ELCA NEWS SERVICE

May 7, 2007  

Iowa Congregation to Deliver 1.6 Million Meals to People in Haiti
07-079-BMC

     WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (ELCA) -- This spring the Lutheran
Church of Hope here challenged its members to provide a million
meals to hungry people. When the "alleluias" of Easter arrived,
this congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
(ELCA) exceeded all expectations: it collected nearly 1.6 million
meals to send to Haiti and distributed another 66,000 meals in
the Des Moines area.
     The meals bound for people in Haiti are expected to arrive
in June.
     "It was crazy -- a good crazy," said congregation staff
member Deb Gawlik. She said people got involved in the Lenten
project because "it's the power of doing something for somebody
else."
     More than two-thirds of the congregation's 6,700 members
volunteered in a three-pronged effort. Most volunteers measured
out portions of rice, soy, dried vegetables and protein in pre-
labeled plastic bags bound for Haiti. Others collected and
distributed 3,000 bags of groceries, containing 54,000 meals,
locally. A third group prepared and hand-delivered more than
12,000 sandwich lunches to homeless people living under bridges,
underpasses and in camps by the Des Moines River.
     Nancy Armstrong, a retired school teacher, accepted the
invitation to deliver food in person. She admits that she was
worried about imposing on the dignity and feelings of people who
are homeless. But, when she went to the river camps on a cold and
windy March day, "I thought, 'How cold these people must be,'"
said Armstrong. Through the service project she learned that "a
lot are wonderful people."
     "I felt like I've really touched people's lives who really
needed it," she said.
     Jerry Armstrong, Nancy's husband, said that as they handed
out sandwiches the volunteers asked if they could pray for those
receiving the lunches. "That seemed to really hit the spot," he
said. "One fellow said to me, 'You guys don't understand how
thankful we are. What you're doing is what Christianity is
about.'"
     "Now as I drive down the street, I look for places where
people might be living," said Armstrong. "You don't have to cure
the whole thing, but you do a little bit in your little corner."
     Gawlik was excited to see children and youth working and
laughing next to 75-year-olds on the food assembly line. "The
best part was seeing people come together -- young and old alike,
pulling together. The energy was there," she said.
     Tina Rasmussen volunteered with her husband Mark to assemble
meals bound for Haiti several evenings per week and most
weekends.
     "It really helped my family realize that we're part of God's
larger family," said Rasmussen. She and her husband helped
coordinate and train volunteers, most of whom served in teams of
8 to 12 based on their small-group ministry groups.
     Volunteers were so eager to haul food bags and move boxes
that sometimes they had to be reminded to ease up, Rasmussen
said. "We told them to slow down, since it was as much about
connecting with one another as it is about getting a job done,"
said Rasmussen.
     "It was an amazing experience to be one body," said the Rev.
Patrick K. Quaid, the congregation's care and missions pastor. "A
couple of God-things happened" as the congregation embraced the
project, he said.  In an interview with the Des Moines Register,
Quaid said that the Lenten exercise "demonstrated for me the
power that, as a church community, we are better together."
     For the Haiti effort the congregation partnered with Max
Holmes, a member and owner of a local car dealership. Holmes
founded a local branch of Kids Against Hunger, a Minnesota-based
effort to package and distribute food internationally to
communities that lack food. He provided a storehouse for supplies
and where assembly could take place seven days a week.
     The food was boxed and transported to Minnesota on pallets,
where it will be loaded into four shipping containers and sent to
Haiti, according to Quaid.
     Locally the congregation partnered with homeless shelters,
the YMCA, YWCA, Meals on Wheels and schools to provide meals to
those in need.
     Nancy Armstrong said the program brought her "more in tune
with Lent." Other members said they became more aware of the need
to address hunger as an ongoing physical and spiritual issue.
       Lutheran Church of Hope also contributes to the ELCA World
Hunger and Disaster Appeal.  Through relief, development,
education and advocacy efforts, ELCA World Hunger helps neighbors
around the world and close to home break the cycle of hunger and
poverty. ELCA International and Domestic Disaster Response has a
well-deserved reputation for "being in it for the long haul,"
bringing help and hope after natural and human-caused disasters.
---
     Information about the Lutheran Church of Hope is at
http://www.hopewdm.org/ on the Web.

     Information about the ELCA World Hunger and Disaster Appeal
is at http://www.ELCA.org/hunger/ on the ELCA Web site.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/news
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