Please save your pop tabs. Parkside School Student Council members are collecting these to support the Ronald McDonald Houses of Illinois. Please turn in by April first. Thank you!!❤️

Kay Sampson Raineri

Copied from St. John's Facebook Page

This past Monday, a lady came to St. John’s to pick up 49 quilts for the Shriner’s Hospital. These quilts were all made by hand by one of our members, Elinor Vaughn. She cuts, measurers, pieces and sews all the material to make the quilts. She started back in January and worked till October on her “labor of love.” Each quilt has a children’s theme and a small pillow to accompany it. Recently, on one of our sewing Thursdays, we had a “quilt show” and featured all of the 49 quilts Elinor made. Each one was beautiful. And to the delight of the children at the Shriner’s Hospital in Chicago, each quilt will be cheerfully received. St. John’s is so blessed to have an Elinor who lovingly sews all these quilts.

St. John’s is also blessed to have Daniel, Leah, John, Anna and Christie Ricci. When I asked children in the Sunday school on Sunday morning if anyone could help me carry all these quilts down from the choir room – they all said yes and with smiles. Oh, can’t forget Kathy Ricci who made sure we carried down all the quilts!

St. John’s is blessed to have a lady and her husband (Joyce & Ken Myler) volunteer to come to St. John’s and pick up these quilts and deliver them to the Children’s Hospital.

St. John’s is blessed to have our Eloide who helped load all the quilts. Children helping children, people working together to make better lives for each other.

God Bless all of you, always. Thank you for being a good representative of God.

     Always in Christ,

      Carole Wenzel

On September 28th, members of St. John's participated in God's Work Our Hands day. Members wrote positive notes for the PADS shelter and El Paso, TX school children, tied fleece blankets for the military and helped with the Hall Township Food Pantry distribution. We had planned to help with the Echo Bluff beautification, but the rain prevented that from happening. This is just a few of the pictures from the day.

Why does St. John’s and the Sewing Group save stamps?

About 10 years ago I read an article in Living Lutheran magazine about a project that was on-going at a Lutheran Church in Texas.  The project involved people collecting postage stamps.  Stamps of all kinds, common, commemorative, canceled, famous people, foreign, etc. All stamps were needed.  When enough stamps are collected, they are sold to stamp collectors.  The money/proceeds made from these sales is sent to Lutheran World Relief Headquarters in New York.  ALL proceeds are used to defray the costs of shipping Lutheran World Relief quilts overseas.

So I wrote to the lady who was in charge and asked how St. John’s could be involved.  She sent me the guidelines and how to begin to save the stamps for St. John’s…

Cut off the stamp side of the envelope.  I do not need name or addresses, just the third part of the envelope with the stamp.  I will cut and trim accordingly.  Bring your stamp/envelopes to church.  On the table in the narthex, below the church bulletin board is a wooden box with 3 slotted openings in the top.  The center opening is marked for stamps.  Just drop them off and I will pick them up. (I just mailed a large box to Texas last month.)

So please save your stamps and bring them to church.  Do you know of a friend who works in an office or business where stamps could be saved for our project?  Would you please be so kind to ask for their help?  (Example: Mail arrives at church with stamps on them and Eloide saves the stamps for us.)

Saving the stamps is an important piece of helping Lutheran World Relief get quilts into the hands of those who need them. Each year Lutheran World Relief spends nearly $1.7 million to operate its quilt and kits ministry.  Those funds, combined with the generosity of Lutheran quilters and kit makers throughout the United States, enables Lutheran World Relief to annually distribute more than $12 million worth of quilts and kits around the world.

Fact #1—Since the Stamp Project started in 2009,. Over $9,000 has been raised to help offset the cost of shipping quilts.

Fact #2—Last year, your gifts reached 838,302 people around the world.

Fact #3—It costs $2.25 to ship one quilt.

I hope that I have explained the stamp collection to everyone. But if you have any questions, please call me.  My deepest appreciation to all of you who have been so faithful in bringing in the stamps.  Thank you.

Dear Lord,

We pray that these quilts will serve a useful purpose in the life of the recipient, that they will bring warmth in the cold, shelter from the sun and heat  or a wall of a home.  May these quilts bring a message of care from someone they may never meet.  Amen

God Bless everyone,

In Jesus’ name,

Carole Wenzel