Mission of the Month

SMILE TRAIN

SMILE TRAIN is Grace’s Mission of the Month for February. Smile Train is an internationally active program to treat cleft lip and cleft palate among people who cannot afford the surgery necessary to correct this condition. Cleft birth defects leave an opening between a baby’s mouth and nose and may also leave a hole in the roof of the mouth. The health problems with a cleft facial deformity mean many children are not able to eat or speak properly and find difficulty socializing. Since 1999 Smile Train has healed children in 77 of the poorest countries in the world. Smile Train staff provide the cleft surgeries for about $250 per surgery. The Smile Train also trains local medical staff in treating cleft deformities. Each year some 200,000 children are born who need this surgery. In developing countries many families cannot afford this surgery. Your help is needed to help cover the cost of the surgeries. Please donate to this Mission of the Month. Use your blue envelope and make your check payable to Grace.

Grace Endowment Fund

As the end of the calendar year rapidly approaches, many of you will be reviewing your planned charitable giving, including perhaps income tax deductibility.

We ask that you include our Endowment Fund in your prayerful thoughts and deliberations.

Our Endowment Funds are currently invested in the E.L.C.A. Foundation and Thrivent Financial for Lutherans securities. Our current policy is to distribute, on an annual basis, approximately 50% of the current year gain and income as follows:

• One third (1/3) to outreach or missions worldwide
• One third (1/3) to outreach or missions in our community
• One third (1/3) to reduce the current mortgage debt of our church

The funds lost considerable value during the past year, and no distributions will be made at this time.

Please remember the Grace Endowment fund in your year-end planning. You may also wish to consider a gift in celebration of a birthday or wedding anniversary of a family member, friend or other loved one.

Get to Know the Neighbors

On the East side of St. Paul, approximately 175 meals are delivered to homebound seniors, five days a week, through the help of volunteers that deliver weekly, monthly, on-call, or whatever works for them. If you can fill in, or help out just once, please call. Spend an hour a day, a week, a month, or whatever is convenient for you and visit with some of the old-timers on the Eastside. Deliver Meals on Wheels to the homebound elderly. Routes are available Monday through Friday, and the scheduling is up to you. We ask only that the meal be delivered between 10:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. Meals are picked up at the Merrick Center, 715 Edgerton St. and delivery is to elderly residents on the Eastside. Merrick Community Services is in desperate need of help with delivering meals. It takes less than an hour, and you’ll feel great for having done it! For more information, please call Arielah or Denise at 651-771-6325.

The Conway/Battle Creek
Living At Home
Block Nurse Program

We would like to meet you!

Looking for a new idea for your group or club? The Conway-Battle Creek Living At Home/Block Nurse Program is part of a statewide network of non-profit community organizations, directed and governed by neighborhood residents. We receive funding from The State of Minnesota, and Ramsey County, as well as foundation grants and individual donations from our community.

It is our mission to help seniors stay in the homes they love, and support caregivers, by offering free health promotion, advocacy, and volunteer services. We provide Medicare certified third party reimbursable and fee for service skilled nursing to those in need. We can also arrange for physical and occupational therapy, as well as for certified nurses aides. We have resources for homemaking, chore services, and transportation provided by trusted individuals who live in the neighborhood.

If you would like to learn more about the Conway – Battle Creek Living at Home/Block Nurse Program, we would be happy to present a short summary about us or hold a Blood Pressure Screening Clinic.

We also give short, hands on seminars for: Elder Sensitivity Training, and Reducing Junk Mail/Make Your Own “Green Cleaner”. Our seminars are both informative and fun! Please feel free to give us a call at (651) 793-8190 for more information and scheduling a program for your group.

Nancy Pedersen, Coordinator of Volunteers
Conway – Battle Creek Living at Home/Block Nurse Program
(651) 793-8190

DOMESTIC ADOPTION WORKS!

Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota Adoption: Join us to explore possibilities in domestic adoption, meet birth families and adoptive families, hear real life experiences, and learn what works. The Open House will be held at The Center for Changing Lives, (located at 2400 Park Avenue in Minneapolis) on Saturday April 18, 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Stop in Anytime! Call Lynne Haggar at (612) 879-5230 or 1-888-205-3769 with questions. For more information visit www.minnesotaadoption.org.

Volunteer Opportunities with Merrick

Spend an hour a day, a week, a month, or whatever is convenient for you and visit with some of the old-timers on the Eastside. Deliver Meals on Wheels to the homebound elderly. Routes are available Monday through Friday and the scheduling is up to you. We ask only that the meal be delivered between 10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Meals are picked up at the Merrick Center, 715 Edgerton Street and delivery is to elderly residents on the Eastside.

Merrick has two Eastside foodshelves desperately in need of help with the sorting and bagging of food. Hours help is needed are: Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. –noon or 1 p.m. – 4 p.m. The foodshelves are located in the Roosevelt Homes Housing Project, 1575 Ames Avenue, and at the 1053 Hudson Road, (the corner of Hudson Road and Earl Street.)

After school and evenings, opportunities abound, with Merrick’s Youth Program. Find your niche and we’ll plug you in! Hours range from 3:30-7:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, during the school year, and afternoons and early evenings during the summer. Programs take place at the Merrick Center, 715 Edgerton Street.

Merrick Community Center offers Preschool programming Monday through Thursday at our 715 Edgerton Street site. Help is needed in assisting the teachers with daily activities. The morning session runs form 9 a.m. – 11:30 a.m., and the afternoon session is from 12:45 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.

For information on volunteer opportunities, please contact Donna at 651-771-8821.

Lutheran Partners in Global Ministry

Grace has contributed to LPGM through our Endowment Fund distribution program. Working from its base in Minneapolis, LPGM is extensively involved in global outreach, and does much to relieve suffering of children around the world.

LPGM just celebrated their tenth anniversary of helping people around the globe. To see what they are doing now, click here.

The ELCA Page

Directly from the ELCA — News Highlights; Today's Bible Reading; Today's Bible Verse; and ELCA Prayer Ventures.

Click Here

E.L.C.A. Mission Investment Fund

The Mission Investment Fund of the E.L.C.A. provides a means for individuals, congregations and institutions to earn a higher rate of investment interest on their funds as well as supporting the church-wide organization.

They also provide lower rate mortgage loans to congregations (such as Grace Lutheran) for building or renovation purposes.

Dick Gunderson of our Business Management Committee has agreed to serve as our congregational interpreter for the fund. Please contact him or call 651-290-7798 when you have questions or require assistance.

Simply Giving
A simple choice, a generous response

Simply Giving is a reliable, safe way to move your stewardship plan into action. It allows you to share your gifts through planned giving and activates your generosity into ongoing stewardship. Simply Giving deducts a pre-determined amount from your bank account on a schedule determined by you. Because your gift is given consistently, you won’t need to play “catch-up” at the year-end or worry about forgotten checkbooks or missed Sunday offerings.

Simply Giving is administered by Vanco Services, an outside vendor that Thrivent Financial for Lutherans has contracted to provide administrative services. Call Kathy in the church office if you are interested in this choice of stewardship.

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This page was last updated on
January 23, 2010