Reaching Out to the Community

Foothills United Methodist Church is a community in Christ:
loving, growing, reaching out to the world.
If any of the below ministries speak to you, please contact us to get involved.

El Nido

El Nido is a transitional living situation for women and their children who have fled a domestic violence situation and found themselves homeless. The people behind El Nido bring the families in and put them through a one-year long program that teaches them everything they need to get back on their feet and be a self-sustaining family unit once again. When a family moves in, different churches voluntarily furnish the apartments with everything the family needs, from silverware to couches. When the family leaves, they get to take these things with them to their new living situation. Foothills is proud to sponsor an apartment in this building and to provide all of the apartments with Christmas trees, decorations and gifts every year.

Rummage Yard Sale
Our community famous rummage sales are held twice a year. All money raised from these sales goes towards our missions.
Stay tuned to this page for the next rummage sale announcement. The last one was September 2021.

Meals-on-Wheels
Did you know? 50 times this month our Foothills volunteers are delivering Meals on Wheels to seniors in their homes on our Foothills sponsored routes in Lemon Grove and El Cajon. Would you give 1 1/2 hours once a month to become a part of this worthy Ministry? You just need to complete an easy application and some orientation procedures to join the team.

Your help is needed as a driver for the Meals on Wheels El Cajon route. Foothills staffs all the drivers for this route and we are in need of more volunteers. It only takes about 1.5 hours to deliver the meals and sometimes the driver may be the only person that the recipient sees all day. So it's much more than just delivering meals. This is a very satisfying volunteer ministry of our church that has been running for 25 years.
Please ​contact Sandy Eulitt to sign up.

Meals on Wheels' service to the seniors in our community is never ending. We appreciate so very much our dedicated FUMC volunteers who participate in this important program. Foothills sponsors two 'routes' that go through different parts of our area of East County. The commitment is small, but the rewards are great. Please consider if you are able to help deliver meals, schedule routes or aide those who are homebound. 

Common Ground
Foothills has a long history of supporting children and families in elementary schools in the Spring Valley community through Common Ground. Unfortunately, the pandemic has significantly impacted our efforts this year including our tradition of allowing the congregation to select ornaments with children’s names from the Christmas tree to fulfill their Christmas wishes as well as providing food to families facing food security. To address these issues, Common Ground ​is holding an online fundraiser to purchase Target and grocery store gift cards for families identified by the schools.
Simply click here to go to our donate page and select Common Ground from the drop down. 

Positive Messages for Healthcare Workers
Kim Elliott is collecting uplifting messages & pictures to boost the morale of healthcare workers at the Naval Medical Center and other hospitals. Please send drawings/pictures/messages to ​foothills@foothillsumc.org. She will add them to a digital folder to share with health care personnel. Messages can be generic, such as "Hats off to Heroes" or "Thank you doctors, nurses and medical personnel."

Project Moses
The Project Moses group gets together to cut fabric and prepare materials for their ministry on March 5 at 9:00 am in the Disciple Room. All are welcome to join. There will be snacks and refreshments.

Project Moses is a ministry initiative to provide bassinets for new families that are identified by local hospitals as in need. From simple materials of laundry baskets and fabric, this group creates a safe crib space for these families that will reduce the chance of infant roll-over death. The group also provides books for these new babies. Donations of books, fabric and laundry baskets are always welcome. Contact Clarice Utt.

Foothills Meals Ministry
The Foothills Meal Ministry provides meals to this community of faith for those experiencing a temporary need due to an illness, surgery, suffering a loss, or the birth of a baby. Through the Lord's guidance, caring volunteers bring comfort through the nourishment of these 'special meals.' You have an opportunity to join in this effort by signing up to provide a meal or to join the steering committee, who coordinate the meals. Contact Marian Folkner at 619-670-5971 if you would like more information.

Prayer Quilt Ministry
The Prayer Quilt Ministry (PQM) is a vital outreach ministry of Foothills UMC. We believe in the healing power of prayer and provide tangible evidence of our prayers in action to those in need in our extended congregation through the giving of prayer quilts. Each one is lovingly and meticulously made by our quilters with loose strings sewn into the fabric throughout. When a prayer need arises, the quilt is designated for the person in need, blessed in church on Sunday morning and left in the narthex for those in attendance to say a prayer over them and tie a knot in those loose strings. It is then delivered to the person in need, for them to have as a source of power and strength through the many prayers that it is imbued with. For more information, visit their web page.

Security Patrol
Since the creation of the parking lot security team, Foothills had not had a single break in to vehicles, while the group was on patrol. Unfortunately, that streak ended, but only because we currently do not have enough volunteers. Two guards per service are needed and we have one per service patroling now. Please consider donating your time for one service a month, every other month or even once a year to help protect your Foothills family.
Contact Sue Ranck to help out.

Rides to Church
Take the opportunity to love your neighbor by volunteering to provide a ride to church once a month (or more, or as a substitute) for a person who is unable to come to worship any other way. Contact Sue Rand to get your name on the list. There’s possibly someone right in your neighborhood who would benefit greatly from being able to attend one of our Sunday morning worship services!

The church is in need of ride help for the 10:30 am service. PLEASE email Sue Rand if you are able to volunteer one time — or more!

New Entra Casa
New Entra Casa is a transitional living and support situation for women rejoining society after incarceration. If you have any questions or would like to get involved with the New Entra Casa mission, please contact Rosemary Bentley.

Foothills Reconciling Fellowship The Reconciling Fellowship is committed to working for full inclusion of every person in the life of Foothills UMC especially in regard to gender identity and sexual orientation. The group meets irregularly and puts on semi-regular special events on the Foothills campus and in the community.