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LCS 2015 Annual Report

Click on link below to view the annual report in pdf format.

https://www.scribd.com/doc/273519909/2015-Annual-Report

https://www.scribd.com/doc/273519909/2015-Annual-Report

News You Can Use - August 2015

For Your Church Newsletter

From Lutheran Community Services                         

On Saturday, September 19th LCS will host the 24thAnnual Hunger Walk Run in Wilmington’s Rockford Park. Registration opens at 8 a.m., and the walkers and runners leave the starting line an hour later, at 9. Last year’s event set a record by raising over $50,000, and this year organizers are shooting for $60,000. All the money raised goes toward LCS’s emergency food pantry system for low income people. Each year, LCS responds to over 76,000 requests for emergency food, which it provides at 14 separate locations. The Walk Run is the single largest source of funding for its food programs, and without it LCS would be hard pressed to continue to serve as many people as it does.  The cost to enter the event remains the same – Register by 9/17 and it’s only $15. On the day of the eventit will be an additional $5 for adults. To get a free Champion Fundraiser T-shirtand registration, adult entrants need to raise $60 in sponsorships, and youthentrants need to raise $30 in sponsorships. Keep in mind, however, that youth who enter the Youth Run Against Hunger will get a free T-shirt that way. To registeronline or get more info, visit www.lcsde.org.

LCS Offers Tours

The new LCS Building at 2809 Baynard Boulevard was dedicated in early June. If you are interested in seeing the new building, LCS has organized tours twice a month for the rest of the year:

11:00 a.m.                   4:30 p.m.­

August 6               August 18

September 15       September 3 

October 13           October 1 

November 17        November 12

December 15         December 3

Tours last one hour or less and provide a glimpse of what LCS does to help low income people in our community who are hungry or homeless. Visitors leave it with a new appreciation for LCS.  Contact Steve Tindall to schedule a tour – stindall@lcsde.org or 302 654 8886, extension 105.

News You Can Use - July 2015

For Your Church & Community Newsletter

From Lutheran Community Services                        

Editors: This information is prepared for church newsletter editors, secretaries and pastors. Your help in getting the word out is appreciated and will help LCS achieve its mission of “Sharing God’s blessings by helping others in need.” Comments about timing or content are welcome. Contact Steve Tindall (stindall@lcsde.org). 302 654 8886.

LCS Building Dedicated!

Executive Director Jean Warren Cuts Ribbon at Dedication

On Thursday June 4, LCS dedicated its new building at 2809 Baynard Boulevard in Wilmington at a wonderful ceremony attended by over 100 guests who toured the building and gave it rave reviews. LCS Board President Tim Dambaugh hosted the event that included State Representative Charles Potter who welcomed us to the First District, and the Rev. Wolfgang D. Herz-Lane, Bishop of the Delaware Maryland Synod of the ELCA, who presided over the Blessing of the Building. All the donors who have helped fund the project to date were warmly thanked. The final component was an old-fashioned ribbon cutting by a group headed by Executive Director Jean Warren that included a big red ribbon and a huge pair of shears to officially open the building and dedicate it to service to the community.

Guests in attendance in what will soon be LCS's new pantry

Guests gather in the new Volunteer Center for tours

Financial Literacy Training Success

When Mrs. Eduwyna’s husband was not working over the winter, her family of six fell behind on some of their bills.  Wanting to provide for the family, she approached LCS. In order to qualify for a grant from LCS to pay their rent, she attended financial training through Clarifi.  The first thing she did is open a savings account and set a goal of $20 per month. “It doesn’t matter how much you earn; it matters how much you save,” she told our case worker. Mrs. Eduwyna attended additional training through her children’s school and at the public library, and now the family has begun working on their credit repair and hope to be able to buy a house in the next five years.  “What I never knew about finances, I have learned in the last five months,” she said.

Delaware State Tax Credit

LCS Donors of $2500 or more to LCS may be eligible for a 50% credit on their state income taxes. For example, a gift of $2500 (the minimum) will earn a tax credit of $1250 for the donor. This is available for both Capital and Operating donations. 2015 applications can be made starting July 1, 2015. Contact Steve Tindall for more information at 302 654 8886 x105 or stindall@lcsde.org. 

News You Can Use - May 2015

For Your Church Newsletter

From Lutheran Community Services  - By Steve Tindall                       

 Editors: This information is prepared for church newsletter editors, secretaries and pastors. Your help in getting the word out is appreciated and will help LCS achieve its mission of “Sharing God’s blessings by helping others in need.” Comments about timing or content are welcome. Contact Steve Tindall (stindall@lcsde.org). 302 654 8886.

Board Calls for Cuts

The LCS Board of Trustees has indicated that we need to cut program expenses because the operating income of the agency has not increased enough to meet the demand. This makes things like annual giving and the Room at the Table Breakfast more important than ever. The staff is currently examining all of our service practices for efficiencies so that we can minimize the impact of the cuts on services. Meanwhile, we are confident that within a year we can restore services to previous levels, and create new programs. Planning continues on the new choice pantry we want to start at the new building at 2809 Baynard Boulevard, and a new food program at Faith Lutheran Church in Bear.  According to Jean Warren, “The new building funds are entirely separate with a separate account not connected to our funds for operations.”

Homelessness Prevention

We used to call our back rent and mortgage programs “Housing Services,” but too many people mistook us for a shelter, so we have renamed the program “Homelessness Prevention.” Here’s a story about one of our clients. Because of a mix-up in paperwork, Denise got behind with her rent beginning in 2012 but didn’t know about it till this year. She came to LCS in April in desperate need of help with her back rent but only half expecting to get help because her situation was so dire. When she came in, her total back rent was several thousand dollars, but the staff listened and decided to do what they do best:  help people. Denise was able to raise $2800 from friends and family. LCS chipped in a $500 grant and facilitated an additional $600 from Immanuel Church. In this way, in just two days, LCS was able to assure that Denise stayed in her unit. And she said, “I am more than thankful. I truly am, and I hope and pray that all involved with helping me will be greatly blessed. Peace and Love to you all.”

Volunteers Wanted

Volunteer Coordinator Cher Frampton tells us that LCS needs volunteers, specifically for Zion and St. Stephen’s pantries, and for a volunteer photographer. Call Cher at 654 8886 x107.

The Zion and St. Stephen's Pantries are in need of pantry workers for all shifts.

St. Stephen's is open Monday - Friday from 9am to 12pm and is located in St. Stephen's Lutheran Church on 1301 N. Broom Street in Wilmington. 

Zion is open Tuesday - Thursday from 9am to 11am and is located in Zion Lutheran Church on 2101 Lancaster Ave (Rt. 48) in Wilmington.

Duties include stocking, bagging food, accepting food shipments/donations, answering phone, greeting clients and getting their pantry orders. 
Volunteers must be 15 years or older and be able to lift a minimum of 10 pounds. 

We are in need of a Volunteer Photographer to cover our various fundraisers, special events and to produce photos for our materials in print and in social media. You must have your own digital camera, have some knowledge of photo editing, and ability to email images. Knowledge of Adobe products a plus but not mandatory. Must be age 18 years or older and have your own transportation.
For a schedule of our fundraisers dates and times visit our website at www.lcsde.org to see if you can commit to this years line up. This position is perfect for the very serious amateur photographer who is looking for a job to enhance their own portfolio while giving back to the community at the same time.

LCS 2014 Program Services Report

LUTHERAN COMMUNITY SERVICES (DE) – 2014 Report to the Congregations

The continued strong support of individuals, our sponsoring congregations,  foundations and government agencies has allowed Lutheran Community Services to continue to carry out our mission of “Sharing God’s Blessings by Helping Others in Need.” 

The need for a safety net for people less fortunate than ourselves has not abated, and we have found that a great many people in Delaware continued to request help with basic necessities of life – food, shelter, and kindness.

In 2014, we selected  Growing Together as our annual theme, because it helps us describe how people are changed by services offered with the love of Christ, how volunteers grow through their service, and donors are enriched in their giving. Once again in 2014, we have provided close to 90,000 incidents of service: 

• Services: food, homelessness prevention, smoking cessation vouchers, clothing and more.

• Distributions occur regularly in 15 locations.We have been grateful for the work of over 400 volunteers.

• Some new volunteers have used their experience with us to launch themselves into new jobs.  

• One of our sponsoring congregations is offering food during evening hours; something we have dreamed about.

• Every applicant for financial assistance has been offered free financial counseling with our partner agency, Clarifi. The number of people making use of this service increased by 60%!

• Throughout the year we have continued to offer nutrition education and classes in conjunction with the UD Cooperative Extension Service and a Shop Rite nutritionist.

• During the growing season many healthy veggies are donated by individuals. This year, one of our farmer friends planted a whole crop of corn just for donation!

You have probably heard that we have acquired a new building on Baynard Boulevard in Wilmington, and that renovations have commenced, with a hoped-for move-in date of late spring 2015 – just a few months away.  Meanwhile, the contractors are busy installing a new roof, new systems, new windows (including a stained glass one), walls, paint, carpet – in short everything. 

Recent photos taken this week of construction at the new building. Lot's of progress is being made!
Click on photos to enlarge.

The Capital Campaign Committee has been hard at work, and at this time, 80% of the funds needed have been pledged or received. Please join us in our push to the goal if you haven’t already. The move is destined to help us continue Growing Together to serve even more people in need with excellent services, accessibility, privacy, dignity, and, most importantly, the love of God.

We had wonderful support for our operating expenses through the annual Walk Run, which set records again in 2014, as well as our Gimme Shelter Golf Tournament (another record breaker) and our annual Room at the Table breakfast. Our challenge now is to maintain our flow of regular contributions, which go toward the everyday operating costs of the agency, as we ask for additional gifts to cover the expenses of our construction project. We hope that this spirit of giving continues in 2015.

News You Can Use - January 2015

For Your Church Newsletter - Prepared by Steve Tindall
From Lutheran Community Services  

Editors: This information is prepared for church newsletter editors, secretaries and pastors. Your help in getting the word out is appreciated and will help LCS achieve its mission of “Sharing God’s blessings by helping others in need.” Comments about timing or content are welcome. Contact Steve Tindall (stindall@lcsde.org). 302 654 8886.

LCS Helps Smokers Quit

The New Year is a great time to make resolutions. A wonderful resolution for smokers is: Quit! LCS helps people do that by providing pharmacy vouchers for low income Delaware clients who want to be free of tobacco addiction. Income-qualified participants get help with smoking cessation aids like gum and the patch. But even if smokers don’t qualify because their incomes are too high, the state still wants them to quit and will provide individualized quit plans tailored to each individual’s need.

Blessing From One of Our Clients

A few days ago, one of our clients, after receiving utility assistance (to prevent her homelessness), took a minute to jot us a note: “May God bless all the people who donate to LCS, because I was in need and God provided. May they experience God’s rich blessings for Christmas!”

New Building Update

The New Year is also a great time to take stock of one’s accomplishments. LCS has kept all of its services operating during a time of great need. At the same time, it managed the financing and began renovation of a new much-needed headquarters building on Baynard Boulevard in Wilmington. The budget and fundraising goal for the project has been established at $1.8 million. Already, we have raised nearly two-thirds of its goal. We still have a number of important grant applications to hear responses from, plus a broader request for funds when the campaign goes public in January. We expect the building to be completed by May 2015.

Before

After

News You Can Use

For Your Church Newsletter  - Prepared by Steve Tindall

From Lutheran Community Services          August 2014

Editors: This information is prepared for church newsletter editors, secretaries and pastors. Your help in getting the word out is appreciated and will help LCS achieve its mission of “Sharing God’s blessings by helping others in need.” Comments about timing or content are welcome. Contact Steve Tindall (stindall@lcsde.org). 302 654 8886.

Gimme Shelter Golf Results

All the money is in and all the invoices for the May 16 Gimme Shelter Golf Tournament are paid, so we can look at the final results. With the addition of $4,200 from the NCC Chapter of Thrivent, the grand total of money turned over to LCS for its housing programs was a record-breaking $19,024! Thanks to tournament organizer Larry Friday and all the golfers and donors who participated in the tournament, all of the money will be available as grants or 0-interest loans for low income families facing the turmoil of homelessness.

                                             Walk Run Invites Dogs

Thanks to suggestions we’ve received, LCS has decided that pooches will be able to register for the LCS Hunger Walk Run the first time. Then, right before the start, Pastor Fred Melton from St. Mark’s will offer a “Blessing of the Dogs” for all the canines attending. The Walk Run registration form is being revised to be doggy friendly and show that dogs are indeed welcome at the Walk Run! The money raised by the pooches will be attributed to the owners who brought them. It sounds crazy at first, but LCS believes that this will attract some new people (and critters) to the event. Everything raised goes to help support LCS’s food ministry.

LCS Helps with Furniture, Too

Idella and her late husband lived in the same house for over 40 years.  We first met her a few years ago when Idella had some much needed repairs done through our home repair program.  Over the past year, several of her grown children and their children have come to live with her as their own financial situations have become precarious.  In the beginning of April, we were able to help by providing them with beds and a dresser.  Then, Idella asked for a bed for herself as she had given up hers and was sleeping on the couch!   By the end of June, we were able to provide her with both a bed and a matching dresser, which was deeply appreciated.  All of this furniture was provided through our partnership with the New Life Furnishings program of Westminster Presbyterian Church.