News You Can Use - December 2014

For Your Church Newsletter

From Lutheran Community Services  - Prepared 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.

LCS Works to Help Vets

LCS recently received a grant from Home Depot that is to be used to help veterans with home repairs. Our first job is to build steps for a disabled veteran. The work will be done by two of our home repair specialists working under our Home Oriented Repairs for the Elderly (HOME) program. The Home Depot grant is for materials only, so we partnered with several other agencies that donated labor costs:  Paralyzed Veterans of America, Thrivent Financial, and Vitas Home Health Care. Plus the Town of Elsmere waived the building permit and license fees. What a partnership! Contact Sandy Betley at 654 8886 x108 for more information about the program.

New Report Says Only the Rich Are Thriving

 

A comprehensive report by the Federal Reserve finds that most American’s incomes have fallen since 2007, and the recovery hasn’t brought them back up. The only Americans who have recovered are wealthy ones. In 1989, the richest 3 percent of the population controlled 45% of the nation’s wealth. By the end of 2013, that number had grown to over 54%. By contrast, the majority of American families cannot even handle an unexpected expense of $400, and would have to sell something, borrow or not pay, according to the report. What’s more, the median net worth of the bottom 20% of US households was only $6,400. Statistics like these demonstrate why many Delawareans need LCS’s help.

LCS to Needs Your Votes for Walmart Holiday Campaign

LCS has been named as a finalist in Walmart’s “Food Pantry Holiday Makeover” Campaign! A total of 150 food pantries from across the country will compete for a share of $1.5 million. The purpose of the campaign is to provide founding for infrastructure or equipment improvements to make it easier for agencies like LCS to help hungry families. The 75 pantries with the most votes at the end of the voting period (Dec. 2 through Dec. 12) will receive a $20,000 grant. The voting site is . This is a great opportunity for LCS, but we need your votes! You can vote every 24 hours using your Facebook account, and you can steer people to vote anytime! Links to vote will also be available on our website (www.lcsde.org) and Facebook page (www.facebook.com/lcsde).

www.walmart.com/holidaymakeover

Greater Power

Every month we have a pastor/reverend from a different church write us a new and inspirational prayer to offer the recipients of our food services.  We place a copy of this prayer into each of the grocery bags we hand out. We feel that most who come to us are having a pretty rough time and could use some comforting words to help them through...every little bit helps.

Here is September's...

Dear Lord of Heaven and Earth,
Everything we have comes from You. Everything we need comes from your blessing. So this day we ask You to multiply the bread of life for us that we might feed our families. Strengthen our faith and help us to hold on to You when days are hard and darkness surrounds.

You are the way, the truth, and the life.
Help us.
Amen
Pastor Greg Johnson
Zion Lutheran Church [9/13]

News You Can Use

For Your Church Newsletter             September 2013

From Lutheran Community Services   Prepared 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.

Home Repairs for Seniors

LCS provides modest home repairs for seniors and disabled people, paid for on a sliding scale. Recently, program director Sandy Betley received a lengthy message from a home repair recipient who had her kitchen faucet replaced, her bathroom vanity repaired, her bathroom sink unclogged, her toilet repaired so it stopped running, her bedroom door replaced and her closet door hinges replaced.  She said that home repair specialist Ray had taken “a million pounds off her back,” that he was so nice, and that she really appreciated everything we had done for her.  This client has recently come through a year of illness and is now getting back on her feet. We are glad to have helped. Support for the program is provided by Laffey-McHugh Foundation.

Hunger Walk Run Set for September 21, Rockford Park

The 22^nd Annual LCS Hunger Walk Run actually involves three events: 5k fun run, 1 mile walk in the park, and the competitive 5k Youth Run Against Hunger. It’s a lot of fun; it’s also responsible for feeding thousands of hungry people in our area. As a matter of fact, it is the largest single source of funding for the LCS pantry system that served 85,000 last year. Demand has been strong for food help this year, and we are hoping for a big turnout for the Walk Run to help fund it. Pre-registration, especially if it is done electronically, helps LCS by cutting down on paperwork. Electronic registration also helps you, the registrants, raise funds because you can gather sponsors with email, Facebook, and Twitter. Register online at www.lcsde.org.

Walk Run Challenge.  The LCS Walk Run Committee is concerned, based on last year’s results which were down by 20%, that our goals for the Walk Run may not be reached. To stir up some enthusiasm, the committee issued two challenges. Number one is to the LCS board. The committee challenged the 15 member board to 100% participation. That is a mighty goal, but one that would make a difference, and it’s worth a try! Challenge number two is to the churches who participate. Understandably, participation by churches varies from year to year. Unfortunately, the majority saw falling rates of participation in 2012. To help counteract that, the Walk Run Committee challenges each church to match or exceed participation levels of its best year of the last three. If everyone did the “best of three” this year’s event will be a major success. For  your church’s goal, or for info, call Heather at 302 654 8886 x 100 or email at hteig@lcsde.org