A Brief History: Beginning in 2005, the Tuesday Morning Bible Study group at ALC sewed school bags, purchased school supplies and assembled between 25-60 school kits for Lutheran World Relief each year.
In 2016, the Global Ministries Team took on leadership of the LWR Kits project at ALC. Since that time, hundreds of school kits, personal care kits, and baby care kits have been assembled by enthusiastic helpers—Ascension Lutheran School children, Sunday School children, Confirmation classes, Senior Luther League, congregation members and Life Group members.
Since 2016, kits we have made at ALC have been delivered to people in Djibouti, Angola, Peru, Honduras, Rwanda, Lebanon, and Georgia, in Eastern Europe.
In 2021, over 1000 school kits and 20 personal care kits were shipped to LWR. Ascension’s talented craftspeople are also active in creating quilts for LWR. CLICK to learn more.
We are offering comfort and care to those who need it most.
Often, when natural disasters strike, or when war drives families from their homes, our hearts ache with compassion, but we don’t know how to help. Making Lutheran World Relief Kits is a simple, fun and tangible way to offer comfort to those suffering and express love to our neighbors in need.
LWR Kits are specifically designed to help people coping with poverty, natural disasters, and conflict driven emergencies. A kit helps someone maintain good hygiene, care for a newborn baby, continue education during a crisis, or learn a new vocation. LWR Kits provide dignity and hope in the most dire of situations.
Although many members of the Global Ministries Team and other Ascension members are involved as volunteers for this project, Louise Evenson is the point person. Having served on the national Lutheran World Relief board of directors for nine years as well as seen children in a remote village in Peru who received personal care kits from LWR, her heartfelt passion for this project is boundless.
Contact Louise HERE or by leaving a message with the Ascension office.
GMT members
Eloise with child
GMT members 2
PCKs in Chuzpata, Peru HEALTH and Cleanliness poster.
Lutheran World Relief Kits of Care include School Kits -- filled with supplies that can make it possible for children to attend school -- Baby Care Kits and Personal Care Kits.
Normally, kits are made in the summer and fall of each year. Our target is to have kits completed and ready for shipping prior to the LWR "Ingathering," (collection of kits and quilts from this area) in mid-October.
Depending on when Vacation Bible School is held in the summer, we have made some kits at that time. Most of our kits are assembled and packed when Ascension Lutheran School is back in session as well as when confirmation classes, senior Luther League, and small groups have started in the fall.
In 2013, Lutheran World Relief created an innovative bar code tracking system so people who make kits and quilts can see where their gifts of hope and love are distributed. Ascension Lutheran Church has tracked the kits they have made since 2016. Since then, kits made at ALC have been shipped to countries in the Middle East, Africa, Central America, South America and Eastern Europe.
Once our kits are assembled and packed, willing helpers take our boxes to a place where LWR is collecting all the quilts and kits from our area to be shipped to one of their warehouses. This is called the "Ingathering," and it usually is in the Fall of each year. In 2021, Cam Lorentson loaded his pick up and trailer with 9 boxes of quilts and 116 boxes of kits and took them to Mt Cross Lutheran Church in Camarillo where they were loaded and taken to LWR’s warehouse in Minneapolis with other kits and quilts from congregations in our area.
Through offerings at ALC and grants from the ALC Foundation, each year we have paid for the shipping costs of our kits and quilts to recipients. In 2021, ALC sent over $1,600 to cover the shipping costs for the kits and quilts we made.
From the LWR Warehouses, our kits and quilts are processed using our congregation’s bar code tracker, repacked in LWR shipping boxes or bundles of 100 lbs of quilts, trucked to US Ports, loaded into a container and placed on a container ship going to selected international ports.
Once our kits and quilts arrive at a country’s port, LWR works with local, vetted groups (also known as Non-governmental Organizations, NGOs) to distribute our kits and quilts to people most in need of these essentials.
Within 6-12 months after we have packed our kits and quilts, we learn where they have been delivered.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the SAM’s Tram service from Ascension has been pretty quiet. However, now that many of us have vaccines and feel more comfortable being out and about, it’s time to reintroduce the program! SAM’s Tram is Ascension’s Senior Adult Ministries transportation service. We match seniors from our congregation that need rides to local appointments with Ascension volunteers that are willing to drive.
RIDERS
If you’re a senior who needs a ride (or a caregiver for one), please contact me with the ride details. My contact info is at the end of the article. The more lead time you can give me -- at least a week or two is best -- the more likely I can find a driver for you. I’ll let you know either way. The service is free! If you feel compelled to give something, you can give your driver a dollar to go to Ascension’s Caring Ones to help the needy in our area.
DRIVERS
We’re always looking for more volunteer drivers to add to our roster. There is NO long-term commitment. I blast out detailed ride requests via e-mail to all of our drivers. You need only say “yes” to a ride that works for your schedule, and your only commitment is for that one ride. Many of us work and can only drive occasionally. That’s OK! The more drivers we have on our roster, the more likely we can fulfill a given request, and the workload gets spread around. This is a simple and effective ministry and we’d love to have you join us! Please call or e-mail me if you’re interested.
TESTIMONIAL
“[SAM’s Tram was] a blessing to my mom when she could not drive anymore. The friendly drivers got her to her weekly hair appointments, and occasional other doctor/dentist appointments. The social interaction with the drivers gave her a lift and became a bright spot in her declining life quality. I was pleasantly surprised and pleased when two drivers who were more frequent came to my mom’s celebration of life service. What a dedicated group of people, making a difference in the lives of our elders!” — Excerpt from a thank you note written by the daughter of one of our riders
FAST FACTS
- Pastor Steve started SAM’s Tram in 2011.
- Since 2017 we have had 287 ride requests and fulfilled 220 of them (77%)
- 69% of our requests are for doctor appointments, 9% for worship services, 8% for beauty/barber, and 14% “other”
Please pray for our SAM’s Tram riders and drivers, and contact me anytime if we can be of service to you, or if you you’d like to join us as a driver.
Sincerely,
Brian Festerling SAM’s Tram Coordinator
805-558-8076 (cell)
ps - we've had an uptick in requests and could always use new drivers.
A Brief History: Beginning in 2005, the Tuesday Morning Bible Study group at ALC sewed school bags, purchased school supplies and assembled between 25-60 school kits for Lutheran World Relief each year.
Ascension Lutheran Church
