Bridge

Downers Grove Garden Walk 2019

Garden WalkSaturday, July 13, 2019

The 13th Annual Downers Grove Garden Walk gives you an opportunity to view some of the most beautiful gardens in the area. All proceeds benefit the DGFUMC Bridge Board in providing transitional housing and mentoring for homeless families.

Tickets are now available online or at the following locations: 

  • Anderson's Bookshop, 5112 Main St., Downers Grove
  • Community Bank of Downers Grove, 1111 Warren Ave.
  • The Growing Place, 25W471 Plank Rd, Naperville
  • Phillip's Flowers and Gifts, 528 N. Cass Ave., Westmont

Tickts are $20 in advance. Tickets also are available on Saturday, July 13 at each of the gardens, and at Downers Grove First United Methodist Church from 9:30 to noon in our parking lot for $25.

Virtual Garden Walk

The 14th Annual Downers Grove Garden Walk will be held online this year. It will give you an opportunity to preview some of the most beautiful gardens in the area in anticipation of next year's in-person (we hope!) Garden Walk. This Garden Walk is a fundraiser benefiting the Bridge Board of the Downers Grove First United Methodist Church.

This year's virtual Garden Walk will be a “sneak peek” of the gardens for 2021 with a professionally produced YouTube video posted online until August 8. This sneak peek features gardens that would have been on this year's Garden Walk and will instead appear on the walk next year, when we can visit in person. 

No ticket purchase is necessary. Please consider donating online in support of our Bridge program and the families that we mentor, should you choose to do so. We appreciate your understanding and your generous support of this meaningful mission.

Online Giving

The Bridge Board is a program partner with Bridge Communities, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose focus is to transform the lives of homeless families by guiding them to a better future. This mission is accomplished by providing housing, mentoring, direction, hope, encouragement and a stable environment so that families may become self-sufficient and sustain their independence. Every family resides in DuPage County.

Date: 
Saturday, July 11, 2020 - 9:30am

Community Hour - Bridge Mentors

Please join us in the Parlor after the 10am service on Sunday, February 23, to hear a brief presentation by Dan Johnson and his fellow mentors about how our church support Bridge families transition to independence. We currently support three families, helping them develop the skills they need to support themselves in our community. Two or three mentors from our church make a two-year commitment to meet with their Bridge families every week, guiding them through the process and helping them meet the challenges they face in becoming self-sufficent. Come and hear directly from the mentors about their experiences and how it has changed them. There will be time for questions.

Pastor John Smoke is leading children's activities during the presentation and there will be baby-sitting in the nursery so that those with young families can attend.

This is the first of a series of informal presentations about the different mission activities of our church members in the weeks before Easter. We hope you will stay behind after the service to discover the ways DGFUMC is making a difference in people's lives. You can also help support the work of the Bridge Board by coming back at 4pm for the Encore concert.

Location: 
Parlor
Date: 
Sunday, February 23, 2020 - 11:20am

Bridge Board Encore Benefit Concert

The Bridge Board invites you to share in a special afternoon of music as we welcome back some of our favorite performers from the past few years for an Encore! Whether you missed these wonderful performances the first time around or you just want to hear them again, now is your chance!

Proceeds help support our Bridge families as we work with them toward self-sufficiency.

Tickets can be purchased during the week for $8 in the church office or at the door for $10. Additional donations are always appreciated.

If you are unable to attend the concert and would like to support the work of the Bridge Board, donations are always accepted in the church office.

Refreshments will be served after the program. We hope you will join us!

Location: 
Sanctuary
Date: 
Sunday, February 23, 2020 - 4:00pm

Bridge Board Encore Benefit Concert

The Bridge Board invites you to share in a special afternoon of music as we welcome back some of our favorite performers from the past few years and hear from some new ones for our Encore concert. Whether you missed these wonderful performances the first time around or you just want to hear them again, now is your chance!

Proceeds help support our Bridge families as we work with them toward self-sufficiency. Tickets can be purchased during the week for $8 in the church office or at the door for $10. Additional donations are always appreciated.

If you are unable to attend the concert and would like to support the work of the Bridge Board, donations are always accepted in the church office.

Refreshments will be served after the program. We hope you will join us!

Location: 
Sanctuary
Date: 
Sunday, February 23, 2020 - 4:00pm

Downers Grove Garden Walk

Garden WalkSaturday, July 14, 2018

The 12th Annual Downers Grove Garden Walk gives you an opportunity to view some of the most beautiful gardens in the area. All proceeds benefit the DGFUMC Bridge Board in providing transitional housing and mentoring for homeless families.

Tickets are available on Saturday, July 14 at each of the gardens, and at Downers Grove First United Methodist Church from 9:30 to noon in our parking lot.

Downers Grove Garden Walk

The 13th Annual Downers Grove Garden Walk will give you an opportunity to view some of the most beautiful gardens in the area. The Garden Walk is a fundraiser benefitting the Bridge Board of the Downers Grove First United Methodist Church.

The Bridge Board is a program partner with Bridge Communities, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose focus is to transform the lives of homeless families by guiding them to a better future. This mission is accomplished by providing housing, mentoring, direction, hope, encouragement and a stable environment so that families may become self-sufficient and sustain their independence. Every family resides in DuPage County.

Date: 
Saturday, July 13, 2019 - 9:30am

Bridge Board Encore Benefit Concert

The Bridge Board invites you to share in a special afternoon of music as we welcome back some of our favorite performers from the past few years for an Encore! Whether you missed these wonderful performances the first time around or you just want to hear them again, now is your chance!

Proceeds help support our Bridge families as we work with them toward self-sufficiency.

Tickets can be purchased during the week for $8 in the church office or at the door for $10. Additional donations are always appreciated.

If you are unable to attend the concert and would like to support the work of the Bridge Board, donations are always accepted in the church office.

Refreshments will be served after the program. We hope you will join us!

Location: 
Sanctuary
Date: 
Sunday, September 30, 2018 - 4:00pm

Bridge Board Encore Benefit Concert

The Bridge Board invites you to share in a special afternoon of music as we welcome back some of our favorite performers from the past few years for an Encore. Whether you missed these wonderful performances the first time around or you just want to hear them again, now is your chance!

Proceeds help support our Bridge families as we work with them toward self-sufficiency. Tickets can be purchased during the week for $8 in the church office or at the door for $10. Additional donations are always appreciated.

If you are unable to attend the concert and would like to support the work of the Bridge Board, donations are always accepted in the church office.

Refreshments will be served after the program. We hope you will join us!

Location: 
Sanctuary
Date: 
Sunday, September 30, 2018 - 4:00pm

#GivingTuesday Stories

Celebrated on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving (in the U.S.) and the widely recognized shopping events Black Friday and Cyber Monday, #GivingTuesday kicks off the charitable season, when many focus on their holiday and end-of-year giving.

Since its inaugural year in 2012, #GivingTuesday has become a movement that celebrates and supports giving and philanthropy with events throughout the year and a growing catalog of resources.

If you made a gift to Bridge Communities in honor of #GivingTuesday, you helped bring two families into safe housing for an entire year. Here is the story of one family our church has assisted.

When C first interviewed with Bridge late this fall, she was nearly nine months pregnant with her second child. She was homeless, desperate and brokenhearted. Because of many generous #GivingTuesday gifts, C's family was welcomed into Bridge just after baby Z was born!

Here's something else unique about C's story: When she was in high school, she loved her art class most of all. And when she met her Bridge mentors for the first time, her beloved art teacher (Janine, now retired) was one of them! It felt like fate. Their happy reunion has made for a great relationship, and they're working together on building C's future.

In 2017, Bridge Communities assisted 139 families just like C's with safe housing, mentoring, counseling, employment assistance, children's programs and more. Click here to read about more Bridge families!

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