Lend a Hand event focuses on Acts 20:35

With the consumer excitement of the holiday season, the focus tends to be on the plethora of material items to be exchanged during the season. Perhaps this rush of spending and acquiring reaches a pinnacle in NY, NY. While millions of residents, immigrants, and tourists laden with bags bursting with goodies rush around the city absorbing the energetic marketing explosion that takes place each December, it is easy to overlook the hungry, downcast, and lonely that also share the address.

With Acts 20:35 in mind, the WELS mission in the borough of Queens, Sure Foundation Lutheran Church, presented an alternative way to prepare for the season with the "Lend a Hand" event last Saturday. Members, prospects, and passersby where invited to come in and lend a hand for those in need. Many accepted the invitation and put down their bursting bags to pick up a loom and knit a hat. Others assembled lunches and some sat down with their children to decorate simple star ornaments, write out holiday cards, and create large thank-you signs.

The finished hats are given to the local hospital, at their request, to distribute upon release to infants and babies that are treated in the emergency room and do not have adequate attire. The lunches, over 120 this year, are distributed at a local spot where needy persons tend to gather. Last year’s 80 lunches were gone in less than 20 minutes. In fact, last year we had cookies available for our volunteers, but the volunteers refused to eat them. Instead the volunteers packed the cookies into the lunches for the needy. The ornaments go to a local elderly home community, the cards get sent to soldiers serving overseas, and the thank you signs are on their way to the local fire and police stations. Of course, all items carry the church’s information with the hope that the persons reached out to may reach back.

 At Sure Foundation, we have the gift of the Christ-child rooted deeply in our hearts. His salvation and his peace given freely to us make us, in turn, want to give freely of our time, talent, and treasure to others. We are thrilled that we are able to share this with our community and that, for the second year in a row, the community has been eager to join us.

written by Heather Hoff, member of Sure Foundation Lutheran Church