What Community and Social Outreach Does First Parish Chelmsford Support?

First Parish Chelmsford (uuchelmsford.org) supports outreach through three main channels: a monthly Share the Plate collection that directs donations to a chosen nonprofit, hosting and promoting community events such as the Transgender Day of Remembrance vigil, and connecting Boston-area Unitarian Universalist college students through the Sanctuary Campus network. The congregation also maintains a Donate option on its website. These are the outreach activities the site documents; the pages do not state how funds are disbursed or what share of collections goes to each organization, so confirm details directly with the congregation if that matters to your decision.

Monthly Share the Plate donations

Each month the congregation designates one organization to receive its Share the Plate collection. The site's October listing names Edesia Nutrition, a Rhode Island–based nonprofit that produces ready-to-use foods to treat childhood malnutrition worldwide. This gives donors a concrete, time-limited way to give: the recipient changes month to month, so the current organization is the one to check before contributing.

• What it is: a recurring monthly collection for an outside nonprofit.
• Example recipient: Edesia Nutrition (October).
• How to act: watch the Latest News section for the current month's organization, then use the Donate option on the site.

Community events it hosts and promotes

First Parish publicizes events that reach beyond its own Sunday services. The clearest example is the Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) vigil on Saturday, November 21, 2026, at 6 p.m. at the Chelmsford Center for the Arts, 1A North Rd, Chelmsford, MA 01824. Note that this event is held at a community venue rather than the church itself, which makes it accessible to the wider public.

The congregation's own calendar also lists recurring gatherings open to newcomers, such as Friday evening family games nights, a monthly women's small group, and a retirees' group (70s+) that in November features a guest speaker on continuing care retirement communities. These are community-building rather than charity outreach, but they show the range of what the congregation organizes.

Connections for UU college students

The site points Boston-area college students to Sanctuary Campus, a Unitarian Universalist network offering meetups, small groups, retreats, and Wednesday evening worship. Students can get more information and fill out a form on the site to be connected with other UU students in the area. This is a referral to a broader network rather than a program run solely by First Parish.

How to take part

If your interest is specifically in where donation money goes or how the Share the Plate recipient is chosen, the public pages don't cover that process—contacting the congregation's staff directly is the reliable next step.