As the weather improved last week with lower temperatures and some rain, LCC K-9 Comfort Dogs Aaron (St. John’s - Napa, California), Micah (Light of the Valley - Elk Grove, California), and Reuben (First Lutheran - Yuba City, California) visited with firefighters at the Cal Fire Base Camp in Santa Rosa California.
 
The Comfort Dogs provided much-needed comfort for these firefighters who have been working non-stop to halt the progress of the Glass Fire that has devastated Napa and Sonoma counties in Northern California.
 
The nearly 67,500-acre fire is now over 90 percent contained but your prayers are still needed as the high temperatures and wind return at the end of this week. The Glass Fire burned close to 800 homes in California’s North Bay area and forced tens of thousands to evacuate. The Glass Fire is the 10th-most destructive blaze in state history, according to Cal Fire.

LCC never goes where we are not invited. The LCC K-9 Comfort Dog Ministry NEVER charges those we serve. We pick up all of our travel and meal costs. We put boots and paws on the ground within 24 hours (often fewer) from the time we get the invite.

Please consider a donation to the LCC K-9 Comfort Dog Ministry so that we may continue to show the Mercy, Compassion, Presence and Proclamation of Jesus Christ to those suffering and in need.

​Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, have been hit hard by the global pandemic and natural disasters in 2020.
 
Thanks to your donations, Lutheran Church Charities continues to send emergency relief funds to Haiti through our Haiti Mission Partners towards critical items.
 
The most needed is food for elderly and at risk families, mostly single parent families.
 
Due to a lack of good government financial policies and the international lock downs of COVID-19, inflation has become outrageous. Food that cost $10 US a year ago costs more than $30 now!

Goal of $45,000 Met!

Thank You!

Lutheran Church Charities extends sincere thanks to our generous donors, whose donations have allowed us to provide scholarships for 15 students at Christ the King Lutheran Church and School in Chicago, Illinois.

Thanks to your generosity, in just a few weeks, we were able to raise $45,000 needed to sponsor 15 children for the entire year!
 
On Monday, October 5, Nikki Deacon, LCC's Ministry Director, and LCC volunteer Bob Morris presented the generous donations to Pastor John Brazeal and Principal Geri Brazeal.
 
Your donations make it possible for the children to stay in the Christ-centered environment of Christ the King Lutheran Church and School.
 
Thank you for changing the lives of children who otherwise would have no hope for their future.

On October 1, 2020, the LCC K-9 Comfort dogs were invited by the South Holland, Illinois Fire Department to be with teammates of Dylan Cunningham, age 29, at Fire Station 43 in South Holland. The South Holland firefighter and Illinois Army National Guardsman died Wednesday night following an underwater dive incident at Haigh Quarry Lake in Kankakee.
 
Rich Martin, Director of K-9 Deployment with Ruthie Comfort Dog and Nikki Deacon, Director of Ministry, with Emma Comfort Dog were with Dylan’s fellow firefighters from all around the Chicago area stations.

Dylan began working for South Holland Fire Department part time in 2011 and was sworn in full time in 2018. During that time, he also joined the Illinois Army National Guard in 2012. By the end of his service in 2020, he had earned the rank of Sergeant and had served in both a Chemical Operations and Infantry unit. Simultaneously, he studied fire science at Prairie State College. In October 2018, he received a Gold Seal from the South Cook County EMS medical director for his work in saving a patient on an EMS call.
 
Dylan was a South Holland Firefighter, a United States National Guard Member, a father to be, a Friend and Hero to many. He was loved and will be missed by all who knew and loved him.
 
Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. (John 15:13)

On Tuesday, October 6, the LCC K-9 Comfort Dogs were invited to attend Dylan’s visitation held at Smits Funeral Home in Dyer, Indiana:
 
The following K-9 Ministry teams were present:
 
LCC K-9 Comfort Dog Angel (St. John's - La Grange, Illinois)
LCC K-9 Comfort Dogs Barnabas & Isaiah (Trinity - Hobart, Indiana)
LCC K-9 Comfort Dog Caleb (Immanuel - Valparaiso, Indiana)
LCC K-9 Comfort Dogs Emma & Ruthie (LCC Staff)
LCC K-9 Comfort Dog Myra (St. Andrews - Park Ridge, Illinois)
LCC K-9 Comfort Dog Tobias (Lord of Glory - Grayslake, Illinois)

Elberta, Alabama

Lutheran Church Charities K-9 Comfort Dogs were invited by Pastor Keith Ringers and his wife Diana of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Elberta, Alabama, to be with their community after the devastating Hurricane Sally.

California Deployment Update

LCC K-9 Comfort Dogs Aaron (St. John’s - Napa, California), Micah (Light of the Valley - Elk Grove, California), and Reuben (First Lutheran - Yuba City, California) have been serving firefighters, utility workers, and evacuees for weeks now as the fire devastation has reached a record of over 4 million acres burned. The Glass fire is only 26% contained and 30,000 people are still under evacuation orders, including the entire town of Calistoga, California. 2,774 firefighters from all over the state are fighting the fire.

Cal Fire said ground crews have now identified 235 destroyed homes in Sonoma County and 252 in Napa County. An additional 73 homes have been damaged in Sonoma County and 64 in Napa County.

Please consider a donation to the LCC K-9 Comfort Dog Ministry so that we may continue to show the Mercy, Compassion, Presence and Proclamation of Jesus Christ to those suffering and in need.

The same derecho that barreled through northern Illinois on August 10 also struck Cedar Rapids and surrounding towns in Iowa first, with 100 mph winds causing major destruction to trees, homes, businesses, farms and crops. Even after all this time, the towns still look as though an inland hurricane went through.

LCC thanks all of the L.E.R.T. volunteers for their professionalism, tireless efforts, and ministry over the past three weeks. Please join us in praying for the residents of that community who are still recovering from the devastation of the August derecho storm.

LCC never goes where we are not invited. We NEVER charge those we serve. We pick up all of our travel, lodging, and meal costs. We put boots on the ground within 24 hours (often fewer) from the time we get the invite.
 
Please consider a donation to the LCC Disaster Response General Fund or LCC Disaster Response 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.