| Endowment Fund creates new cottage industries DAVID E. BOHNERT
UMCONNECTION CORRESPONDENT With the help of money from the conference endowment fund, people are learning to craft businesses that will draw them out of poverty. In this new cottage-industry endeavor, one person learns to make several kinds of candy, another learns to make small quilted items and a third learns skills needed to craft decorative items of wood. All three will sell their items at craft fairs and move another step toward financial independence. This economic development is possible because of funds contributed by area churches and individuals to the Baltimore-Washington Conference Endowment Fund. Pleasant Walk UMC in Wolfsville, where the Rev. Nancy  Green is pastor, received a grant this year from the Loans and Grants Committee of the Conference Endowment Fund for start-up costs for a cottage industries project, according to the Rev. Edwin C. DeLong, conference associate council director. The project is a ministry project of the Frederick District to reach out to a Cumberland-Hagerstown District church in Paw Paw, W.Va. I know of no other project in the conference thats an outreach of a church into Appalachia in this manner, DeLong said. The small grant provides for start-up costs and the purchase of production materials, DeLong said. He expects the project to eventually be self-supporting. The Conference Endowment Fund, created in 1992, provides loans for church construction and renovation and provides direct grants for new programs and emergency purposes, according to the funds report in the 2001 Journal. Funding for direct grants, such as the cottage industries grant, is derived from interest received from loans and other investments. Today the value of the fund is approximately $1.7 million, said the Rev. James Knowles-Tuell, conference treasurer. Direct gifts were received in 2001 that totaled $19,900 and bequests totaled $31,274. In 2001, $259,500 was loaned and $114,070 was given in grants. On Endowment Fund Sunday, set by the conference for April 28, local churches are asked for a special offering to help the Endowment Fund grow, Knowles-Tuell said. Partnering with the Pleasant Walk UMC will be churches of the Wolfsville Charge Garfield and Salem UMCs and Mt. Bethel UMC in Smithsburg, Green said. Several parishioners in the churches will teach their skills to residents of Paw Paw, in partnership with the Paw Paw UMC, and help them with the marketing aspects of the venture. All of the congregations will work together sharing the love of Jesus. We are to be the hands and feet of Jesus Christ until he returns in final victory, Green said. Participation in the cottage industries project is open to anyone in Paw Paw. The area is in deep poverty, and there is a lot of illiteracy, the Rev. Nancy Ward, the churchs pastor said. Its a matter of nurturing them along and giving them self-confidence. God has given them talents that they are not necessarily aware of, said Ward. If we can help them discover those talents, we can help them develop skills that will enable them to produce crafts that they can sell and earn money and be productive. They have great creative talent. | 
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