General Conference

General Conference provides support to local community

General Conference provides clothes, backpacks, hygiene kits, food, and a prayer booth to community.

September 6, 2026

United States

Lacey Stecker, ANN

Photo: Lacey Stecker

The General Conference (GC) office in Silver Spring, Maryland, United States, hosted a back-to-school community outreach event on September 2. Led by Marcia McEdward, employee transitions associate and health educator for the GC, the event aimed to connect office staff with the local community by meeting their needs.

“I found there’s a lot of need in this area,” said McEdward. “We don’t want to be a box with people in it who don’t seem to care. We want to reach out and let our neighbors know we care about them and that we’re doing something.”

The GC partnered with Adventist Community Services, Adventist Development and Relief Agency, Hope Channel International, and the Southern Asian Seventh-day Adventist Church to provide clothes, backpacks, hygiene kits, food, and a prayer booth.

Local organizations also contributed to the outreach event. The Asian American Health Initiative, part of the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services, and the American Diversity Group provided diabetes prevention training and vision testing, respectively.

The GC directly reached out to a local Afghan refugee group that had 33 families sign up to attend the event. Signs were also put up in front of the building to invite community members in. More than 100 families were helped through the outreach event.

GC employees who volunteered during the outreach event were also blessed. One employee donated some of her deceased parents' clothing for the clothing drive, hoping they would be picked up by someone who needed them. A woman who attended the event picked up one of the suits donated by the employee and immediately exclaimed, “I’m going to wear this for my interview!”

Organizers are considering holding outreach events from the GC offices on a regular basis, as many attendees have asked to be notified of the next outreach event. “I had people saying, ‘do you do this every month? I’d like to come back!’” said McEdward.

People who attended the outreach event were thankful to the GC employees and other entities for their care. “You bring us hope! God bless you for your kindness to us!” said one couple.

“It was amazing seeing the happy smiles on their [participants] faces when they found some clothing that worked for them,” said McEdward.

For McEdward, the event’s success can only be attributed to God. “I give God all the glory for this community outreach event! He is the One who helped us all work together so well!” said McEdward. She hopes outreach events like this will be just the first of many. “It’s our way of connecting with the community and doing our part.”