How to make donations to River East Church:

• send a cheque to River East Church at 755 McLeod Ave., Winnipeg, MB, R2K 0B8.
• hand-deliver a cheque to the church mail-box, located beside the main entrance doors from McLeod Ave.
• send an e-transfer from your bank account to donate2rec@rivereastchurch.ca.  You will not need to answer a security question because the transfer goes directly to REC's account.   If you have never donated to REC before, write your address in the comment box so that we can send a tax receipt.
• arrange for a regular pre-authorized transfer of funds from your account to REC’s account. If you choose this option, please contact Wesley Toews (witoews@gmail.com) to request the form to complete.
• to designate your donation or a part of it to a special REC fund or to an agency, do one of the following:  1) if your donation is by cheque, write the designation on the memo line (e.g. MCC, Care Links, SeEd, etc.); 2) if your donation is by e-transfer, write the designation in the comment box; and 3) if it is by pre-authorized transfer, send an email to Agnes Hubert (REC bookkeeper) in the pertinent month to give instructions.

When you make an undesignated gift to REC, we will assume that you intend it for the general fund, which supports REC’s various regular ministries.

However, we invite you to contribute also to various other REC funds by designating your gift or part of your gift for them.

• Care Links—a team of REC folks who facilitate emotional, spiritual, and practical care for us and for persons in our surrounding community. Examples: bringing groceries to hungry homes and to local agencies; visiting and gifting lonely, ill, or grieving people with flowers; serving and helping with costs for funerals; helping community members with bus tickets, money for medication or for fresh food. The amount of funding needed varies from year to year. In 2021, Care Links spent about $7,700.
• The SeEd Fund is River East's bursary fund for Service and Education. The fund supports youth and young adults as they offer voluntary summer ministry, and/or study at a Mennonite post-secondary institution. In 2021 the fund provided about $3,010 in support.
• Refugee resettlement—This fund enables REC to welcome refugees to our city. We sponsored a family from September 2018 to August of 2019.  Currently, a committee is at work, planning and preparing to receive a new family in 2022.  We have about $21,600 available in the fund for this venture, but we will need to raise about $5,000 more in 2022.
• Carbon Offset—People contribute to this fund as a way of ameliorating the harm caused by their consumption of fossil-fuels (for travel, heating, etc.) or by any actions contributing to our carbon footprint. We send at least 66% of the funds we collect to projects overseas (e.g., in 2021, we supported Canadian Food Grains Bank, which is helps farmers in Africa to adapt to hotter, drier climates; and A Rocha International’s Greening Businesses in Ghana project, while the remainder is available for strategies to reduce our carbon foot print locally.
• Prayer Shawl Ministry—A group of people from REC meet on the second Wednesday of each month to knit and pray for people who are experiencing some emotional change in their lives. They give the shawls they create to people as tangible reminders of their support in their lives. In 2021 they spent about $750 for material and gave away many shawls.
• Community Roots Resource Centre--A community hub located less than a mile away, at Jubilee Mennonite Church.  Community Roots serves the surrounding neighbourhood,  building community by providing programs and resources that nourish the body, mind, and soul in a loving encouraging environment. River East Church is a partner in this ministry. 

River East Church belongs within provincial, national and global structures of the Mennonite Brethren Church. It also belongs within the Mennonite World Conference. The ministry of REC spreads out into our near community and into our global community through these structures and through various agencies created within these structures. We invite your designated support to the following:

• Mennonite Central Committee (MCC)
• Canadian Mennonite University (CMU)
• Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary, Canada (MBBS)
• Mennonite Brethren Collegiate Institute (MBCI)
• École de théologie évangélique de Montréal (ETEM)
• Donwood
• Eden Foundation
• Simonhouse Bible Camp
• Square One Media
• Mennonite Brethren Mission (MBM)
• Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS)
• International Community of Mennonite Brethren (ICOMB)
• Mennonite World Conference (MWC)

How much should I give?

• At REC, all giving is voluntary.
• Well over 90% of REC’s income comes through voluntary donations.   The remaining  amounts come from facility rentals, GST rebate, interest, and government grants (e.g., for summer staff salaries). 
• In recent years, about 180 persons have been contributing to REC.  The average person donates about $2,400 per year.
  
• Persons have varying abilities to give.  Some have limited resources and can give little.  Others have ample resources and give generously, well above the average donation, as much as $5000, 10,000 or even $15,000.
• Many Christians consider 10% of their incomes to be the minimum standard for giving.  Most middle class Canadians can achieve that level.  However, persons with very limited resources may not be able to achieve such a level.  For some, a goal of 5%, 2%, or 1% may be a sufficient challenge.
• It is good to establish a practice of giving regularly, e.g., each payday, once every week, or the first day of every month, etc.
• Last year, REC disbursed about $479,000 for its ministries and to support agencies through which it works (e.g., MCC, CMU, MDS—see list below).