As we begin a new year, we wanted to take a moment to share with you a little bit about the Memorial Trust Fund. Many people wonder how UTO can give away 100 percent of what is collected in the Ingathering and still offer Blue Boxes and other materials for free, and some people assume it is because we receive funds from the churchwide budget, ECW, or other groups. The truth is that funding to support the work of UTO (staff, board expenses, materials) comes from a few places. We are grateful to receive funds from the churchwide budget and we do share a trust fund with ECW, but the majority of our funding comes from a trust created in 1982 so that UTO no longer needed to use Ingathering Funds to offset expenses. The Memorial Trust was created with the hopes that it would sustain and build up the work of UTO, and we are very grateful to everyone who has contributed to it over the years. Each year, we receive many donations to the Trust in thanksgiving, in memory, or in honor of someone, all of whom are listed in a book that is displayed at General Convention and on our website at https://uto2014.wordpress.com/history-of-uto/memorial-and-gift-trust-fund/. We also receive donations from individuals who have remembered UTO in their will, either for the Trust or the Ingathering. In 2017, we received $195,772.86 for the Memorial Trust. Thank you to everyone who gave and who remembered UTO in their will. If you would like more information on the Memorial Trust or the form to use when donating, please visit https://test.episcopalchurch.org/library/document/united-thank-offering-memorial-trust-fund-brochure.