| | | | | | | | FEBRUARY 2024 Greetings, LVC Insider! Thank you for partnering with the LVC for another year of working for justice and peace in our communities! As with each year, 2025 will create unique challenges and opportunities for our program, Fellows, and Placement Partners. However, our clarity and confidence in our mission, matched only by your steadfast dedication to ensuring social justice is not a "fad" in our shared culture, will carry us forward with newfound intensity and hope. The world is watching and we are grateful for the audience. We thank you for your continued commitment to creating equitable communities and standing with those most-at-risk in our society. | | | | | | LVC DONATION SUBSTANTIATION FOR 2024 | | To our supporters who donated to the LVC's unrestricted fund or "The Fellows' Stipend Impact Fund for Life and Learning" in 2024, thank you for your partnership. By this time, you should have received a digital version of your 2024 Substantiation Package, including your "Thank You" letter, an infographic regarding our success in 2024 (see below!), and your donation receipt. Hard copy editions are already in the mail! If you believe you did not receive a digital package and should have, please do not hesitate to contact Sarah Devan Tomko at stomko@lutheranvolunteercorps.org. As we focus on our 2025 season, we want to acknowledge your impact on our program. Six months after the launch of "The Fellows' Stipend Impact Fund for Life and Learning," we have received 38% percent of our goal of $45,000! While our goal is still a ways away, we are grateful for your donations and optimistic that we will reach our goal by the end of FY2024/2025. | | | | | |  | | | FY 2024/2025 FELLOW SPOTLIGHT | | | SOPHIE SPERBER: Sophie (she/her/hers) graduated from the University of Southern California with degrees in journalism and political science. She previously participated in the JusticeCorps program, where she helped self-represented litigants access legal information. As a student journalist, she covered areas in politics such as the CD6 Special Election and the mayoral debate, as well as campus issues like the fraternity row sexual assault protests and the lack of mental health resources. A political science student at heart, she has also had the opportunity to work on the simulation featured in the movie War Game, where legislators simulated a future-set escalated January 6th threat. Sophia serves as a Development and Operations Associate for The Government Accountability Project. | | | | | | | | | | COLLEEN ROSSHIRT, MINNESOTA COUNCIL OF CHURCHES, FY04/05 Following my undergraduate graduation, I joined the Lutheran Volunteer Corps (LVC) in St. Paul, Minnesota, where I lived with five women who embodied LVC’s values of simplicity, spirituality, and service. That transformative year solidified my commitment to service-oriented work and shaped my professional path. After LVC, I returned to Ohio, my home state, and continued resettling refugees. This deeply impactful work inspired me to attend law school, fulfilling a dream I’d held since childhood. As a first-generation college graduate, entering law school was exhilarating but also opened my eyes to the complexities of justice and human suffering. With a law degree in hand, I worked in courts to resolve disputes through mediation. My natural inclination toward improving systems led me to enhance court efficiency, streamlining scheduling and communication processes. This work eventually took me to the Ohio Supreme Court, where I launched the court’s first technology grant program, enabling the widespread adoption of innovative tools to improve the administration of justice. In 2023, I transitioned to consulting and coaching, focusing on helping organizations communicate and innovate effectively. Currently, I work with SkillBuilder.io, a Carnegie Mellon University startup, supporting non-profits and government agencies in leveraging AI to achieve their missions. As a Customer Success lead, I help clients embrace AI’s potential to enhance accessibility and impact. If you’re curious about AI or how technology can advance your work, feel free to reach out to colleen@skillbuilder.io. | | | | | | | | LVC "HERITAGE COLLECTION" 25TH ANNIVERSARY COOKBOOKS ON SALE NOW | | | | Pull your Blackberry out of the attic and start plucking your eyebrows! It's the year 2000 at the LVC and we are SO HAPPY that Y2K didn't crash our website! Well... okay. Maybe we're feeling nostalgic, but we are re-releasing our FY2000/2001 cookbooks in a limited quantity as part of the "LVC Heritage Collection"! You can now own a piece of LVC history, regardless of the service year you participated in the program, and learn recipes passed down through the LVC for a quarter century! (We're sorry to be the one to tell you this, but an object officially becomes "vintage" after 20 years. I know. We're crushed, too.) Cookbooks are original printings and cost $30, shipping included. If you want to purchase a copy, contact our Operations Manager, Theresa Chesney, at operations@lutheranvolunteercorps.org. | |  | | | FELLOWS' WISHLIST / LVC MEAL TRAIN 2025 | | The holiday season may be over, but our Fellows still need your generosity! We are collecting donations of hygiene products. We are requesting specifically "Platex Super", "Platex Super Plus", "Always Long with Wings", and "Always Overnight with Wings". For those more inclined to provide physical gifts, please check our full Wishlist for preferred brands and contact our National Program Director, Shae Agee, for more information on delivering these donations. | |  | | | | | | | MORE WAYS TO GET INVOLVED... | | | | - 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.
| | | | | | | | A FEW OF OUR TREASURED PARTNERS & BENEFACTORS | | | | | | | | | | Lutheran Volunteer Corps
1226 Vermont Avenue NW | Washington, District of Columbia 20005
202-387-3222 | operations@lutheranvolunteercorps.org | | | | | | | | | | | |
