The Laundry Mission

May 18, 2014 By Faith

Faith Lutheran Church, in conjunction with Hutchinson’s Hope Center and Common Cup Ministries, is starting something new called The Laundry Mission. Some time ago, inspiration struck Diane Enstad (a member of our Church in the World Ministry Team) after viewing an episode of TLC’s 19 Kids and Counting, a show about a large Christian family. She was encouraged by how the family got involved in volunteer mission projects. One of their projects was a Laundromat mission to help the homeless and the poor get their laundry clean. Diane was impressed by the whole event and shared this idea with Bev Bonte at Common Cup, who shared her concern about so many children in school and adults in the workforce who are not able to wear clean clothes regularly. Sometimes people have to make choices between doing laundry and being able to eat dinner.

With the help of Common Cup, Diane and the rest of the Church in the World Ministry Team identified how the members of Faith Lutheran can help people in these situations. To get things started, they are asking people from Faith to donate dryer sheets and bags of individual laundry Pods or Packs. You can drop off these items in the basket in the church office (if you’re not sure what we’re looking for, come peek in the basket for ideas). The Church in the World ministry team has allotted $300 to help begin this mission. Your support with this project is greatly appreciated!

"Laundry" by Daniela Vladimirova is licensed under CC BY 2.0. — “Laundry” by Daniela Vladimirova is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

November Hunger Appeal

November 21, 2013 By Faith

Through food and financial contributions, we thankfully give food to the hungry. Here’s what you can do!

Give Funds:

Financial contributions to fight hunger can be given in the Mission Offering envelope and the Thanksgiving envelope. This year’s goal is to raise $10,000 in offerings specifically for world hunger during November.

How offerings will be allocated:

60% Lutheran World Relief leads the way in stewarding resources to provide food for those in refugee camps, but also in helping people in desperate situations be able to feed themselves. Read our spotlight on LWR’s work.
25% A total of $2,500 given to Common Cup Ministries will help our church fully sponsor a Second Harvest food distribution in our community. Read more…
10% Filling the boat with food donations for the McLeod County Food Shelf is crucial. In addition, our financial contributions will allow leaders of this effort to purchase much needed special items.
5% Funds given to Food for Kidz in Stewart, Minnesota, will give meaningful support for this international distribution of nutritious food.

We’ll be lifting up the November Hunger Appeal, and the organizations it will support, throughout the month. Look for more information in the days to come.

Give Food:

Food contributions can be given through our “Fill the Boat” campaign. During the month of November, the Congregational Life Ministry Team is asking everyone to participate in the Thanksgiving Food Drive. Look for the boat located in the southeast entrance (Door 2), and bring your items to share with others in our community. All food collected will be brought to the McLeod County Food Shelf in time for Thanksgiving. Update: The food has been dropped off, and weighed in at 676 lbs. That’s 130 lbs more than we gave last year at this time! THANK YOU to all who donated food!

Back to School Supply Drive

July 14, 2013 By Faith

For many parents and children, the thought of going back to school in the fall is not a pleasant one. Many dread the return because of the pressure of not having all the required school supplies that are on the list. Common Cup Ministry and the Salvation Army would like to make going back to school easier.

The goal for the Back to School Drive is to assure that all children in need, living in McLeod County, will return to school this fall with the basic supplies needed for the school year.

The Salvation Army has purchased 400 backpacks. We are so thankful for their participation in the drive.

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

We are asking that you purchase supplies from the list below and drop off at Faith Lutheran. There will be a box for supplies outside the office area. Monetary donations are also accepted and will be used to purchase supplies not donated.

BASIC SUPPLIES NEEDED:

#2 pencils
erasers
4 oz. bottles of glue
glue sticks
pencil boxes & bags
plastic pocket folders
spiral notebooks
scissors
rulers
boxes of colored markers
loose leaf paper
boxes of colored pencils
highlighting markers
protractors
compasses
calculators
3-ring binders
black fine line Sharpie markers
pencil sharpeners with covers
pens (black, red, blue ink)
water colors
dry erase markers
dictionary
thesaurus
backpacks

DO YOUR CHILDREN NEED SUPPLIES?

Registration forms are available in our church office and here. The form needs to be filled out completely and turned in or mailed to the Common Cup office no later than August 5.

If you have any questions, please call Geri Johnson at 587-6733 or email Geri at [email protected].

Back to School Drive – THANK YOU!

August 24, 2012 By Faith

Common Cup‘s Back to School Drive, which began in early July, is now complete. They were able to give 300 children (in the Hutchinson area) a backpack and their specific classroom supplies. The Glencoe site helped another 200+ children. THANK YOU to everyone who donated supplies, donated funds (with which we purchased supplies) or volunteered your time helping us with setup or as a shopping guide for the kids. Some of you helped with both. This is a wonderful outreach ministry through which we are able to give families a hand up when they are going through difficult times. Again, thanks for your continued generosity to Common Cup Ministry.

Geri Johnson and Jackie Olson, volunteer coordinators