YOU are invited to join with other Disciples across the area as we LAUNCH INTO LENT!  Each Sunday throughout Lent we will be collecting donations to help support the needs of refugee families in the Cleveland area. As we engage in the Lenten season rhythms of humility, introspection, and prayer, please consider setting aside a specific time each week to:

• purchase or gather supplies needed
• pray a pray of blessing over them
• bring them with you to Sunday worship

This will give each of us seven weeks of worship – seven weeks of intentionality – seven weeks of tangible outreach – seven weeks of blessing our refugee and immigrant siblings. And then…join us for a celebration on Saturday, April 22 10a-Noon as all of our area churches join together at Disciples Christian Church for a time of celebrating and connecting (and of course eating!!) with other Disciples as we sort all of the items collected.

These items should be new or gently used. Our focus is on dignity. All of these items are needed, the bolded ones are the most urgent needs which we are almost entirely out of.

• Kitchen: can openers, spatulas, wooden spoons, measuring cups, sieves, graters, cutting boards, mixing bowls (metal or glass), flatware trays, complete sets of flatware, steak knives, cutting knives, glasses, cups, strainers, serving bowls, platters, kitchen towels, oven mitts, large frying pans, stock pots with lids, sauce pans, large oven-safe baking dishes
• Bedroom: blankets, comforters, sheet sets and mattress pads (full and twin), pillows, throws
• Bathroom: heavy shower liners, shower rings, bath mats, washcloths
• Cleaning: hand soap, brooms, dustpans, mops, buckets, floor cleaner, toilet bowl cleaner, toilet brushes, dish soap, thirteen gallon kitchen trash cans with lids, small bathroom trash cans, Vacuums
• Laundry: baskets, detergent, hangers, clotheslines, clothespins
• Household Items: Lamps: floor and table (working order), lightbulbs; Rugs: the bigger the better, Bags: Reusable grocery bags large and small, Rolling “granny cart” for groceries
• Appliances: tea kettle (stovetop and electric), microwave ovens, coffee pots (stovetop and electric), toasters, pressure cookers, rice cookers (in working order)
• Paper products: towels, tissues, and toilet paper
• Toiletries: shampoo, conditioner, shaving cream, razors, body wash, lotion, dental floss, toothpaste, band aids, Q-tips, nail clippers, nail files, hairbrushes, combs, feminine products,
• Baby: baby and children’s shampoo, baby lotion, Pack-n-Play cribs and sheets, standard cribs, crib mattress, crib sheets
• Children: books that teach the alphabet and early math skills, soccer balls, baby dolls with all skin colors, backpacks with school supplies (rulers, scissors, calculators, paper, folders, tape)
• Electronics: televisions, laptops, sewing machines (working order)
• Visa Gift Cards for Groceries ($25 or more) – Marc’s, Walmart, Save-A-Lot.

Within our walls …

We regularly collect egg cartons to be given to the farmers at the local  North Union Farmer’s Market as a way of supporting local food and recycling. We invite everyone to join us by dropping off your cartons at church. Now we are collecting yarn and unused Christmas cards as well, to be used with prison inmates through Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry.

We gather new winter gear items for distribution on a Wall of Love at Lomond Elementary School. This provides warm hats, mittens, gloves, and scarves to children who need them – meaning they will be able to go outside for recess safely.

We buy and donate items for Wish Lists (household supplies and Holiday Gifts) for Family Promise of Greater Cleveland, an organization that provides families facing the crisis of homelessness with a safe place designed to engage, inspire, and guide them toward a future where they feel empowered to control the course of their lives.