| | | | AUGUST 2024 Greetings, LVC Insider! Thank you for your continued support to the Lutheran Volunteer Corps! Your gifts and stories bring inspiration, opportunity, and relief to members of your country and community. This newsletter covers our recent board and staff summit led by Craig Maier, provides updates on our Placement Partners and Positions for the 2024-25 season, introduces a new staff member, memorializes a beloved Fellow, and announces some exciting updates… including the launch of our Fellow’s Stipend Impact Fund for Life and Learning! |
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| | FIRST INCREASE IN PARTNERSHIP POSITIONS AND FELLOWS PLACED SINCE 2011 |
| The LVC is proud to announce that we have partnered with 22 Placement Positions for our 2024-25 season! These partnerships represent 14 Fellows placed with Placement Positions, the first increase since our 2011-12 season. While we have always been dedicated to addressing structural and ethical issues within our Placement communities, the number of programs we could serve has fluctuated in recent years, especially surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. Through the grit of our LVC board and staff, the stalwart dedication of our alumni and volunteer network, and the invaluable assistance of supporters like yourself, we are effectively rebounding in size and strength. This season, we will be working within 22 Placement Positions and have received 51 individual applications, proving that the necessity of this work has never been more meaningful or met more enthusiastically. We are eager to introduce you to our 2024-25 class of Volunteers and will provide our LVC insider network with updates regarding their tenures in following editions. Thank you for your commitment, support, and dedication as we work to unite communities to work for peace and justice. |
|  | | | PLACEMENT PARTNERSHIPS AND POSITION UPDATE | |
| Our Current 2025 Placement Partnerships & Positions: Washington, DC: Twin Cities, MN: Positions Waiting for Matches: Please note that some Placement Partners offer more than one Position. |
| | EXCITING INSTITUTIONAL UPDATES |
| | THE PITTSBURGH FOUNDATION AND THE FORBES FUNDS PROVIDE FUNDING TO THE LVC FOR AN EXECUTIVE IN RESIDENCE: Craig Maier recently met with the LVC board and staff to discuss the organization’s future and create a comprehensive strategy for future growth. Craig holds a doctorate in interpersonal, organizational, and ethical communication and is certified by the International Coaching Federation. At this summit meeting, Craig highlighted the LVC’s holistic formation as a faith-guided vocational training program and our identity as a legacy organization with intergenerational impact. We renewed our awareness that the LVC is rooted in the connections we make and retain with our alumni and donor network. Through the careful consideration of our messaging and of our place within the greater nonprofit and spiritual landscape, we are creating a diverse and dynamic plan to create outreach. Thusly, we are moving forward with the intention of keeping our supporters not only at the core of our messaging, but at the cutting edge of the movements of our mission. We look forward to enjoying a more direct collaboration, both virtually and in-person, as we plan for the future of the LVC together. |
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| | MEET OUR NEW CONTENT AND COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST: Sarah Devan Tomko is thrilled to join the LVC as a Content and Communications Specialist. Sarah is an experienced brand manager, who has served as such for international research journals, award-winning digital magazines, nonprofits, and sales companies. She will assist the LVC team with content and copy creation, front and back-end website development, donor relations and outreach assistance, grant writing, and growth strategies. Sarah will update the LVC’s website, implement a social media schedule, and ensure ease of access and immediacy of information for the LVC staff, board, volunteers, and partners. Being a strong proponent of the LVC’s mission to unite people to work for peace with justice, she is eager to give back to God, the wider community, and the wonderful LVC team full-time. Sarah attended the University of Pittsburgh, earning dual majors in Public & Professional Writing and Fiction Writing and a minor in Comparative Religious Studies. In her personal life, Sarah is a Pittsburgh-based consultant and playwright who enjoys gardening, camping, and facilitating free writing courses in her rural hometown. She thanks the LVC board and staff for their trust in her skills and for the opportunity to collaborate. |
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| EXCITING INSTITUTIONAL UPDATES |
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|  | Isaiah 40:31 - "But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not be faint." |
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IN LOVING MEMORY OF OUR FRIEND AND FELLOW, LISA GAYE THOMPSON: Our friend and Second-Year Fellow, Lisa Gaye Thompson of Millvale, New Jersey, passed away last month after a brave and tireless fight against cancer. She was fifty-five years old. Lisa dedicated the last years of her life to helping those less fortunate through active volunteerism with the Christian Appalachian Project in Kentucky and L’Arche through the LVC in Washington, D.C. Earlier this year, she wrote: “I have admiration for LVC's mission to be a community of faith uniting people to work for peace with justice. I would like to meet those goals with LVC. It would give me the opportunity to continue to make my dream to give encouragement and support to others to keep working towards their dreams. People who live in peace with justice can feel safe and thrive in their community.” The following are words of remembrance from Lisa’s friends and colleagues, as well as a photograph of her time as an LVC Fellow. Click this link for the extended memorial. "Lisa Thompson had a heart for service. As a second-year fellow placed at L'Arche DC, Lisa exuded the values and mission of LVC. Her faith was important to her, and she lived out her faith in so many ways. In getting to know her over these two years, she would often worry about others' needs, even above her own. Lisa found her village at L'Arche and LVC and affected people in meaningful and impactful ways. We will miss you and will honor your heart for service. Thank you.” – Shae Agee, National Program Director of the LVC |
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|  | "You have been my friend. That in itself is a tremendous thing." - E. B. White, ‘Charlotte's Web’ |
| | LAUNCH OF THE FELLOWS’ STIPEND IMPACT FUND FOR LIFE AND LEARNING |
| The LVC is proud to announce the launch of our new dedicated fund, The Fellows’ Stipend Impact Fund for Life and Learning! The donations towards this fund will finance the care and comfort of our Fellows during their Fellowship year. Our Fellows work full-time volunteer positions within our Partnered communities, where they are provided with housing, food, healthcare, and incidentals by the LVC. The LVC works to ensure that our Fellows are well cared for and pleased with their provisions at a minimum cost to our network of donors. Through the careful arrangement of our staff and board, you can now fund one Fellow’s journey for one month for only $275. Please consider providing your best gift to the Impact Fund or selecting an option from our pre-set donation amounts listed below: |
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| | The Impact of Your Financial Partnership: - $275 to the Fellows’ Stipend Impact Fund for Life and Learning provides food, healthcare, and incidentals for One Fellow for One Month,
- $550 to the Fellows’ Stipend Impact Fund for Life and Learning provides food, healthcare, and incidentals for One Fellow for Two Months,
- $825 to the Fellows’ Stipend Impact Fund for Life and Learning provides food, healthcare, and incidentals for One Fellow for Three Months,
- $1,100 to the Fellows’ Stipend Impact Fund for Life and Learning provides food, healthcare, and incidentals for One Fellow for Four Months,
- $3,300 to the Fellows’ Stipend Impact Fund for Life and Learning provides food, healthcare, and incidentals for One Fellow for Twelve Months—Their ENTIRE Service Year!
Please consider providing a monetary gift to support our Volunteers! |
| | | | Sept. 1st, 2024: LVC Move-in Day! – Our 2024-25 Fellows will move into their homes and get to know their associate Fellows. Sept. 3rd, 2024: MN Twin Cities Welcome Reception – Join our Fellows and staff for a welcome reception at Mount Olive Lutheran Church, 3045 Chicago Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55407, at 6 p.m. Enjoy an afternoon among like-minded individuals as we celebrate our Fellows' commitment to working for peace and justice in their Placement communities. RSVP here! Sept. 4th-5th, 2024: National Orientation – Fellows, local supporters, board members, alumni, and other community members join to define LVC expectations, engage with the LVC network, and describe spirituality within the context of our mission. Sept. 6th, 2024: Staff Planning Retreat and Dinner – LVC staff will gather to reintroduce with each other to discuss goals for the LVC season. Sept. 9th, 2024: Fellows’ Work Begins – Our 2024-25 Fellows begin their first day on the job! Sept. 29th, 2024: Luther Place Church in DC will hold a welcome worship for our new Fellows at 10:30 a.m., followed by a lunch service at noon. Address is 1236 Vermont Avenue NW, Washington DC, 20005. September (General): Fellows’ Stipend Impact Fund for Life and Learning Campaign – The LVC will begin full-scale efforts to garner excitement and donations for the Fellows’ Stipend Impact Fund, including e-mail, direct mail, social media, and website correspondence. September (General): MN Winona House Meal Train – Help support our FY24/25 Fellows by making a monetary donation or by claiming a spot on the Meal Train and preparing them a meal. This is an excellent way to get to know our exceptional Fellows while giving back to the LVC and the local community. Claim your spot here! September (General): Fellows’ Social Media Campaign – Our Fellows’ will submit photos, videos, and brief interviews discussing what the LVC means to them, as they continue their work. Content will be delivered to the LVC network through Facebook, Instagram, and Threads throughout the 2024-25 season. |
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| ADMISSIONS SEASON LVC has received over 90 interest applications for social justice fellowships, which is more interest than we've had in years! The staff are busy interviewing and assessing commitment levels, and waiting to see how this boosted interest will translate into enrolled participants in the fellowship program. You can sign up HERE as long as you're at least 21 years old and can commit to a year. |
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| | MORE WAYS TO GET INVOLVED... |
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| - Please communicate with us and share your insights, observations, and suggestions to news@lutheranvolunteercorps.org
- Spread the word! Tell your community why you support Lutheran Volunteer Corps by sharing your support on social media.
- JOIN OUR MISSION! We invite you to become an LVC insider! Click here to join our campaign of inclusion to receive News & Updates, announcements, and invitations for in-person and video gatherings!
- To make an even more significant impact: Make a gift to our "Fellow's Stipend Impact Fund for Life and Learning" by reaching out to our Interim Executive Director, Jean Ahwesh at jahwesh@lutheranvolunteercorps.org or by calling her at 724-316-9507.
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| | A FEW OF OUR TREASURED PARTNERS & BENEFACTORS |
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| | | | Lutheran Volunteer Corps
1226 Vermont Avenue NW | Washington, District of Columbia 20005
202-387-3222 | operations@lutheranvolunteercorps.org |
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