A favorite memory for Sheba’s handler is the first time Sheba participated in 2016. There was a boy there who had never touched an animal before, but because the Comfort Dogs are so calm and gentle, he was able to pet these dogs. Everyone was so excited for him! This has been seen other times as well that some of the children or teens who had been apprehensive about touching a dog were able to overcome their fears and pet the Comfort Dogs. It gave them such a sense of accomplishment, and the teachers and caregivers with them were so grateful and appreciative to see the students have a breakthrough like this.
 
The LCC K-9 Comfort Dog teams are proud of these athletes for their skill, determination, and all of their accomplishments! Way to go!

NEEDED:
Girls underwear, sizes 10-16
100% cotton BRIEF style
No pictures of animals, words or pop culture icons

Dignity4Girls, a ministry that seeks to support women and girls globally, has found themselves in a unique situation. One very important branch of the ministry is coordinating the sewing of reusable feminine pads in the U.S. by volunteers (using the daysforgirls.org pattern), shipping them to Kenya and Liberia, and funding programs for distribution that also provide health education and education on the dangers of the tribal practice of FGM (Female Genital Mutilation).

Dignity4Girl has many U.S. based LCMS churches who are currently sewing for these girls in Kenya and Liberia. Our contact in Kenya is Robert Gutwa, who is the Executive Director of the Sacred Center for Orphans and Widows, which is associated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Kenya. In Liberia the contact is Joe Boway, a Liberian who graduated from Taylor University, has taken classes at the Fort Wayne seminary, worked with Lutheran bible translators to translate the bible and currently overseas 14 schools that he began in the rural jungles of Liberia

Our abundant blessing is that we were recently blessed by the Iowa sewers with 2,000 feminine hygiene kits! This represents hundreds of hours of work by probably a hundred volunteers. Our need is that these kits do not contain the two pairs of girl’s underwear that each kit is expected to contain. We, at Dignity4Girls, need to collect over 4,000 pairs of girl’s underwear. Orphan Grain Train is sending a shipment to Liberia on October 1st but a second shipment will be going out the first week of November.

This shipment is extra special because a small team of volunteers from Immanuel Lutheran Church, Elmhurst, will be traveling to Liberia in January to help with the distribution of these feminine hygiene kits!

Please join us in collecting the needed items which will provide for girls who are currently missing school and falling behind because they do not have the resources to purchase feminine pads each month. The two pairs of underwear included in each kit are important components for encouraging healthy hygiene and supporting these precious girls.

For more information or to donate items, please contact Sandi Helm, Dignity4Girls Program Director, at [email protected].