St. Paul Lutheran Church in Norwood Park, Illinois, has been working with a woman since 2017 who was losing her childhood home to foreclosure. For 14 years, Marybeth was the caregiver for her mother. She had been unable to hold an outside job while caring for her mother, so on her mother’s death, she knew that she would be losing the house and needing to start over. Cindy Budek (from St. Paul) purchased new clothes for Marybeth, so that she could begin interviewing for a job. In April of 2018, Marybeth began working as a cashier in a grocery store. Now that she had a job, the process began to find her affordable housing within walking distance to her job as Marybeth does not drive.

Jennifer Boberg read a scripture reading from Jeremiah 33:3 "Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known," and Upe led a prayer of blessing for her and her new home, reminding her to call on the Lord during this new chapter in her life. Mike and Donna Lawrence from St. Paul (not pictured) also helped with the move and provided a welcome home basket filled with food for both Marybeth and her dog, and other household goods.

Special thank you to Trinity Lutheran Church in Roselle, Illinois, for donating food to the St. Matthew Soup Kitchen in Chicago to serve Thanksgiving dinner for families who were homeless or poor and could not afford a Thanksgiving dinner. Pastor Cesar Sifuentes of St. Matthew picked up six turkeys, bags of potatoes, and six boxes of canned and boxes foods for the meal.

On Wednesday, November 14, the LCC K-9 Comfort Dogs were invited to give a chapel message at Immanuel Lutheran School in Crystal Lake, Illinois. At the end of the chapel service, the Student Council presented Lutheran Church Charities with a check for the Disaster Relief efforts in Florida due to Hurricane Michael and the LCC K-9 Ministry deployments in California due to the wildfires. LCC K-9 Comfort Dogs Eunice (LCC Staff), Levi (Immanuel – East Dundee, Illinois), and Tobias (Lord of Glory – Grayslake, Illinois) greeted each class in the school library after chapel and thanked them for their generosity.

LCC thanks Jennifer Keltner, Publisher & Chief Visionary Officer at Martingale Publishing, for the generous donations received due to sales of their recent book, 2018 Moda All-Stars Mini-Charm Quilts. In lieu of royalty payments, Dallas-based Moda Fabrics donates the royalties for each book to a designated charity. Shortly after the book was published, the LCC K-9 Comfort Dogs were sent to Sante Fe High School following a school shooting. It was then that they knew the importance of donations to the LCC K-9 Comfort Dog Ministry to cover such events that show the mercy and compassion to those in need during their darkest hour. The following was shared as part of the book introduction:

A special thank you to Jim and Lori Wood who delivered 100 Brownies that Lori had baked for the 22 Event on Saturday, September 22nd. What a special treat to have home baked chewy chocolate brownies as dessert after dinner.

Thank you to Jill Hofstad, teacher; Carrie Miller, School Counselor, and Karen Schultz, Administrative Assistant from Lutheran Special School in Hales Corner, Wisconsin, who came to sort and select teaching supplies for LSS. A special thank you to members of Immanuel Lutheran Church and to Bob Desiron who through their donation have helped LSS to expand to serve more children with special needs.

A special thank you to LCC volunteers Jeff Boberg of St. Paul – Canfield, Ray Pemoller of Immanuel – Palatine, Bob Schwemer of St. Paul – Mt. Prospect, Mike Tellin of Immanuel – Bartlett, and Andy Whowell of St. Peter – Arlington Heights who picked up donations last week.

On Saturday, September 1, Labor Day weekend, LCC K-9 Comfort Dog Aaron (St. John’s – Napa, California) handler Michele Arnold accepted the Everesting Challenge – to pick any hill, anywhere in the world and ride repeats of it in a single activity until you climb 29,029 feet, the equivalent height of Mt. Everest. Michele also dedicated this challenge and raised funds for the LCC K-9 Comfort Dog Ministry.

Michele was able to complete an impressive 115 laps totaling 14,566 ft. during her first attempt of the Everesting Challenge, raising approximately $1,200. Wearing her custom jersey featuring the LCC K-9 Comfort Dog logo and a picture of Aaron Comfort Dog, Michele even took time to answer questions about the ministry to others she met during her ride.

The LCC K-9 Ministry is very proud of Michele for this outstanding accomplishment! Thank you Michele for your dedication to the Aaron Comfort Dog team and the LCC K-9 Ministry, and for this generous donation

Thank you to our wonderful LCC volunteers, Bob Schwermer and Jim Beckley, who picked up donations for the LCC studio and the LCC annex. LCC appreciates your time and dedication to our ministry.