Lafayette Urban Ministry -- Newsletter.November2005

Everyone is invited to...

Lafayette Urban Ministry’s 19th Annual
COMMUNITY THANKSGIVING CELEBRATION

Thanksgiving Day
Thursday, November 24, 2005
Noon – 2:00 p.m.

Central Presbyterian Church
31 N 7th Street, downtown at 7th & South Streets
(near the Tippecanoe County Public Library)
Red Brick Education Building, enter off 7th Street

Bring yourself, a neighbor, a friend, the entire family!

We will be serving the traditional turkey dinner with all the trimmings and hearty helpings of fellowship, fun and music

You don’t have to be a turkey to help out!
Donating cash to defray expenses: send your check to LUM, 525 N 4th St., Lafayette 47901 marked “Thanksgiving” or place a contribution in the free will offering box at the dinner.

Donating food or being a volunteer: call the LUM office at 423-2691 or sign up on-line at www.lafayetteurbanministry.org

Many expressions of thanks
by Mary Anderson, Executive Director

WOW! It’s the end of the year. I know it’s not December 31 yet, but this is the last time you will read the SEED newsletter in 2005. You will hear from and about LUM in other ways during the coming weeks—an end of the year mailing, media coverage of Community Thanksgiving and Jubilee Christmas—but this is the last publication from us until the new year.

So I want to take the time to point out several notable dates on our LUM calendar that are reasons to give thanks, celebrate and remember.

On Thursday, November 24, almost 800 people will gather for LUM’s 19th annual Community Thanksgiving celebration. This event has become a tradition for many people, from all walks of life and circumstances. Empty nesters and singles come for the fellowship; others come because it will be their only meal that day. International students far from home sit beside those with no homes. New residents and locals, seniors and babies, everyone comes to celebrate this special American holiday that is all about thanks, sharing and making new friends.

It all happens because of the competent direction of Joyce Boehm and the hundreds of volunteers who donate time, food and money to the effort. It’s not too late to make a donation—of money, time or food—to this special community event.

December 5 marks our 10th anniversary in this building at 525 N. 4th Street. I was there for the ground breaking and watched the new building take shape. I wasn’t there for moving day, but I’m sure the staff never thought we could fill this new space. Now, ten years later, our shelter is full most nights and...
• our waiting room is full every morning,
• our afterschool program fills the shelter space in the afternoons,
• two vans are parked in our lot to transport those children,
• new phones and new computers make our daily life a little easier, and
• file cabinets and closets are getting close to capacity.

This building is here and serving those in need because of the generosity of 850 individual donors who made a dream possible ten years ago and all the current donors who keep our doors open and our services available.

On December 10, a record number of parents will gather at our 24 church sites for Jubilee Christmas. They will be offered a warm greeting, more than a few cookies, the chance to “shop” for new toys and clothing items for their children and food items to take home with them. The real blessings will come on Christmas morning when mom and dad put those gifts under the tree for their children to open, when the family shares a dinner together, when the parents become the heroes to their children.

For the 26th year, Jubilee will provide a time of welcome, dignity, sharing and the strengthening of families. Patti O’Callaghan will organize the day, our site coordinators and hundreds of volunteers will make it run smoothly, and many people will provide donations to make it a reality. Again, your gifts of toys, clothing and money will brighten the holiday for many.

After that, we will all take a deep breath, clean off our desks, file our 2005 papers and be ready to start the new year. We will give thanks for another year of service to the poor—a record setting year, no doubt, in terms of clients served. You have made it all possible with your gifts of time, talent and treasure and all of us at LUM give thanks for you.

We wish you a bounteous Thanksgiving, a blessed Christmas, and a wonderful New Year.

Jubilee Christmas is right around the corner—donations needed by Dec. 8!

One of LUM’s best loved traditions continues this year with 24 church sites hosting almost 600 families for Jubilee Christmas. Invited parents will be able to select gifts for their children, wrap them and take them home, along with a ham, food certificates and other “goodies” for their family celebration on Christmas day.

This will be a difficult winter for our low-income families. But you can help brighten the season at Christmas and beyond by….

Sending a cash donation that will be used for Jubilee items and for helping families throughout the year
Deliver new, unwrapped toys or clothing items (newborn – age 12) to the LUM office or any participating church site before Thursday, Dec 8, 2005.
Consider a gift to Jubilee Christmas in lieu of your office gift exchange, or to honor that special person in your life who really DOES have everything. Bring the joy and warmth of Christmas into 600 homes by supporting Jubilee this year.

It’s a horse of course!
Afterschool kids treated to a day “at the ranch”
About two dozen children in LUM’s Afterschool Program spent two fun-filled days at Billy Reeves Stables in West Point. With safe and expert guidance, the children got over their nervousness and enjoyed riding the horses. They also learned about saddles and how to lead and groom.
Many thanks to University Church for sponsoring this special field trip, and thanks to Billy Reeves Stables for being such a special Afterschool neighhhhh......bor.

Volunteer tax preparers needed
Working families with incomes below $37,000 come to LUM for assistance in preparing their tax returns and claiming tax credits they have earned.

Last year LUM volunteers were able to help 360 families file returns (electronically) resulting in $400,000 in credits. This was money people needed to help feed, shelter, and clothe their families.

One working mom received $2,400 in Earned Income Tax Credits. She was then able to buy a car, which was important in her job as a home health care aide. Thus, this money helped her continue working.

Another client commented that the previous year a professional tax preparer’s fee was half her refund. With LUM’s help, she was able to keep the entire amount last year, providing four months of bus fare.
Tax preparation is available from January 16 to April 15. Volunteers are asked to make a commitment of one 3-hour session once a week. Evening and afternoon hours are available. No experience is required—free training is provided by the IRS.

Contact Patti O’Callaghan for details, 423-2691 or pocallaghan@lafayetteurbanministry.org.

BACH CHORALE

“Handel’s Messiah (Part 1) & Hallelujah Chorus, with Carols by the Audience”
Saturday, Dec. 17, 2005
Long Center for the Performing Arts
$21 General, $19 Seniors, $10 Students/Children

Buy tickets at LUM and 50% of your purchase will benefit LUM

Tickets are RESERVED, designated seating.

Note: Only tickets purchased AT LUM will benefit LUM.

Remember LUM in your will
What would happen if each of us gave a gift in our will, no matter how large or small, to the Lafayette Urban Ministry?

Your gift could inspire at-risk youth, fight hunger and homelessness, work for social justice, create a brighter future for working families, or strengthen our community’s social safety net. You would leave a lasting legacy to continue the work you so strongly supported during your lifetime.

Please consider including the Lafayette Urban Ministry in your will. Contact your attorney or financial advisor, call Joe Micon at 423-2691, or email Joe at jmicon@lafayetteurbanministry.org.