This summer, Lutheran Campus Ministry will be in Detroit with the ELCA Youth Gathering – serving, teaching and making a permanent difference in Detroit!
At our the LCM Builds area of the Interaction Center, four campus ministry staff and ten college students from various campus ministries will help participants of the Youth Gathering to frame the walls of homes for four Detroit families. Youth will swing hammers and pound nails while learning about homelessness and sub-standard housing, and getting a taste of faithful service with campus ministry. I am writing to ask you to support this amazing project!
At the ELCA Youth Gathering in 2009, a similar project framed the walls for one house. At the last ELCA Youth Gathering in 2012, we framed the walls for three houses. There were so many requests for more opportunities to help that we’ve decided to build the walls of four houses this summer at the 2015 Gathering. The youth will provide the bulk of the labor while campus ministry students and staff are volunteering their time to provide construction leadership, education about homelessness, and information about campus ministry. When our work is done, Habitat for Humanity will move the wall sections to permanent locations and finish the houses for four Detroit families.
We are raising money to buy lumber and nails, and to transport the finished wall sections to their permanent locations. We’ll need $20,000 in all. You understand the importance of a project like this that will teach youth about poverty and housing in a tangible way, help college students be part of that teaching, give campus ministry a forum to show part of what ministry in higher-education involves, and also makes a permanent impact on the lives of four families in the city of Detroit.
To make a contribution via check, you can make your check payable to Lutheran Campus Ministry – Builds Detroit and mail to: Lutheran Campus Ministry at Penn State, 211A Pasquerilla Spiritual Center, University Park, PA 16802
To make an online contribution, you can use PayPal via THIS LINK. (https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=8PEZHV8XWQEGG)This is a unique opportunity for youth ministry and campus ministry to work together to learn and serve families in need. This project will provide a wonderful hands-on teaching opportunity for our high school youth and will make a permanent impact on the people who call Detroit home. You can see photos from the 2012 Build on our Facebook page.
Thank you for your consideration, and feel free to contact Alicia Anderson, campus minister, with any questions. She can be reached at ara2@psu.edu or 814.865.0715.