​At the neighborhood memorial, LCC Hearts of Mercy & Compassion volunteers placed hearts bearing the victims’ names and crosses where loved ones and neighbors could write prayers, Scripture, and messages of encouragement. Each named heart offered a place to remember a precious life. Each handwritten message offered an expression of love for the family members left behind.

Trinity Erie congregation members brought battery-powered candles to share for an ongoing vigil. No speakers were planned, but LCC volunteers invited community members to write messages on the hearts. The gathering made room for people to remember, grieve, and be together.

LCC K-9 Comfort Dogs Damascus, Jared, and Lazarus stood alongside their handlers, offering a gentle presence. Community members were invited to spend time with the dogs, talk with volunteers, and pray. For people struggling to find words, even a quiet moment beside a Comfort Dog can offer a place to pause.

This is why LCC goes: to share the mercy, compassion, presence, and proclamation of Jesus Christ with people in their moments of deepest need.

“Words can’t even explain what I’m going through right now,” Julius Windham told the Associated Press over the weekend at a memorial for his wife, their 22-month-old daughter, and preborn daughter, whom they had just decided on a name. “But I gotta be strong for my community. My family, my daughters, my sons, everybody.”

Erie Mayor Daria Devlin addressed a portion of her remarks directly to the victims’ families.
“I am so deeply sorry,” Devlin said. “What happened to you was horrific, and there is nothing that any of us can say today that will make this any easier. ... Our entire community is with you, we’re grieving with you. And we are here to support you.”

Today, the K-9 and HMC teams are scheduled to make three visits to first responders and law enforcement officers in Erie and delivered signed hearts at each location, including the 6:15 a.m. and 2:15 p.m. Erie Police Department roll calls. They also will bring support to employees of the Erie County Department of Public Safety, where the region’s 911 call center is housed. Like the police officers at the roll call, these workers were a part of the initial response call.

Please join LCC in praying for the Erie community, especially the relatives of the victims, city and county law enforcement and first responders, and the surrounding neighborhood on the city’s east side.

Lutheran Church Charities thanks the following volunteers who are serving on this deployment of care and comfort:

Hearts of Mercy & Compassion
Alex Duff, Suburban Bethlehem Lutheran, Fort Wayne, IN
Dennis Concoby, St. Paul’s Lutheran, Painesville, OH

K-9 Comfort Dog Ministry
Nancy Borders and Deb Fahncke with Lazarus, Trinity Lutheran, Toledo, OH
Bernice Germann and Carol Marcis with Damascus, St. Paul Lutheran, Napoleon, OH
Barb Neubacher and Pam Rusher with Jared, Holy Cross Lutheran, Fort Wayne, IN
 
 

The K-9 teams visited two United Rentals locations this week — Wellington Road, which reopened Monday, and Herndon, 17 miles north near Washington Dulles Airport.

At both, they encountered workers who were understandably shaken. One shared, “I couldn’t go back in there.”

So the dogs stayed outside, laid down, and let employees snuggle, hug, and just sit with them. Handlers for Honey and Kezia said they’d be there as long as they were needed.

One worker was comforted to see Honey again, who had visited last week along with Faith Comfort Dog.

Another employee said that Ricky and Christopher were like family, so this day was really hard. He sat with the dogs and handlers for a while, reflecting on losing his coworkers.

“I’m trying to hold things in,” he admitted.

“It’s okay if you don’t,” handlers replied.

Rob, Tom, Eddie, German, Helmut — all spent extended time connecting with the dogs, visibly letting down the guard they had up when the shift began.

The teams met Amber, the operations manager at the Herndon office. She immediately got on the floor and lay next to Amos, where she said would have liked to spend the rest of the day. Last week, Amber responded to a Facebook post featuring the comfort dogs and said she’d like to have them where she worked.

This week, they were.

Several visitors came by at Herndon, and everyone was thankful that the K-9 teams showed up. Herndon and other United Rentals locations were taking additional work that has been diverted from Wellington Road in Manassas. It is their way of showing support for their hurting work family.

Back at Wellington Road, Ed, the shop foreman, showed that his office is in the pathway where Christopher ran past him and out through the shop bleeding heavily before collapsing outside in front of the truck driven by Helmut.

Amos Top Dog Jodi Folta asked Ed how his men in the shop were doing because they hadn’t spent time with the dogs.

They weren’t ready to come out to the front, so the teams decided to go to them in the shop, where they met Zach and German.

Zach is a new employee, there for just four weeks. German has been with United Rentals for 20 years and was very close to Ricky. 

“As soon as he touched Honey, I saw his body release,” Folta shared. “Quietly, he pet her and then moved over to sit down next to Kezia where he just leaned in and quietly let his emotions out.”

The Dispatch area was empty yesterday except for Eddie, who quietly was processing what had happened. He was not at work the day the shooting happened and is the only one who is back.

It’s lonely and somber. On his desk, he has pamphlets labeled Passports To Heaven, available for anyone for the taking. Folta prayed with Eddie, and he shared that his dispatch coworkers will have a separate day to return to work.

Dispatch is where the shooting began. The wounded employee Christopher fled out the front door, while the shooter exited the side door into the parking area where he met Ricky who had just arrived and did not know what was going on. Ricky tried to de-escalate to no avail.

In addition to the United Rentals location, the teams were invited to visit a Manassas Fire & Rescue station and deliver a Heart of Gratitude.

The welcome was warm, heavy with appreciation, as first responders graciously expressed thanks for being remembered and appreciated.

It had been a long few days. But the stationhouse was eager to spread the love around. First responders recommended that the LCC teams add a visit the next day to another Fire & Rescue stationhouse, where EMS workers who responded during the shooting were serving.

On Tuesday morning, the teams started a busy day at the local 911 call hub, called the Manassas Public Safety Communications Center, at the invitation of the facility’s manager. On call that day, the center’s employees took turns greeting the dogs and responding to inbound and outbound calls. 

There is a hidden trauma for these employees, the LCC teams learned, as the workers receive urgent, often frantic calls for help while projecting calm, taking in information for first responders, and sharing immediate counsel with steadiness. It’s rugged work, and the presence of LCC’s teams and the Golden Retrievers brought a sense of peace.

The teams spent time at the center and talking with workers who could step away. The HMC group presented the center manager a Heart of Gratitude.   

Earlier this week, LCC President/CEO Rev. Chris Singer called on LCC supporters to pray for the victims’ families, for the United Rentals organization, and the Manassas, VA, community.

“We are shocked and heartbroken at the news of these innocent lives being taken from their loved ones,” Rev. Singer said. “We mourn with the families and employees of United Rentals, lifting up our prayers of comfort and peace that only the Holy Spirit can bring. We ask that the LORD would be near to them now with His holy presence and with them for the days and weeks ahead. Our LCC teams are coming to be with you all and offer the hope and peace of Jesus.”

While in Virginia, the LCC teams are connecting with Pastor Joel Wallschlaeger of Hope Lutheran Church Manassas, who will carry on the spiritual care when the LCC team leaves.

Rev. Dr. Bill Harmon, President of the LCMS Southeastern District, invited LCC to bring Spiritual First Aid™ trauma care to Virginia and minister to the hurting community in the name of Jesus.

United Rentals district manager Cory Leonard told Singer that LCC’s presence, prayers, and compassion would be welcome as the company’s employees and families grieve together. A United Rentals employee’s wife in Texas who follows the LCC K-9 Comfort Dog and Hearts of Mercy & Compassion ministries recommended Lutheran Church Charities to the company.

And that's what LCC ministries do -- provide compassion and presence in the wake of horrible events such as the one that will forever affect the community of Manassas, VA.

On July 27, 2026, an EF-3 tornado tore through the Wisconsin towns of Neenah, Menasha, and Appleton. A mile wide, the twister cut a path 12 miles long, hitting Menasha the hardest and leaving many families with destroyed homes. LCC mobilized with Peace Lutheran Church in Neenah the next day to begin assessment and cleanup. With chainsaws, heavy equipment, and numerous helping hands, Disaster Response volunteers cleared the debris and walked beside families and congregations as they started over. It was a tangible reminder of hope for a community facing tremendous loss.

SEE & SERVE

This week, LCC learned that the response in Menasha began with a simple question.

Pastor Marshal Frisque of Peace Lutheran Neenah, WI, reached out to a neighboring church and asked its pastor: “How can we help?”

The answer became 124 volunteers and more than 2,400 hours of service.

Over the weeks, the LCC team kept coming back, answering calls for help, and serving a community still trying to understand the scope of what had happened.


IMPACT

The ongoing support and assistance was moving for Rev. Rob Van Ess of Congregational United Church. In a letter to Pastor Frisque, he share that the LCC group’s presence became “the tangible reminder that we were not alone.”
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Pastor Van Ness went on to describe LCC’s work this way: “The labor became an expression of God’s love, the chainsaw the instrument of grace.”

In the destruction of their town and their own lives, Pastor Frisque’s congregation saw beyond their circumstances, devastating as they were. They looked at the hurts and needs of their neighbors and then stepped in to help.

Many of the congregants at Peace Lutheran, including Pastor Frique, weren’t trained in disaster response or chainsaw use, but they are now. And then used those skills and knowledge to show up for new friends again and again. Denominational differences didn’t matter. God was calling them to serve.

At LCC, this is the kind of ministry we believe God is calling us and our affiliate churches and volunteers to continue and grow. We celebrate the many ways God is working through His people to see others through the eyes of Christ and serve them with His love.
​
What’s your See & Serve moment?

What does SEE & SERVE mean to you? When did you see someone in need and were moved by compassion to serve? When did someone see you and show up for you? LCC would love to hear your story! Share your experience by emailing [email protected].

A week after losing her dad in a car accident, a third grader at Zion Lutheran School in Georgetown, TX, had barely smiled. As she navigated the pain of her loss, she had not yet felt ready to open up to the school counselor or talk about what she was experiencing.
​
But when Persis Comfort Dog (Christ the Redeemer - Tulsa, OK) came to visit, something changed. For the first time since the accident, the young girl smiled.

The visit on Oct. 7 came at the request of Assistant Principal Kelly David who hoped the presence of LCC K-9 Comfort Dogs might help the student, Camryn, relax and begin processing her grief. The visit took place the day after her father’s funeral, a particularly difficult time for the family.

Persis and her handlers, Roxy and Steve Hurry, arrived not knowing exactly what to expect. They began the morning greeting students as they arrived at school, where the sight of a friendly dog brought smiles and excited shouts.

Later, they joined 247 students in kindergarten through eighth grade for chapel. The children sang, danced, and praised God through music. After chapel, Persis stationed herself by the church doors, patiently greeting each student as they made their way to class.

When it was time to visit Camryn’s third-grade classroom, the team joined students who going about their normal routine, working on math and estimation. The children gathered around Persis in small groups of five, each taking a turn asking her a question while petting her.

For Camryn, the visit offered an opportunity to spend time with a gentle companion without the pressure of finding words to explain her feelings.

Persis’ handlers then spent some one-on-one time with Camryn and Persis outside the classroom. Persis did not need to ask questions or expect Camryn to talk about her loss. She simply offered companionship, allowing the girl to engage at her own pace. It was during that special time that Camryn’s face lit up in a smile.

Her teacher later shared that it was the first smile she had seen from Camryn since her dad’s death a week earlier.

“That just warmed my heart,” Roxy Hurry said.

At Zion Lutheran School, Persis offered students a welcome distraction, teachers a way to support a grieving child, and Camryn a reason to smile when smiling had seemed out of reach. And although a smile may seem like a little thing. For this third-grader, the smile Persis brought out is the first step in processing her grief.

​7. TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF
Job (Christ the King – Memphis, TN) — “Regular vet visits are not fun, but they’re necessary!”
Persis (Christ the Redeemer – Tulsa, OK) — “It’s brave to ask for help.”
 
BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER
Rahab (St. Andrews – Stockton, CA) — “For a happier life and better mental health, enjoy the sunshine, forgive quickly, love generously, and savor today. God gave us this moment, and there’s always someone willing to give and receive hugs!”

Through simple wooden hearts, accented with the Christian fish symbol and meaningful Bible verses, HMC hearts and crosses spread comfort and care to people in times of grief and happiness.

The ministry brings together volunteers with different skill sets, who have a shared passion to support their neighbor. With 22 affiliate churches in 16 states, the Hearts of Mercy & Compassion ministry is growing.

You can be a part of it!

A new animation explainer video will show churches how their congregations can serve their communities by building and sharing hearts and crosses.

https://vimeo.com/1233036569/3c775af19b?share=copy&fl=sv&fe=ci

With 22 affiliate churches in 16 states, the Hearts of Mercy & Compassion ministry is growing and would be a great addition to your congregation. See the impact firsthand!

The Vietnam veteran slowly but steadily made his was down a line of greeters, shaking every hand and thanking the people for coming to cheer his fellow service members.

Flags waving. Hands clapping. Smiles beaming.
 
“You know, we never got a welcome like this when we came back,” he said as joyful tears filled his eyes.

His name was Nicholas, and he was one of 107 United States veterans who made Stars & Stripes Honor Flight Mission 89 last week, flying from Milwaukee, WI, to Washington, DC, and greeted and cheered by hundreds of well-wishers, including LCC K-9 Comfort Dogs Amos (Our Savior’s Way – Ashburn, VA) and Kezia (Emmanuel – Baltimore, MD).

Amos Top Dog Jodi Folta shook Nicholas’s hand and smiled, thanking him sincerely for his service to the nation.

“His words stayed with me, as they always do,” Folta said. “These heroes deserved to be welcomed home with gratitude and honor then, and they deserve it now. The privilege was ours to look them in the eyes, take their hands, and give them the welcome they so deeply deserved.” 

K-9 Comfort Dogs Amos and Kezia had the honor of welcoming the veterans of the Stars and Stripes Honor Flight as they arrived in Washington, DC, to visit the memorials chronicling their service. All but one veteran had served in Vietnam. The other was an Iraq War veteran.

“There is something profoundly moving about looking into the eyes of each veteran, shaking their hand, and thanking them for their service” Folta added. “By design, they were surprised by the welcome, and the emotions on their humble faces said more than words ever could.” 
As the K-9 teams watched and welcomed, they sensed God’s grace was present —a holy moment — surrounding these heroes, honoring their sacrifice, and bringing healing to a generation that deserved a welcome home long ago.

Their humility and selflessness were a living reminder of the blessings we have been given and the responsibility we carry to remember.

"The emotions on their humble faces said more than words ever could," Folta reflected.