2007 Holly Nativity Christmas Card
Report and Updates
Card Funds 2008 Adult Literacy / GED Teacher
Bayou Grace Community Services
With its Holly Nativity Christmas Card, St. John's generated $4,330 in 2007 with the sale of close to 7,000 cards for $3,830 and an additional $500 in gifts. In the December 20, 2007 issue of The Courier of Houma, Louisiana, Bayou Grace announced that funds generated by the sale of this card would help to fund a GED teacher for 2008. With clear attainable goals set for themselves, education is key to people helping themselves with their many environmental and community problems.
In addition to purchases by members of St. John's, orders came from all over the country by phone and online through www.katrinaChristmasCard.org. The card was promoted on the websites of Lutheran Church Charities, Lutheran Education Association and Bayou Grace Community Services. St. John's church secretary enjoyed several heartwarming conversations on the phone from people across the country, delighted with the card's fundraising for people of the Gulf Coast.
Another $990 was generated for Bayou Grace with card sales by St. John's Lutheran Church, Wheaton, Illinois and St. Andrew's Lutheran Church, Park Ridge, Illinois.
Bayou Grace staff sold cards at the local Piggly Wiggly in Chauvin, Louisiana, earning $630 in December 2007. Bayou Grace Director Courtney Howell commented, "The Piggly Wiggly sales were actually fun. We were able to talk with people in the community, make them aware of Bayou Grace and the various programs that we have."
Card Raises Funds for Gulf Coast Servant Trips 2008-2010
Concordia University Chicago, River Forest, Illinois students were an energetic force selling cards to fund their 2008 Servant Trip to the Gulf over spring break, raising $1,890 in sales and gifts in a month's time. They sold 168 packages to friends and relatives, Concordia staff, contacts online and at Immanuel Lutheran Church, Elmhurst, Illinois. The cards proved to be an excellent vehicle for generating public interest in their work.
Sedalia Circuit Youth, Lincoln, Missouri sold cards during December 2007 for a potential total of $1,000 to benefit their trip to Biloxi, Mississippi in May 2008.
A reprint of the successful Holly Nativity Christmas Card keeps it in circulation as it is still being sold by college groups in 2009. Concordia University Chicago will once again sell the card to fund their 2010 Servant Trip to the Gulf Coast. University Lutheran Church at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will be selling this card to benefit thir 2010 Servant Trip to Bayou Grace.
Beyond the Fundraising 2009
We at St. John's are grateful that $8,840 on the sale of 14,480 cards for Christmas 2007 brought various benefits to God's people. Beyond the fundraising, the Holly Nativity Christmas Card, aka the 2007 Katrina Christmas Card, was the official Christmas card for St. John's Lutheran School, La Grange and St. John's Sunday School.
The Holly Nativity Christmas Card was presented in a poster session at the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod's Conference on Mercy in St. Louis in April, 2007. Lutheran Church Charities, Addison, Illinois promoted the card online and at Synod's 2007 Convention in Houston, Texas. LCMS Northern Illinois District also used the card as their official Christmas card and as a homepage Christmas greeting on their web site.
Christmas 2009 is seeing a new purpose for the cards. A generous donation has covered the cost of cards to be offered to the American Legion of Illinois for veterans in our Veterans Administration Hospitals in Illinois. 2,000 cards were packaged in counts of 10 cards / 11 envelopes to be given free of charge to VA Hospital veterans and their families for personal use for this Christmas. The American Legion is providing postage to be used in sending those cards to loved ones. A number of cards will be mailed directly to wounded veterans as Christmas greetings from the American Legion.
Many people have sent and received the Gospel message with the Holly Nativity Christmas Card; the mission of this card continues! This is indeed Good News for these secular times of mere "holiday" greetings. The Bayous are mentioned on the back of every card, reminding people of ongoing need on the valuable Gulf Coast and supporting the important work of Bayou Grace Community Services.
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Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children. Ephesians 5:1
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Contact
Greetings in Christ
St. John's Lutheran Church
505 S. Park Rd
La Grange, IL 60525
708-354-1690 Church Office
708-354-4910 fax
greetingsinchrist@sjlagrange.com
www.GreetingsinChrist.org
© 2009 St. John's Lutheran Church, La Grange, Illinois 60525
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