Early this morning, LCC Disaster Response received an invite from Rev. Ed Brashier, Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) District Disaster Response Coordinator for the Southern District. Kathy O’Day, LCC Director of Disaster Response, LCC staff member Tim Laabs, and Lutheran Early Response Team (L.E.R.T.) chainsaw team leaders Marty Johnson and Pete Springmire will arrive in Alabama on Sunday, March 28, to help Pastor Brashier assess widespread tornado damage to help determine where L.E.R.T. teams will be needed in the coming weeks. LCC NEEDS YOUR ASSISTANCE TO HELP FAMILIES, HELP CHURCHES, AND PREPARE FOR DEPLOYMENT! Please donate to the LCC Disaster Response General Fund or LCC Equipment Maintenance & Fuel Expense Fund so that we may continue to show the Mercy, Compassion, Presence and Proclamation of Jesus Christ to those suffering and in need. LCC works in coordination with LCMS Disaster Response national and local districts of the LCMS.
SPECIAL APPEAL: LCC K-9 Comfort Dog Ministry Teams Deploy Today after shooting in Boulder, Colorado3/23/2021
 On the afternoon of Monday, March 22, 10 people were killed, including a Boulder Police Officer, and employees and shoppers traumatized when an individual began randomly shooting in the store. Schools in the area were immediately put on secure lockdown and residents instructed to shelter in place during the incident and investigation. In less than 24 hours, LCC K-9 Comfort Dogs were invited and will be on-site to be present throughout the community with employees, residents, and first responders who are trying to cope with this senseless tragedy.  Tim Hetzner, LCC President/CEO, and LCC Director of K-9 Ministries, Anastasia, are working with Bonnie Fear, LCC K-9 Director of Crisis Deployment. Bonnie, LCC K-9 Comfort Dogs Cubby and Devorah (Redeemer – Fort Collins, Colorado) and their ministry teams were in Boulder Tuesday afternoon to help people who are shocked and trying to process this horrific event. Upon arrival, Comfort Dogs Cubby and Devorah brought much needed smiles and comfort to the Alpha Phi and Chi Omega Sorority Houses on the University of Colorado Boulder Campus, which has 35,338 students. LCC K-9 Comfort Dogs Eddie (Peace – Grand Island, Nebraska), Joanna (Christ – Lincoln, Nebraska), Katie (Trinity – Fremont, Nebraska), and Priscilla (Trinity – Lincoln, Nebraska), along with their ministry teams, will arrive Wednesday to help bring comfort and hope to all who are grieving.  Boulder Police Officer Eric Talley heroically died in the line of duty and is survived by his wife and seven children. His father stated that he took his job as a police officer very seriously, loved his family more than anything, and he believed in Jesus Christ. The LCC K-9 Comfort Dog Ministry never charges those we serve as we bring the Mercy, Compassion, Presence and Proclamation of Jesus Christ to those suffering and in need. We know that comfort is needed to help this shocked and devastated community and the first responders who serve them. Please join LCC in keeping the families, first responders, and the community in your prayers as they move through these extremely trying times.   Thursday, March 18, was an exciting day for LCC K-9 Comfort Dog teams as they visited with the Life Skills students at Pontiac Township High School. The Life Skills students have been learning about each of the K-9 Comfort Dogs from their Facebook pages and researching the states where they live. The students were excited to meet thirteen of the LCC K-9 Comfort Dogs and their teams during their Zoom visit. The class will meet fifteen more of the K-9 Comfort Dogs on April 8. The K-9 Ministry teams enjoyed “seeing” the students and answering all of their questions.  Following the first virtual visit, LCC received a wonderful email from Laura Baumgardner, Life Skills Special Education Teacher: “I just wanted to let you know how much fun we had yesterday on the Zoom calls! We have been working on how to ask questions and how to do research. Our students are all working on job interview skills and how to look up information about the jobs they are applying for, so this was a great way to practice those skills! This year since we have been more self-contained due to Covid, our students asked me to teach a weekly art lesson. We drew Golden Retrievers! They named them and shared them on the calls yesterday.”
The LCC K-9 Ministry teams had just as much fun as the students.
The LCC K-9 Ministry supports students and teachers and looks forward to scheduling more virtual visits.
 If you are in Northern Illinois and would like to help fill a truck with requested food only for the Texas District, there is still time this week to do so. Immanuel Hillside Food Pantry began accepting food donations this week from several Northern Illinois District churches and L.E.R.T. teams for those recovering from Texas Winter Storm Uri. The following churches held food drives and made deliveries this week:
Jayne Siou, Director of Immanuel Hillside's “Put Your Hands Together” Food Distribution Ministry stated that their donations and LCC donor food will be delivered next Wednesday to the Texas LCMS District in San Antonio and the Central Texas Food Bank in Austin for immediate distribution to those in need.
The food donation truck(s) will be leaving Immanuel Hillside Food Pantry on Friday, March 19. Your support is greatly needed for the success of this mission and for all our Brothers and Sisters in Christ in Texas. In our effort to provide emergency food and to follow our mission, we are requesting the following emergency food donations for our relief truck:
DROP OFF LOCATIONS & TIMES: Wednesday, March 17 | Donations by appt. only, contact Jayne Siou (708) 261-2006 Immanuel Lutheran Church 2317 S Wolf Rd, Hillside, IL 60162 Thursday, March 18 | 11:30 am – 2:30 pm | Pop-a-Trunk or Truck donations Veterans Distribution Warehouse - Dock #40-42 Hillside Food Pantry 5999 Butterfield Rd. Hillside, IL 60162 Lutheran Church Charities can pick up large donations requiring a truck March 17th-18th. Contact Dianna Bonfield at 847-287-6624 to schedule a pickup. Lutheran Church Charities continues to work through our Texas K-9 Ministry affiliate churches and District Disaster Response Coordinators to bring the Mercy, Compassion, Presence, and Proclamation of Jesus Christ to those suffering and in need. Please prayerfully consider a donation to the LCC Texas Disaster Response Fund to help individuals, families, and churches now and during the long recovery process.
LCC K-9 Comfort Dogs from 12 States Virtually Visit with Students During Lutheran School Week3/16/2021
The following LCC K-9 Comfort Dog Ministry teams enjoyed their visit with the students and were happy to serve:
The students enjoyed learning about how a Comfort Dog is trained and the wonderful job that they have providing comfort to so many people. Here are some of their comments: "I thought that the comfort dogs were very sweet and well trained. I'm glad that they are able to help people and make them feel better." Maggie, 8th grade "I loved Myra, she was loving and respectful. I want to meet her one day." Rylan, 5th grade "Myra was very calm which is good because when people are sad they need a comfort dog to relieve stress." Sydney, 5th grade  The students had excellent questions about the comfort dogs' training, behaviors and needs, and the work of the LCC K-9 Comfort Dog ministry.
The LCC K-9 Comfort Dog Ministry teams shared how they balance the dogs' unique needs as animals in their care and their special gift in providing a healing ministry of touch. As a result, the students had a better understanding of how the LCC K-9 Comfort Dogs and their handlers share the mercy, compassion, presence, and proclamation of Jesus Christ to those suffering and in need. It was fun to see how interested everyone was in the comfort dogs! LCC never goes where we are not invited. The LCC K-9 Comfort Dog Ministry NEVER charges those we serve. LCC Thanks Donors for Financial Assistance for Families Affected by the Tornado in Fultondale, Alabama
Thank you to LCC Volunteer for a Donation Pickup Special thank you to LCC volunteer Bob Desiron for doing a spur-of-the-moment donation pickup on Friday, March 12, from GiveNKind, a new not-for-profit resource for our ministry partners. GiveNKind donated 3,000 lbs. of food in Farm to Family boxes, 1,200 pairs of new socks, two suitcases, several backpacks, and six boxes of prepackaged cups of tea. These donations were delivered to Chicago Hope Church who gives them out to serve those in need in the community around them.
Thank you to LCC Volunteers for Donation Delivery to Christ the King, Chicago  A special thank you to LCC volunteers, Bob Desiron and Frank Vicari, for delivering a stove for the Senior House and a refrigerator for Christ the King's outreach ministries. For more than ten years, Christ the King has operated a Senior House that provides a home for seniors who fall through senior public housing cracks.
Christ the King's outreach ministry has immensely grown during the Coronavirus pandemic by helping to feed families in the neighborhood through the Churches Pantry. Working in the tent cities of Chicago, Christ the King provides hot meals to the homeless in their community. The donation of a freezer will help Christ the King expand the selection of food they can offer people. A special thank you to Salam Christian Fellowship/St. John, Schaumburg for sharing these appliances with their sister congregation.
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