“Your Hand Helping Others”

Note: TJUC members and friends may be familiar with seeing “EACM” referred to in the church’s correspondence and in many of the church’s charitable service projects and supply collections. This article describes TJUC’s history with the organization, the important role that EACM plays in the community, and the important role TJUC and other member churches play in the support of EACM.

In KY, one of every 6 people is considered to not have enough healthy food to eat. In Louisville there are many people who need help to feed their families and heat their homes, and who need guidance to better their lives. This includes people that live in our church’s neighborhood – East Louisville.

To help those who are struggling, 15 ministries have been set up throughout the city to offer food, money and other help.  One of the 15 ministries is EACM. TJUC is located in the eastern area of Louisville, so we are a member of EACM. There are 37 other churches in the east end of Louisville that are also members of it. EACM is also supported by Dare to Care, Grants, Kosair Charities, Metro Louisville .

EACM serves 9 zip codes, including areas you may not associate with people in need like Anchorage, Middletown, Lyndon & Prospect.

EACM is located inside John Knox Presbyterian Church on Westport RD.

Before Rev. Sturtevant came to TJUC 30 years ago, our church was a member of the Neighborhood Visitor Program (NVP). When EACM was created in 1990, the NVP became a program within EACM. (Projects offered by NVP have now been absorbed by EACM and thus NVP no longer exists in name.)

TJUC voted to become an EACM member church in the early 1990s. Rev. Sturtevant has represented TJUC by serving on EACM’s Board. He has also served EACM in various other capacities, including work in its Juvenile Justice programs and on the Finance Committee.

EACM Programs include:

• Emergency assistance– cash is provided for utilities, rent, & medicines which can run $!00,000 annually
• Food Pantry– The pantry is a Dare to Care distribution site. It receives food from Dare to Care, partner businesses like Meijer, and its member churches like TJUC.
• Meals on Wheels – hot meals to adults
• Family Services –

* Good Start for Kids provides essential baby care items (most such items cannot be purchased with food stamps)

* Back 2 School provides backpacks and school supplies

• Multicultural Community Services facilitate the immersion and integration of our multi-cultural neighbors by providing counseling and English as Second Language classes
• Helping Hands Partnership – helps clients actively pursue goals they set for a greater quality of life
• Seasonal Programming
• *Back 2 School, Thanksgiving Baskets & the Christmas Store

TJUC’s administrative staff, Social Justice Committee (SJC), and LSRE Program lead projects at church to support our EACM membership. TJUC’s members’ and friends’ respond generously to the projects as individuals or as groups – such as Chalice Circles or committees.

The numerous projects that TJUC undertakes in support of EACM programs include:

• Food Pantry: RE classes participate in 2 food collections each year for the Pantry – an Easter Hunt for Food and Trick or Treat for Food. The Trick or Treat project collects food from our residential neighbors in Crossgate! TJUC’s support of the September Dare to Care Hunger Walk benefits the Pantry by virtue of it being a Dare to Care distribution site.
• Good Start for Kids: The SJC holds a Diaper Drive each April.
• Back 2 School Supply Collection: The SJC holds a Back 2 School Collection each July.
• Thanksgiving Baskets: The SJC collects items for Thanksgiving Baskets each November.
• Christmas Store: Some years the SJC has coordinated our help with this project, or Chalice Circles have chosen it as a service project.
• Monetary Support: It has been a long-standing tradition that TJUC’s Christmas Eve Service collection plate donations are given to EACM. In addition, because we are a member church, TJUC includes in its budget an annual EACM donation of $10 per church member. We also support EACM’s annual fundraising social event typically held in March by attending the dinner and participating in the auction.

Volunteer Opportunities abound at EACM. EACM staff are some of the kindest, most knowledgeable, and energetic folks you will ever meet. You can contact them to discover additional ways you can help by going online at eacmonline.org or by calling 502-426-2824.