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Record 5020 Pounds of Kits and Quilts Head to LWR

by | Aug 30, 2018 | Comforters, History, Kit Ministry, Mission, Outreach

Boxes by trailer

5020 lbs of Kits and Quilts Shipped!

26
AUGUST, 2018
In support of
Lutheran World
Relief

Fact: Did you know it takes just 15 minutes for Lutherans to load 5020 lbs of Quilts, Layettes & Kits in a truck?

That’s right, and exactly what happened following the 8:30 am. Worship Service at Messiah Lutheran Church of Madison, Alabama on August 26, 2018.

Yet what took a mere fifteen minutes to load into the trailer,  volunteers on Messiah’s Comforters and Kit Ministry teams work hours and hours through the year to purchase, craft, assemble and pack the fill the boxes bound for Lutheran World Relief.

The Messiah’s Comforters group meets regularly on Tuesday mornings. This past year they crafted over 129 which were boxed up and loaded into the truck.   The quilts are deployed out of LWR warehouses to regions across the globe to serve individuals impacted by natural disasters, political strife, drought, etc.  Note: What may seem like a bed cover to some,  for someone without a bed or a home,  the quilt can be a soft place to lay one’s head for rest, and be the difference between dying of dehydration or hypothermia. A quilt also provides quick and ready means of bundling one’s earthly possessions in pursuit of safety or stability for one’s self or family.

Top: Colorful quilts bound for Lutheran World Relief envelope Messiah’s sanctuary during the annual Kit and Quilt Blessing  Bottom:  Members of the Comforters group pose with a quilt pieced together using vintage unfinished quilt pieces that were donated.  The quilt was sold through the Comforter’s annual Quilt Auction which takes place in November.
Photograph by Meredith Kilby
Most of the 5080 pounds of aid generated by Messiah comes in the form of School, Layette and Personal Care Kits purchased, prepped and assembled by Messiah’s Kit Ministry team and volunteers who donate, craft, shop, assemble the kits for use by Lutheran World Relief’s Kits of Care ministry.    The Kit Ministry team is led by Rhonda Gaede and Diane Davis.

Messiah annually tops the list of total pounds given by churches in the ELCA’s SE Synod.  For that reason,  Messiah has been selected the designated intake site for several years.

In 2017, 85 of the 160 churches in the southeastern synod comprised of the states of Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, and Georgia generated 38,812 pounds of quilts and kits. As we have been for the last several years, we’re number 1. Of those 38,812 pounds, 4800 of them came from Messiah.  Messiah’s share comes to 12.3% even though it comprises only 1.1% of the contributing congregations!

This year, MLC volunteers were determined to break the 5000 pound goal and passed it just days before the truck arrived.  Included in those 5020 pounds are 129 quilts, 860 school kits, 375 baby care kits, and 640 personal care kits.