has always been part of OPPC’s beating heart. Our faith community commits its time, talent and treasures to care for immediate needs (charity), partner with others to find longer term solutions to poverty (empowerment) and work to address the underlying causes of societal problems (advocacy).
In 2024, OPPC decided to focus on two church-wide initiatives; food insecurity and mental health/loneliness. We stepped up our participation in the CUMC Food Pantry and strengthened our commitment to addressing food insecurity concerns in the greater Indianapolis area. OPPC also presented two mental health seminars in 2023-24 and established a limited grief support group under the guidance of a mental health counselor. As we enter 2025, OPPC will continue to explore ways to address these needs.
At Orchard Park Presbyterian Church, we seek to grow in faith and reach out with the Good News of Jesus Christ.
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