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New Social Giving Website: Pacific Mission Exchange

Pacific Mission Exchange, a new website (www.pacificmissionexchange.org) that connects people who want to help make a difference with projects that are just down the street and on the other side of the world is now on-line and already matching donors with life-changing projects. The idea is simple. “People want to be part of making a positive change in this world,” Kathy Trott PMX Development Team leader said, “but sometimes the day-to-day schedules of our lives get in the way of finding where we can be most effective. PMX is a place for someone who has just a few minutes and wants to find the right project that is effective and works where they want it to work.”

Professionally designed and easy to use, PMX lists projects that are as life-saving as providing food for the hungry in Pendleton, OR to as important as providing health insurance for the children of farmworkers in Bakersfield, CA, to as simple as buying new chairs for a growing congregation in Meridian, ID.  Projects include helping the homeless to get off the streets in San Francisco, CA, sending volunteers from Sacramento, CA to work with a school in southeastern Ethiopia, and helping refugees settle in San Jose, CA. “The focus of the projects are diverse because the people who come to the PMX website are diverse,” Trott said. “People will get involved with projects that make sense to them.“

PMX’s inviting design not only facilitates individuals to review active projects but also support small groups or families to consider together where to plug in and support mission. “A parent might want to look at PMX with their child as a way to teach the value of giving to others,” Trott pointed out. “Or a youth group might have raised some funds and want to share some of that work with others. The website allows everyone to see the same information at the same time.”

Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chow is a pastor and a prolific social media networker with blogs, Facebook pages, and frequent Twitter updates. Reyes-Chow is also the Moderator of the 218th Presbyterian Church (USA) General Assembly and is in his early 40’s. A father as well as a pastor of a San Francisco urban congregation, Reyes-Chow keeps a close eye on how the internet is changing the ways people connect to not just congregations but also non-profit service organizations.

“So many people today are looking for that place where our yearnings to change the world converge with the connectivity that technology provides,” Reyes-Chow said. “PMX is a great space for individuals and congregations to connect with one another in new ways to do new things all grounded in our historic understanding that we best do the work TOGETHER." 

Because PMX does not deduct any transaction fees, unlike other charity-aggregation websites, those who donate through the PMX web site can be confident that their money will go directly to their chosen organization. PMX’s integration with established internet credit card processor PayPal supports a safe and easy donation process.

Pacific Mission Exchange is sponsored by the Synod of the Pacific, a regional governing body of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the projects listed on the website are sponsored by member congregations. The Synod of the Pacific includes 464 Presbyterian congregations with a total of 114,210 members ranging from Vancouver, WA to Bakersfield, CA; from San Francisco, CA to Las Vegas, NV and Boise, ID.

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