Loved + Sent Now!
The Loved+Sent Servant Event has historically been a day when our church body & friends work on diverse service projects all across St. Louis. While it unifies our community in a season of service once a year, we recognize the need across St. Louis for serving all year long. Enter: Loved + Sent Now!
This page contains a list of pre-organized volunteer opportunities. We encourage you to review the opportunities and evaluate what is best for you and your families. We highly encourage families and community groups to take ownership of the needs at a particular mission organization.
There are many other needs around our city that may not be listed on this page. We encourage you to seek out these opportunities to serve, and even invite others to join in!
As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Matthew 10:7
Sharing God’s love is not something we simply do on one day, we do it everyday “as we go”! During this unique and different time we are reminded even more that loving and serving our neighbors happens every day “as we go” and not simply one day a year. Our lives are a continual season of service.
For any questions or guidance you may have please contact the LSSE committee via lsse@cmstl.org.
Service Opportunities
NEW Volunteer Opportunities
Friend of Families Service Opportunity via CFNA
CFNA is working with local Lutheran congregations through a partnership with the International Institute of St. Louis to form Support Groups of 5-10 people who will be trained and paired with a new refugee family, starting with Afghan families, to help families navigate their new life in America. All Support Group Members must be at least 18 years old and commit to supporting families for 3 or 6 months. Each Group Member will also complete an application and background check as well as training. Each Support Group will have a designated Support Group Representative who will be the point person for the International Institute and CFNA.
Please contact Kristi Eberley if you have any additional questions or concerns. Contact information: kristi.eberley@cmstl.org or 314-607-8569
CFNA also has a list of “much needed items” for their Friend of Families program. There are a variety of items and a variety of drop-off locations. Get the full list HERE.
Sleep in Heavenly Peace
Paul Pagano is involved with an organization called “Sleep in Heavenly Peace.” They get together to make and deliver beds for children so no one has to sleep on the floor. Tasks could include cutting, sanding, assembly, or delivery. The next event will be on Feb 26th. Contact Paul for more information.Paul.pagano@raboag.com
St. Trinity Food Pantry
Will Kolnik volunteers Saturday mornings at St Trinity’s food pantry. They are open every Saturday but would welcome help sorting canned goods on any one Saturday. Contact Will for information. kw.kolnik@att.net
Lutheran Resale Shop
We are in great need of volunteers for weekly or monthly help, including hanging clothing, folding linens, pricing new donations, sales, etc. Some jobs can easily be sit down jobs. Please call Monday through Saturday, 10 am to 3 pm and let us know when you can help. 314-389-9970. We are at 6701 W. Florissant.
Ongoing Volunteer Opportunities
African Ministry Mission
Our church has two interns who have started an African Youth Ministry. Charles Nshimiyimana and Mike Shakuru are leading a Bible Study and recreation time Sunday evenings at Messiah Lutheran Church on South Grand for African youth settling here in St. Louis. We need volunteers to:
- Transport youth to Messiah and then back home at the end of the evening, getting to know some of them a little during this time. Time commitment is approximately 4:15pm – 7:15pm.
- Make a meal (approximately 24 – 30 people, including volunteers), help serve while mingling with the youth, and clean up afterwards. Time commitment is 4:45 to 6:00pm.
Contact: Ken Bickel 314-348-3782, Gail Bickel 314-348-3781 or Becca Misuraca 314-971-4838
Laclede Groves Retirement Home (Sunday morning church service):
Laclede Groves is one of the Lutheran Senior Services communities in St. Louis. Laclede Groves offers independent living, short-term care, residential care, memory care, and skilled nursing care. For volunteers this is an every Sunday morning opportunity. Worship begins at 10:30 am but the process of moving people starts at around 10 am. This is for Care Center residents only, so everyone that needs to be moved is “under our roof” so to speak. The need for transport is for both before and after worship. Worship usually runs from 10:30 to 11:15. A little longer on Communion Sundays (3rd Sun of month).
Volunteers are required to wear face masks and they need to go through our volunteer process which includes a background check.
Contact:
Marilyn Coplin | Director of Recreation and Volunteers
Laclede Groves | 723 S. Laclede Station Rd. | St. Louis, MO 63119
Marilyn.Coplin@LSSLiving.org
Crave Coffee House
Multiple Volunteer Opportunities:
- Reliant Church – Meals for college student community group – We will now be meeting on Sundays at 6:00pm instead of Wednesdays. If you are interested in providing a meal for the student community again or for the first time, the link to a sign-up sheet is below. If the link is giving you trouble, just respond with the date you would like to sign up for please reach out to Amelia Oesch @ amelia.oesch@cmstl.org or sign up here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Y_iDdpthq92g0Zn7YiBY_2pmfeCO-xmM40g36L2x2Vk/edit?usp=sharing
- Crave Coffee House Playspace monitoring -We have opened a new kids play space Reliant! It is currently open on Monday and Thursday mornings from 9am-11am for community members to use. We need volunteers to connect with people, make sure the space is cared for appropriately, and things are set up and cleaned. This is a 2.5-hour time slot on Monday and Thursday mornings (8:45-11:15). If interested, contact Melissa Harkins @ melissa.harkins@cmstl.org or 314-775-9225.
Children’s Home & Aid
Children’s Home & Aid is a leading child and family service agency in Illinois. We help children recover their health, their hope, and their faith in the people around them.
Purchase small child suitcases, backpacks etc. that are bundled with a special stuffed animal, maybe a special book, small blanket, personal care items, new clothing, socks, underwear etc. along with a hand written special message of Love and Encouragement to give to each child that was going into a Foster Care home so they could call these belongings their own and take them with them to their new Foster Home.
The packed backpacks/suitcases are delivered to the Granite City , IL office. There are other offices in Belleville and Alton.
Contact: Beth Hunter – 618-452-8900 ext. 136
Ehunter@childrenshomeandaid.org
**Groups will need to contact her before they do this because they only have room at the offices to store a limited amount of backpacks and suitcases.
Food Outreach – Nutrition Center
Food Outreach serves clients who are living with HIV/AIDS or cancer. Volunteers will cook & pack meals to be frozen for future distribution. There are numerous other needs throughout the weeks, including box packing, kitchen help, and box distribution. If you are interested in any of the opportunities, please contact Food Outreach directly, as spots fill quickly.
Contact:
Alyssa Hilderbrand
Donor and Volunteer Stewardship Manager
alyssa@foodoutreach.org
314-652-3663 ext. 1121
Gravois Park Community Garden
The Gravois Park neighborhood has a community vegetable and butterfly garden. Produce grown benefits the community and excess is donated to food pantries. Volunteers will assist in building compost bins out of concrete blocks, as well as other fall garden maintenance. More details will be shared as the event gets closer. This is an in-person, outdoor site, so dress for outdoor weather.
Contact:
Nancy Avena
navena@prodigy.net
Laclede Groves Retirement Home (Yard Work)
Laclede Groves is one of the Lutheran Senior Services communities in St. Louis. Laclede Groves offers independent living, short-term care, residential care, memory care, and skilled nursing care. Volunteers will be raking, trimming, and completing any other requested yard work around the outdoor grounds. This is an in-person, outdoor site, so dress for outdoor weather.
Volunteer Max: 10-15 people per day
Contact:
Marilyn Coplin | Director of Recreation and Volunteers
Laclede Groves | 723 S. Laclede Station Rd. | St. Louis, MO 63119
Marilyn.Coplin@LSSLiving.org
Our Little Haven
Our Little Haven serves the youngest victims of abuse, neglect, and mental or behavioral needs through programs designed to offer and facilitate early intervention. For this project, volunteers will do outdoor work around the grounds. This is an in-person, outdoor site, so dress for outdoor weather.
Contact:
Scott Hummel, MSW, PhD (Hon)
Executive Director | Our Little Haven
4316 Lindell Blvd St. Louis, MO 63108
P: (314) 533-2229 x224
Scotthummel@ourlittlehaven.org
Lydia’s House
Lydia’s House provides transitional housing for abused women and their children while working in faith to end domestic violence. Some of the mission projects volunteers have done in the past was fall outdoor gardening/maintenance.
Contact:
Janel Uelk
Volunteer Coordinator
juelk@lydiashouse.org – (Best way to contact)
314-771-4411
Lunch boxes for Mercy South ICU
Box lunches are prepared and delivered to Mercy South ICU. The box lunches can be purchased through Firehouse Subs, etc. Included with the box lunches are bottled water. The number of box lunches vary for each drop off. Reach out to Mercy South to set up a date to deliver and how many lunches will be needed.
Contact: Julie Sapa: Julie.Sapa@mercy.net
Arnold Food Pantry (Sorting Food and Stocking Shelves)
Arnold Food Pantry offers emergency and temporary assistance to residents needing help with food and personal items. The pantry is staffed by volunteers from within the community. Canned goods will be purchased with Thrivent Action Team dollars and delivered to Arnold Food Pantry. The pantry is encouraging businesses, organizations, churches and individuals to consider donating food and grocery items. A list of preferred items is below:
- Chili – Canned Fruit – Jello
- Cookies – Canned Vegetables
- Soups – Big Can Pasta Sauces – Pop Tarts
- Laundry Detergent
- Macaroni & Cheese – Ramen Noodles
- Hamburger Helper
Donations can be delivered anytime after 8:00 am and before 12:00 pm, and before 10:00 am on weekends.
Volunteer Max: 6 people
Contact: Please call (636) 287-3663 with any questions.
Bethlehem Lutheran Church / Arch School
Bethlehem Lutheran is one of Christ Memorial’s sister churches, located in North St. Louis county. For this project, volunteers will assist with landscaping, trimming, weed removal, and other outdoor activities., This is an in-person, outdoor site, so dress for outdoor weather.
Contact:
Pastor John Schmidtke – best way to contact is email and cell
Cell (314) 267-9711
Email: stjrs3@aol.com
Pastor Gerard Bolling
Cell: (347) 257-7599
Humanitri
Humanitri is a not-for-profit organization that provides services in the Lutheran tradition. We work to bring TRANSFORMATION to the families we serve through housing, moderately intensive case management and skill development. We believe that every individual created and loved by God deserves to be treated with dignity and given the opportunity for a new start. We are committed to helping our families get the best new start possible.
Humanitri relies on a team of skilled volunteers to help us accomplish our mission. The Staff at Humanitri can match your desire to serve with opportunities that will impact our families.
Contact:
Lorri Holtgrieve
l.holtgrieve@humanitri.org
314-772-7720
ThriVe Pregnancy Resource Center
ThriVe provides pregnancy-related healthcare to women in St. Louis county. They are currently in need of Transition/step-up car seats, pack n plays with and without bassinets, and size 5 & 6 diapers.
- For volunteers looking to work on the Advancement side:
– Levi Hart, lhart@thrivestlouis.org. 314-783-3040. x221
- For volunteers looking to work on the Patient Services side:
– Carolyn Kuntz, ckuntz@thrivestlouis.org. 314-783-3040 x294
- For inquiries about what items are needed to donate:
– Hollie Edwards. 314-783-0479
Or Contact:
ThriVe® St. Louis
4331 Lindell Blvd.
St. Louis, MO 63108
T. 314.783.3040 x228
F. 314.783.0483
www.thrivestlouis.org
Operation Food Search
Volunteers will be partnering with OFS to create family meal kits for families in crisis. OFS is an organization that distributes over $3 million worth of food to local community partners. Volunteers/families can purchase items on the list and fill a paper grocery or cloth bag with the nonperishable items that would make a predetermined meal. Please be sure to label the meal on the outside of the bag.
Additional Details:
• Please do not include any glass items in the meal kits
Contact:
Manager – Matt Kasate, Volunteer & Food Drive Manager.
(314) 451-2472
Matt.Kasate@OperationsFoodSearch.org
St. John’s Lutheran Church (Morganford)/St. Trinity Lutheran Church – Canned Food Drive
St. John’s Lutheran Church on Morganford’s mission theme is “Saved to Share, Called to Care.” One of the ways the congregation lives this out is through its food pantry. You will be collecting food to stock the shelves at the food pantry!
Additional Details:
• All canned food items are welcome! A list of suggestions:
•Toilet Paper
• Canned Vegetables and/or Canned Fruit
• Boxed Meals (i.e. Hamburger Helper)
• Canned Meats
• Spaghetti and Canned Tomato Sauce
• Peanut Butter and Jelly
• Tuna
• Stews and/or Chili
• Cereal: boxes or packets (Oats or Cream of Wheat)
• Pancake Mix & Syrup
Contact: Marilyn Ferkel at mferkel@swbell.net
Blanket Brigade
Instructions are provided for purchasing and making blankets at home. You may organize your own group to meet or do this individually.
The blankets are then laundered with fragrance free detergent, wrap blankets and delivered to Cardinal Glennon Hospital.
Contact:
Ryan Jennings | Community Outreach Coordinator
SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Foundation
Office: 314-678-6622
Cell: 314-882-0105
Ryan.Jennings@ssmhealth.com
Drop them off at the Foundation office which is 3800 Park Ave. 63110. Call office for drop off times – it was different last year with COVID. Had to schedule a drop of time.
Instructions: Wash in hypoallergenic laundry detergent. No pets in homes where blankets are stored. After washing wrap in saran wrap or put in 2 gallon zip lock bag. I labeled with the size of blanket
Card Making for Nursing Homes
Volunteers can make cards of all colors, shapes and sizes, to be delivered to Laclede Groves Nursing Home, Community Care Center Nursing Home, and our CM/Reliant shut-in members.
- If you would like to make a card for a specific shut-in member, please contact the church office for a list of names
Newborn Baby Welcome Baskets
Creating baskets or bags full of resources and supplies for families with a newborn! These include items regularly needed, like wipes or diapers, but also faith resources like kids books, family devotions, and a letter of encouragement. Some families can even include a gift card for parents. They are packaged, and then given around 20 baskets to the Christ Memorial Child Care Center, to current members expecting and donating them to a local nonprofit of your choice.
Baby Baskets items:
• Baby supplies (diapers, wipes, pacifiers, etc)
• Family devotions
• Children’s Books (preferably books about Jesus or faith)
• Gift Cards
• Letters of Encouragement
POC: Lisa Waltenberger (lisawaltenberger2014@gmail.com)
Letters of Support
Create homemade greeting cards and distribute to those needing encouragement (elderly, active military, first responders, veterans, etc.)
Sew, Knit, and Crochet Opportunities
These sites encourage sewing and kit/crochet creations for various causes. Can be distributed to several local community agencies.
- Soap Sacks (washcloth sacks with soap inserted): https://www.soapsacks.com/
- Click for Babies Crying Caps (Prevent Shaken Baby Syndrome) https://www.clickforbabies.org/index.php
- Creative Kindness Chemo Hat https://www.nancysnotions.com/free-patterns/creative-kindness-hat.html
- Hat Not Hate (Anti – Bullying Project) https://hatnothate.org/index.php/donate-a-hat/
- Red Scarf Project (Foster Care to Success – College Fund for Foster Youth) https://www.fc2success.org/programsmentoring-and-support/red-scarf-project/
Other Opportunities
- Bookshare (Scanning or editing books for people with reading disabilities) https://www.bookshare.org/cms/get-involved/volunteer/opportunities-us
- Free Minds Poetry Feedback for Incarcerated Youth https://freemindsbookclub.org/get-involved/give-poetry-feedback
- Smithsonian Digital Volunteers: https://transcription.si.edu/ Click on “learn how to transcribe” for general instructions and then pick a project to help
- World War I Burial Card Transcription (historical preservation) https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/welldone/american-wwi-burial-cards