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“And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you or naked and gave you clothing?”
“Truly, I tell you, just as you did for the least of these, your neighbours, you did for me.”

Campus United is holding a coat and winter gear drive in October. Students on restricted budgets often have to choose between school books, food, or winter gear. This is especially a problem for single parents and for international students coming from warm climates, who thought they were prepared, but are still learning about Canadian winters and what cold really is.

Do you have a spare winter coat in decent shape? How about mittens and hats? Or do you love shopping sales and have the budget to buy an extra for someone without? There will be a Campus United collection bin at Castlegar United Church until the end of October.

Our Campus Connectors will be distributing winter gear to students in need at Castlegar United Church on October 27th. Nelson United Church and Trail United Church will also each host events in early November.

Our 30+ year tradition continues! Volunteers will be gathering to make as many as 500 pies the first week of October using our tried and true Castlegar United Church Apple Pie Recipe that bring people back year after year. If you haven’t bought one in the past, now is your chance to try! Pies are 2 for $25 (or $12.50 each) Pre-order by Tuesday, October 3 and pick up on Thursday, October 5 between 11 am and 5:30 pm. Don’t miss out on these delicious apple pies you can take home and bake (or freeze for later) for the freshest homemade pie taste you will find anywhere!

There’s a common email scam out there targeting churches and church goers. In it, the scammer creates an email address similar to the one someone you know uses, often your minister. They pretend to be that person and then ask you to do them a favour and buy gift cards, or send money, or even just try and get your personal information. They may say they are in a meeting, or have a sore throat and can’t talk on the phone right now to prevent you from calling to double check.

Several churches and ministers in the Kootenays have been targeted by this scam in recent months.

If you get one of these emails, don’t answer. Check the email address against the one you already have for that person. Send them a message at their REAL email address, or call, text, or message them another way to let them know someone is impersonating them so they can warn their family, friends and church members. If the scammer is using a Gmail account, you can report it by forwarding the message to abuse@gmail.com. Yahoo and Hotmail also have abuse addresses.

The scammers prey on people who don’t understand much about email scams, gift cards, and online shopping, or how to double check the actual email address of the sender. They also flatter people and make them feel like they are somehow special to the minister or play to their sense of loyalty to church and friends.

If you have fallen victim to one of these scams, please report it to the RCMP. They probably won’t be able to get your money back, but they might be able to stop the scammers from cheating someone else.