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SEPTEMBER 2021

Welcome to LVC's e-NEWS, part of our new community engagement platform! We're responding to the request for more regular and quick-read updates, and look forward to your feedback.

 

FREE Alumni Planned Giving Event

LVC is offering its first virtual national event for alumni on November 3, 2021 at 6:00pm (eastern time) to share ways you can sustain LVC through financial gifts, as part of your estate planning.  A planned gift can help you make a more significant gift than you ever thought possible to LVC -- your charity of choice -- while at the same time advancing your financial and estate planning goals. Explore wills, trusts, estates, donor advised funds, endowments, gifts of real estate or cash, and more at this informative workshop led by Yvonne Lembo, LVC's regional gift planner from the ELCA Foundation.  REGISTER HERE

Donors: Join the LVC National Development Committee

LVC's campaign to raise $250,000 this year has a good start with an $80,000 seed gift blessing from a supporter's estate, demonstrating how donors give now and as part of their life legacy.  LVC is forming a national fundraising committee of donors from all giving levels, to help raise funds in program and other cities by hosting events, sending out emails to friends and colleagues, making calls to alumni, or any other way committee members want to boost the effort.  Not a donor yet but want to be on the NDC?  You can become a donor by DONATING HERE.  NDC members will be asked to attend the Planned Giving Workshop mentioned above to kick off the committee's work this year.  JOIN THE NDC HERE and select the "national support" tab, and "National Development Committee."

Alumni: Presenters Needed for Program Days

For our second year of Program Days, we need alumni presenters, commentators, panelists, and folks who can share their experience for the following fall 2021 topics:  October/domestic violence (preferably within marginalized communities); November/voting rights & suppression; December/self care, resilience, and mental health check-in.  Email program director Shae Agee if you can join one of these conversations. 

LVC Reunions

LVC alumni from the 90's are active! Check out the Dag House alumni '90/'91 reunion below, and Stephanie Oyen's ('92) support of Wellstone House.  Want to host a Zoom or in-person reunion for your LVC house, and consider making a house donation to LVC? Let us know, and we can post your reunion date on our website, in e-news, and notify your classmates, as long as we have their contact info.  Email your request and details to president Deirdre Bagley.  

 
 

COMMUNITY

 

VOLUNTEERS Introducing 2021-22 Volunteers! 

Thirty-three LVC Volunteers moved into their houses in our five cities the weekend of August 14; joined together for national virtual orientation the week of August 16; and started at their Placements on August 23 -- for our third cohort during COVID-19, for LVC's 42nd year of operation!  Schedule a time to drop by to welcome them if you live in an LVC city; or alternatively, if you volunteered in their city or lived in their house, drop in by Zoom!

VOLUNTEER ACTIVISM-ALUMNI SUPPORT Twin Cities, MN

LVC Volunteers engage their local communities beyond their Placements, based on interests and invitations.  Barely a month into LVC service, Twin Cities Volunteers from Wellstone House meet MN Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (second from left), at the invitation of fundraiser hosts -- alumni couple Katie '04 and Jeremy '01 Schroeder.  An example of the many ways alumni boost the volunteer experience.

LVC HOUSING Name the New LVC House in DC!

LVC shared Junia House in Washington, DC for two years with Loretto Volunteers; and now two Presbytery Young Adult Volunteers are sharing with five LVCers in the completely renovated new house at left (DC). This new house replaces Junia; has space for seven Volunteers, two more than Junia; and will allow placing more Volunteers in DC, which has become the most requested city by applicants.  What will this new house be called, in these days of heightened attention to social justice, equity, and liberation?  Cast your vote for your name suggestion using the link below!

 
 

ALUMNI Gratitude from Dag House '91 Reunion

Photo at left from the top: LVC Dag House alumni 1990-91 including Ed Knighton, David Smith, Alison Becker, Kathryn Schifferdecker, Sharon Powell, Melissa Brundage, and Pam Fickenscher.

LVC's "Dag House" in Washington, DC is named after Dag Hammarskjöld, Secretary General of the United Nations from 1953 until his death in 1961.  His most notable achievements while serving as the world’s top international civil servant include restructuring of the UN to make it more effective, and creating the basis for UN peacekeeping operations.

As for LVC's alumni from '91, they celebrated their Dag House reunion: "We were hiking at Judge C.R. Magney State Park in northern MN, and stayed in a cabin, enjoying intentional community again.  The whole weekend was a wonderful time to re-connect and catch up on each other's lives. We come from very different backgrounds and geographies, but we continue to share a common commitment to service and intentional community. We are grateful to LVC for bringing us together."  

ALUMNI EVENT IN OCTOBER Wellstone Clean-up Day (MN)

Come join the five Wellstone Volunteers and landlord-alum Stephanie Oyen '91-92 (picture at left) for a Fall yard clean-up gathering! On Sunday, October 17th from 1 to 3pm, connect with Volunteers while organizing the Wellstone yard and garage for the winter. Please bring your own yard gloves, rakes, shovels, etc., and any extra items to ensure we have enough tools for cleanup. We encourage you to come with a drink, snack, or favorite dish to share, and no RSVP is required. For any questions, please contact Twin Cities program manager, Rachel Kennedy. 

LOCAL SUPPORT Our Saviour's Lutheran Church (MN)

All nine Twin Cities, MN Volunteers, photo at left. Our Saviour's photos below.

Local support is a HUGE part of the LVC experience. For over 150 years, Our Saviour's has been intentionally connecting the depth of Christian faith to the joys and challenges of contemporary life. Worship and Welcome are at the heart of their ministry. As the LVC Winona Support Congregation, Our Saviour's Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, MN, hosted a neighborhood dinner and welcoming to the Volunteer community in August as a part of orientation week. Volunteers, along with some mentors, church members, and alumni were present, with broad and strong support for the service year.

 

WORD ON THE STREET

RESOURCE LIST  Have an alumni business you'd like to share with the LVC community?  We can add it to the soon-to-be-unveiled resource list on our web site, and will include a link to the resource page with each issue of this e-newsletter.  Send the link to your resource item and your contact info to Deirdre Bagley.  

ACT NOW! Host LVC Gathering in Your City for Fall '21 or Spring '22   Help LVC launch nationwide "Take a Hike for LVC" in spring 2022 by hosting a local hike to raise funds; or host a get-together in fall 2021 to bring LVC alumni and supporters together face-to-face, or virtually. Contact program director Shae Agee to get the ball rolling. 

 
 

Lutheran Volunteer Corps
1226 Vermont Avenue NW  | Washington, District of Columbia 20005
202-387-3222 | operations@lutheranvolunteercorps.org

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