UNITED THANK OFFERING (UTO)

More than 150 years ago, the United Thank Offering began as a simple way for women to express their gratitude to God for the many blessings shown them day by day, by dropping coins (along with a prayer of thanks) into a simple blue cardboard bank called "The Blue Box." The first "ingathering" of UTO donations was presented at the sixth Triennial Meeting in 1889 and totaled $2,188.64. Small as it was, this gift helped build the first Episcopal Church building in Alaska and sent Lisa Lovell to Japan as the first woman missionary from the Episcopal Church. Donations now exceed $3,000,000.00 annually and are "ingathered" twice a year. Grant requests, received through the local diocese every December, are evaluated and two requests are submitted to the National UTO Committee, which is composed of representatives from each of the Church's nine provinces. Committee members then visit the programs and sites of these requests and award grants. All collected UTO monies go toward these many grants that are awarded yearly.