Local Outreach at Village Church of Bartlett
Serve | Build | Share
Month of Outreach: March 2026
As followers of Jesus, we are called to share God’s love by participating in the ministry of Jesus in the world and in His Church. In John 20:21 Jesus says, “Peace be with you. the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” Jesus says we are to continue the work He started and do what God is calling us to do.
This March, ministries within Village Church will strategically partner with existing organizations to support their efforts to serve others. As we obediently follow Jesus’ instruction to go into the world, we proclaim His goodness and beauty through acts of service. For the past two years, Village Church has engaged in the Week of Outreach. This year, we will offer various opportunities to engage with and serve our community.
Prayer Guide
This guide has been designed for you to use alongside others as you prepare for your service project. Pray through as many or as few points as you wish.
Community Groups |Varied Times & Locations
Community Groups will partner with The Ruth Project to make meals for their March Dash and Dine event. During this monthly event, The Ruth Project blesses foster families with meals and we will have the chance to make enough meals for the event! Groups will provide the ingredients and prepare the meals. They may choose to do so during their regular meetings or at another time. Contact your Community Group leader for details on your group’s plans.
VCYA | March 10 | 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. | Anderson Home
March is Social Worker Appreciation Month—a time to recognize and honor those whose job it is to serve individuals, families, and our community. Village Church Young Adults, VCYA, will serve the Evangelical Child and Family Agency’s staff and social workers by working together to create thank you cards and bake cookies.
Village Women | March 11, 12, & 13 | Various Times | Village Church of Bartlett
March is Social Worker Appreciation Month—a time to recognize and honor those whose job it is to serve individuals, families, and our community. The Village Women will work together to create a small gift basket for each social worker at the Bartlett Public Schools. We hope that this project offers an opportunity to love and thank our neighbors so that they may see our good works and glorify our Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:16).
Forge Youth Group | March 14 | 9:00 a.m – 12:00 p.m. | The Ruth Project Farm
Forge Youth Group will serve The Ruth Project at The Ruth Project Farm. As the farm says farewell to the cold weather and prepares to welcome spring, there are a variety of ways that volunteers can help. Both indoor and outdoor projects will be made available to volunteers at this first workday of the season. Outdoor projects may include landscaping, pruning, and weeding while indoor projects may include cleaning the barns to make them look nice and spiffy!
Village Kids and The 5/6 | March 15 | Village Church of Bartlett
During the Month of Outreach, Village Kids (K–4) and The 5/6 (grades 5–6) will focus on learning both the Biblical foundation and practical application of serving others. As part of this effort, the children will write thank-you cards to U-46 social workers, and a guest speaker will visit to give a brief, age-appropriate overview of what social workers do and how they care for people in the community. After this teaching, kids will write cards of gratitude to include in the gift that Village Women are preparing for U-46 social workers.
Village Kids | March 20 | 4:30 – 6:15 p.m. | Feed My Starving Children (Schaumburg)
Village Kids in Kindergarten (must be age 6) through 4th grade, along with their families, are invited to serve at Feed My Starving Children in Schaumburg. We are so excited to work together to pack meals for kids in need all over the world.
Village Women | March 20 | 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. | Village Church of Bartlett
In step with the Month of Outreach’s overall theme of living out our redemptive purpose, the Village Women will host an evening dedicated to how we’ve been designed to serve others. Shaped to Serve is an evening of pottery and testimony. You will hear testimonies from women and also actively particpate in glazing pottery that you can take home with you. We hope this evening will encourage you in how you are currently using your gifts, but also inspire you as you hear women’s testimonies of using what was in front of them and seeing it grow to bless others.
All Volunteers | March 25 & 26 | Village Church of Bartlett
A Dash & Dine offers a monthly touch point for Ruth Project employees and the families that they serve. At a Dash & Dine, families drop by a location to receive a meal for the evening, a freezer meal, a family activity kit, small items of encouragement, and a check in with The Ruth Project team. Volunteers are needed on March 25 from 10:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. to help us prepare and on March 26 from 4:00 – 6:00 p.m. to help us host.
Forge Youth Group | A March Thursday Night at Forge| Village Church of Bartlett
Forge Youth Group will serve the Evangelical Child and Family Agency. Students in grades 7-12 will spend their weekly gathering creating Mother’s Day cards for mothers that ECFA serves. There is no registration for this event.
April 3 | 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. | Village Church of Bartlett
Though not officially part of the Month of Outreach, we want to invite you to participate in this April’s Good Friday Blood Drive. Versiti will set up in the gym and offer individual appointments for donors. Appointments are preferred, but walk-ins are welcome.
Serving Our Neighbors and Growing as Disciples of Jesus
Local Outreach partners with local organizations, schools, and social workers to serve the vulnerable populations in Bartlett and the surrounding area. By mobilizing our church body to serve, our goal is to build bridges in our community through relationships and care, while giving the people in our church opportunities to grow as disciples of Jesus.
Local Outreach Partnerships and Ministries
The Ruth Project
The Ruth Project is a non-profit organization based in Elgin, IL on a mission to end the modern-day orphan crisis. Through donations and volunteering, they abundantly provide resources to foster and adoptive families, setting them up for long-term success.
The Forgotten Initiative
Through The Forgotten Initiative, agency workers directly interact with foster parents, vulnerable adults, and children in foster care. This organization provides support through Journey Bags, Foster Family Support, Social Worker Support, and on-the-ground care for foster families.
Safe Families
Safe Families provide a safe home for children and a supportive community for parents while they get back on their feet. This network of relationships keep children from entering the foster care system, and ultimately, helps keeps families together. The goal is family reunification.
ECFA
Evangelical Child & Family Agency (ECFA) offers compassionate and Christ-centered services to children, families, and individuals through adoption, pregnancy support services, counseling, and intact family services.
Open Hearts Open Homes
Bartlett Community Care Collective
Local Outreach Holiday Initiatives
Thanksgiving Food Drive
Each year, we partner with our local Jewel-Osco and our school district to provide Thanksgiving meals to families in the Bartlett area who are in need.
Christmas Gift Drive
As the holiday season moves into the Christmas season, we continue our support of many of those same families by providing gifts for their children and support for the adults.
Michelle McGrath
Local Outreach Director
Devote Yourself To Good
We help others and devote ourselves to good not because it guarantees us salvation, but for two distinct reasons. First, Jesus tells us to serve others, and He modeled it in His life on earth. Second, because good works naturally flow out of us as an outpouring of the Holy Spirit, who continually works in us to make us more like Christ.