“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches ... I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you..” – Matthew 12:31, 32 & 17:20, 21

Christ is Risen! Christos Anesti! Hristos a Inviat! Hristos Voskrese! Al Masseh Qam! Kriste Agksdga! Christos Tenasa! Christo ha Resucitado!

Happy National Volunteer Week! Thank you for acting as volunteers on behalf of IOCC! With your help our Metropolitan Committees raised over $775,000 in 2007! This past year new Metropolitan Committees were formed in Spokane and Seattle Washington, New York and Long Island. In addition, the following cities listed had a minimum of one event the past 16 months to raise funds and awareness for IOCC:

Akron — Atlanta — Baltimore — Charlotte — Chicago — Cleveland — Dallas — Detroit — Houston — Denver — Los Angeles — Minneapolis — Mobile — New York — Oklahoma City — Orange County — Phoenix — Pittsburgh — Reading — San Francisco — Seattle — Spokane — St. Louis — Syracuse — Washington D.C. — Weirton — West Palm Beach — Wyckoff

Without you IOCC would not have been able to provide food, shelter, economic self-sufficiency and hope to people in 17 countries this year. Because we have a small staff, we depend on each of you to act as mustard seeds throughout the nation keeping your parishes, friends and family informed on the great work we do. Thank you for dedicating your time, energy and funds to IOCC. It was a pleasure to work with you last year and I am excited at our possibilities of increasing our parish representation this year. It is IOCC’s goal to make IOCC a household name in every Orthodox Christian home in the next few years. Two of the ways we plan to do this is by having a parish representative in every Orthodox Christian parish in the United States and having events that raise awareness and funds for IOCC.

Please pray for our volunteers and events in the following cities this month:

May 8th — Chicago – 14th Annual Banquet
(visit www.iocc.org/chicago for more info)

May10th — Atlanta – 8th Annual Run/Walk
(visit www.iocc.org/atlanta for more info)

May 19th — Cleveland – 16th Annual Banquet
(visit www.iocc.org/cleveland for more info)

May Parish Bulletin Announcement: Please encourage your friends, family and parishioners to volunteer in the Gulf Coast from now through the end of July, 2008. You can either include the attachment to the e-mail or write:

The Volunteer in the Gulf Coast project will continue through July 26, 2008. Everyone 18 and older (or 16 and older with a parent or guardian) is welcome to volunteer for a week at a time! The total cost per team member is $300, which includes airfare, room and board for the week. Please encourage anyone interested in participating to register at www.iocc.org/gulfcoast. Registration and payment is due one month in advance of travel.

Below are some ideas for the month of May:

• Parish festival season is right around the corner, and what better way to raise awareness about IOCC among your attendees than with an IOCC table? Stock your table with various IOCC informational materials. Please go to www.iocc.org/materials to save IOCC money and download materials, or request materials through www.iocc.org/materialsrequest or by calling toll free 1.877.803.4622.



• Promote IOCC’s memorial/honor gifts program, just in time for graduation season! Contributions to IOCC can be made in lieu of gifts for baptisms, birthdays, weddings, graduations, funerals and other occasions. For more information, please visit www.iocc.org/giving