West Bend, WI — At the beginning of 2021, Our Savior’s Lutheran Church kicked off a
year of fundraisers and drives to celebrate its own blessings by sharing with others.
Month-long campaigns called “Community Connections” have helped support 10
different nonprofit organizations in West Bend and the greater Milwaukee area over
the course of the year.
“Members of the Our Savior’s family have an incredibly strong history of providing
support to those in need,” said Arline Rasmussen, Council President at Our Savior’s.
“In recognizing the care and protection God bestows on us, we decided to reach out
in the community to help others in need. The congregation has always had a
special gift for ‘rising to the occasion’ in this way, and it did not disappoint in the
response to each of the drives held throughout 2021.”
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The organizations with which Our Savior’s partnered for the 2021 Community
Connections drives included:
Full Shelf Food Pantry – Combined with the church’s Drive-Through Ashes event in
observance of Ash Wednesday, parishioners donated cereal. Dozens of boxes were
collected, and members enjoyed coffee.
Friends Inc. – Personal items, such as lip balm, journals, fuzzy socks, hand sanitizer,
and more were collected as comfort gifts for people seeking empowerment from
situations of domestic or sexual abuse.
Building Hope in Haiti – This locally-based organization that benefits people struggling in Haiti opted to hold a “new and gently-used” shoe collection called Kicks for Kids to raise monies. Our Savior’s helped promote and collect shoes on their behalf. The drive collected
approximately 2,500 pairs of shoes, for which BHH received funding for its work.
Albrecht Free Clinic – Our Savior’s members donated personal care items such as
soap, shampoo, toothpaste and more to support patients receiving care from the
clinic; in addition, quarters were collected to purchase other needed items.
The Family Center – With families and children as their focus, this organization goes
through lots of snacks for kids participating in the Center’s activities. Congregation
members gave individually-packaged snacks and juice to be shared with the children.
West Bend Fire Department + Beechwood Fire Department – Coinciding with Our
Savior’s annual Rally Day celebration and Fire Prevention Week, the church donated
more than 50 smoke alarms to be installed in homes throughout both communities,
along with several cooling chairs for firefighter rehab on fire scenes.
As part of the day’s celebration, a fire rig was brought onsite to the church, where parishioners participated in “hands-on” firefighting with a functioning fire hose, visited Sparky the fire dog, played games, and enjoyed a picnic lunch.
Casa Guadalupe – In support of the organization’s Read to Succeed program,
congregants sponsored book bundles selected from students’ wish lists. Dozens of
books were donated to encourage a love of reading cultivated by the program, which,
in turn, has a proven track record of greater success later in life for the students.
Hephatha Lutheran Church (Milwaukee) – Hephatha’s Strong Baby Sanctuary
program instructs and supports new and young mothers caring for their babies.
Through the donation of much-needed items like diapers, bottles, baby wipes and
more, members at Our Savior’s help to support the health and wellness of newborns.
Our Saviors’ donations to this program are ongoing.
Gingerbread House Project – Sponsored by the Youth and Family Project, gift-buying
for this project is currently getting underway at Our Savior’s. The congregation
provides gifts for families to brighten their Christmas celebrations.
“Through these campaigns,” Rasmussen said, “members at Our Savior’s have also
benefited by learning more about the valuable resources each of these nonprofits
provides to our community.” Drives were typically launched with a brief presentation
by a representative from the organization or a video highlighting their services. These
videos may be viewed on the ‘Our Savior’s Lutheran Church – West Bend’ YouTube
channel.
In addition to the fundraising, the almost-monthly Community Connections initiatives
have provided Our Savior’s Lutheran Church a means to 1) share its ancient faith
practice with the community, 2) serve the community, and 3) provide hospitality to
the community in a creative, safe, and engaging way throughout the year.
Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, which has been a fixture of faith in West Bend for over
50 years, welcomes everyone—regardless of their faith tradition, or no tradition—to
participate in its drives, activities, studies and worship.
About Our Savior’s Lutheran Church – West Bend
Our Savior’s is a diverse faith community of people always learning what it means to
live a life of discipleship. We are Christian, practicing the worship traditions and
teachings of the Lutheran (ELCA) tradition. We live across the street, around the
corner, in the West Bend area, and in the nearby countryside. We work in schools,
factories, offices, fields and hospitals. We are laborers, students, retired and
unemployed. We range in age from the newly born to seniors. We come from
backgrounds of Catholic and Protestant, while some are discovering church for the
first time. We come together with our joys and sorrows, with our faith and our
doubts. When we worship together, sing together, study scripture together, enjoy
fellowship together, we love and support one another to become one body in Christ.
No matter who you are, no matter where you are on life’s journey…YOU ARE
WELCOME HERE! OSLC worships in person, online, and by parking lot radio service at
8:15 a.m. (traditional) and 10:15 a.m. (contemporary) each Sunday.
