His name is Joe...

Exceptional: ex·cep·tion·al 

unusually good; outstanding.

synonyms:

outstanding, extraordinary, remarkable, special, excellent, phenomenal, prodigious; unequaled, unparalleled, unique, unsurpassed, peerless, matchless, nonpareil, first-rate, first-class; informalA1, top-notch "his exceptional ability"

A word I would use to describe all of our volunteers, but one I would like to pull out to use on our friend Joe today. My mother always told me growing up "Never judge a book by it's cover" and so I grew up taking that saying very seriously and never did. And because of that I have met some of the most wonderful and exceptional people in the world.

On Sunday, February 9 our friend Joe was featured in the News Journal asking people to help raise food donations. I was pleased to see a most worthy candidate for the job. 

I gave Joe a call and was able to sit down with him for a few minutes for a chat....


Cher: Joe, when did you start volunteering with LCS?

Joe: January 2012 at the Shiloh Baptist Mobile Unit in Wilmington helping unloading, organizing, and carrying orders to cars for folks.

Cher: What got you volunteering with Shiloh?

Joe: At first I was there to get food from the program for my family, then Sandy your program coordinator asked me if I would start helping out, and I  said “Sure, I have no problem helping out.”  That got me started on wanting to help out the community. Eventually I started working at St. Stephen’s pantry and produce on Wednesdays in addition to Shiloh, and I was added as a sub on the substitute list. I just wanted to help any way I could.

Cher: This must have kept you very busy, what motivated you to keep adding duties to your LCS resume?

Joe: Because you won’t let me leave. You all love me too much!!

Cher: (Laughing) This is true…  You are very reliable and every time we call you, you are here for us. Thank you! What are your future plans with LCS?

Joe: My plans are to stick it out with LCS until a better opportunity comes along, like a job.

Cher: We sure hope you stick around, but we sure won’t be sad to see you go because of a job.

Joe: LCS is great place to be and everyone here is very friendly and you are good to me. If I need anything I just have to call and I am treated with respect.

Thank you Joe, for everything you do. You bring a lot to the table to LCS and we are very grateful. I ran across a poem from one of my favorite writers and I thought it fit here really nicely. It's by Tom Krause.

Through my troubles and my worries are sometimes all that I can see - still I always must remember life's not only about me. 

Other souls are also hurting and I know that it's God's plan 

to reach out to help another - to extend them my hand.

With this purpose as my focus - to be a comfort to a friend -

all my troubles and my worries seem to fade out in the end.

It is one of God's true lessons - how my walk is meant to be -

true happiness I find when life's not only about me.

Thank you to all of our volunteers who give tirelessly and selflessly each and every month and make our mission possible!

Passing The Torch To Chuck Landry

Chuck Landry
St. Stephen's Pantry Coordinator

Or we might say, "A torch has been lit, and his name is Chuck Landry!"  As the staff at LCS start to make plans on the eventual move of our office from Rodney Street to Baynard Blvd, we realized that the St. Stephen's pantry will need a special helper to ensure that things run smoothly while me make this transition.

Proposed vision of new building for LCS.

Chuck Landry a relative new comer to St. Stephen's found himself drawn to our pantry and our mission. Pretty soon we found ourselves drawn to him as well, and before long, we had ourselves a team leader ready for action.

I asked Chuck to tell us a little bit about himself...

"My wife Carol and I have lived in the Wilmington area for twenty-three years.  For most of those years we attended Grace Lutheran Church in Drexel Hill where Carol grew up, but as the congregation changed we decided to look for a faith home nearer to where we live.  The people of St. Stephen's were warm and welcoming, and made us feel at home right away.  Then I learned about the food pantry and its mission to serve those in need, and I knew that I wanted to be a part of that mission.  

Not only has the work been as rewarding as I had hoped, but the volunteers in the pantry have been a delight to work with.  Many wonderful people have helped make the pantry a vital resource in our community, and with the help and support of all our volunteers I hope to continue that tradition."

We are most grateful for Chuck stepping up to the plate and becoming part of the LCS family and taking on such a big role so graciously.

Chuck & Cher meet to talk
about St. Stephen's

With that said, there are changes taking place now, and more to come as we make plans for our future move into the new office building.

 - First change is, NO change: St. Stephen's pantry is NOT closing or moving! I think we have that question asked to us every week. We have more than one stationary pantry; Hope Lutheran, Zion Lutheran and St. Stephen's all host stationary pantries for us. LCS moving it's offices has no impact on St. Stephen's and the pantry located within. We still need all of our wonderful volunteers at St. Stephen's to continue running it and serve our community just like always.

- Real change, and these changes apply to St. Stephen's Pantry ONLY.
Over the past several months Chuck has been meeting with staff to learn all of the in's and out's of the pantries operations.

- The first real big change is that everyone who works at St. Stephen's pantry who needs to be put on the schedule or needs their schedule changed will need to contact Chuck. His number is available in the pantry or you can get it by calling our main office number (302) 654-8886 and dial x107 or email me at cframpton@lcsde.org.

- If you need to call out sick, please call Chuck. Even if you find your own replacement like you may have done so in the past, call and let him know.

- In the event of inclement weather, either Chuck or Cher Frampton will call to inform whoever is on the schedule the morning of our closing. If you are not contacted in a timely manner, please call our main office number and listen to the message on the phone. We never advise our volunteers to venture out into any weather they feel unsafe, so no matter if we are opened or closed, please make decisions that are best for you and your safety.

Chuck Landry and Cher Frampton at your service.

Schedules will be posted in the pantry on the bulletin board, please look them over to ensure you are on for the month, and that it is correct in dates and in number of hours. We are expecting a few hiccups as we switch over systems. If you have questions, concerns or see something that just is not working, please bring it to our attention. We cannot fix it if we do not know it is broken. Our goal is to make things easier, not harder, so your input has always been valuable.

Thank you for all of your patience while we make this transition, and most important, for all that you do!

St. Stephen's 12 Days Magi Project with Video

 Check out the St. Stephen's 12 Days of Christmas Magi Project Video featuring volunteers and staff from Lutheran Community Services and staff and church members from St. Stephen's Church. Enjoy!

St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church is partnering with other Wilmington area churches on a Magi Project.

They have rewritten the lyrics to The Twelve Days of Christmas replacing the gifts with food items.  On Christmas Eve participating churches will pass out brown paper bags and invite people to gather these food items over the 12 days of Christmas and bring them to worship on Sunday, January 5^th, the day we celebrate the Epiphany. 

Churches who have their own food pantry are welcome to keep the food. St. Stephen’s will collect other food and restock the shelves of the LCS food pantry at St. Stephen’s.

We believe this is a meaningful spiritual exercise for the season of Christmas – giving to those who hunger, spending less on ourselves and more on those in need, marking the days of the Christmas season rather than stopping with the 25^th of December, learning more about this holy day of Epiphany that is celebrated by so many Christian communities here in our midst and around the world.

Here are the lyrics to the song....On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me....

1.     A box of Rice Krispies®   
 

2.     Two green beans

3.     Three beef stews

4.     Four apple sauces

5.     Five raviolis


 

6.     Six jars of jelly

7.     Seven ramen noodles

8.     Eight cans of tuna

 

1








9. Nine Rolls of Charmin

10.   Ten peanut butters
 

11.   Eleven cans of peaches
 

12.   Twelve macaronis
 

12 Days of Christmas - St. Stephen's

 St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church is partnering with other Wilmington area churches on a Magi Project.

They have rewritten the lyrics to The Twelve Days of Christmas replacing the gifts with food items.  On Christmas Eve participating churches will pass out brown paper bags and invite people to gather these food items over the 12 days of Christmas and bring them to worship on Sunday, January 5^th, the day we celebrate the Epiphany. 

Churches who have their own food pantry are welcome to keep the food. St. Stephen’s will collect other food and restock the shelves of the LCS food pantry at St. Stephen’s.

We believe this is a meaningful spiritual exercise for the season of Christmas – giving to those who hunger, spending less on ourselves and more on those in need, marking the days of the Christmas season rather than stopping with the 25^th of December, learning more about this holy day of Epiphany that is celebrated by so many Christian communities here in our midst and around the world.

Here is how the song would go....On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me....

1.     A box of Rice Krispies®    And so on....   video to follow soon!
 

2.     Two green beans

3.     Three beef stews

4.     Four apple sauces

5.     Five raviolis


 

6.     Six jars of jelly

7.     Seven ramen noodles

8.     Eight cans of tuna

 

1








9. Nine Rolls of Charmin

10.   Ten peanut butters
 

11.   Eleven cans of peaches
 

12.   Twelve macaronis