Light the World in Denver with Lutheran Family Services

 

To help light the world with Christ’s love, we feature Lutheran Family Services of Colorado, a local organization that focuses on following the compassionate love of Christ to serve the vulnerable, through services that heal, strengthen, and provide hope. Through JustServe, the LDS Church’s humanitarian outreach in local communities, the LDS Church has worked closely with Lutheran Family Services for many years to assist vulnerable populations in Colorado.

While originally founded back in 1948 to provide adoptive placement for babies, Lutheran Family Services (LFS) now offers birth parent counseling, foster care, aging services, international adoptions, services to refugees, aid following disasters, and parent education. LFS has become one of the largest private foster care providers in Colorado and the largest refugee resettlement agency in the Rocky Mountain region. Every year, LFS responds to the critical social and emotional needs of approximately 30,000 people.

Each holiday season, LFS partners with churches and community groups to meet the needs of clients through several hands-on projects including the Angel Tree Christmas Gift Drive, Caregiver Christmas Bags, Birth Mom Boxes, and Newborn Starter Kits.

  • Angel Tree Christmas Gift Drive: Groups and individuals in the area help LFS provide Christmas gifts for all their clients in the adoption, foster care, older adult and caregivers, and refugee programs.
  • Caregiver Christmas Gift Bags: Each year, LFS hosts a Christmas party for the caregivers in their Older Adults and Caregiver Services program and provides gifts to remind caregivers that LFS appreciates the time and care that they pour into the older adults they serve.
  • Birth Mom Boxes and Newborn Starter Kits: LFS has a couple groups that focus on supporting birth moms in the adoption program; to provide them with self-care packages as they leave the hospital without their baby. LFS also has groups that support the new moms in the adoption program who need help providing some of the basic necessities for a newborn.

This holiday season or beyond, please consider engaging in one of the following service opportunities:

  • Pot and Pan Drive:Pots and pans are always helpful to LFS’ newly-arrived refugees so that they can provide nutritious, home-cooked meals for their families.
  • Bedding Drive: LFS prepares a furnished apartment for each refugee family that arrives, and bedding is always helpful to have on hand. The most helpful sizes are queen/full and twin, as many of the refugee families have children.
  • Gift Card Garden: Needs arise in a variety of ways in all of LFS’ programs and are often unexpected. Having gift cards on hand allows LFS staff to satisfy these needs at a moment’s notice. The most helpful cards are Walmart, Target, King Soopers, Safeway, gas stations, and Walgreens.

As Lutheran Family Services Church Relations and Development Assistant, Katie Scherr, recognizes:

“We are so blessed by all of our partners in the area who have generously and enthusiastically chosen to support our clients during this holiday season. We are thrilled that we can satisfy so many of these individuals’ needs while showing them that they are loved and appreciated by the community. Thank you to all who have supported the mission of Lutheran Family Services by joining us in walking with the vulnerable, through services that heal, strengthen, and provide hope!”

For more information or to get involved, contact Katie at katie.scherr@lfsrm.org. Please help Light the World by serving with Lutheran Family Services of Colorado, which has faithfully served Coloradoans for nearly seventy years. #LighttheWorld

 

 

 

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