“This committee is responsible for social outreach into the community, such as poverty, disaster, justice issues, blood donors, etc.“
REFORMATION LUTHERAN CHURCH supports Talbot Ministries of Lakeland. Talbot House is Lakeland’s most comprehensive provider of services for homeless men and women. They provide over 300 meals per day plus twice a week food pantry services to the community. We collect food monthly which is donated to Talbot House. So far in 2024 we have donated approximately $1,862 in non-perishable food items and this is while we have had other donations venues in progress.
Our Lenten Project for 2024, Volunteering Is Sharing The Essentials, resulted in $2,052 in adult “pull-ups” and food items benefitting VISTE of Lakeland who help the elderly in Polk County.
Each year REFORMATION collects school supplies for Padgett Elementary School in Lakeland. in 2023, we provided $1,629 in school supplies to Padgett to help the kids (our future) start the school year on a positive note. We will be collecting school supplies for Padgett Elementary for the 24-25 school year beginning July 7th. Click here for the list of supplies needed. You can start collecting now. Call the church office to make arrangements to drop off your donations. If you prefer donating money instead of shopping, go to our “Give Now” page and donate. We will do the shopping for you.
In 2021, for “God’s Work, Our Hands” project , we packed lunches for “unsheltered friends” in our area. We are now providing a packed lunch for both a homeless person and their dog, if they have one, one Sunday a month. In 2023 we distributed 240 bagged lunches for humans and 60 doggie bags. We continue this project into 2024 where we have packed 120 bagged lunches for humans and 30 doggie bags in the first six months of the year.
Effective this summer, we will be collecting women’s clothing to donate to Peace River Battered Women’s Shelter in Lakeland. They can use all women’s clothing in good condition as well as shoes. Call the church office to make arrangements to drop off your donations.
For our 2023 “God’s Work, Our Hands” project on Sunday, September 10, we put together 130 packages of laundry products, including soap pods, dryer sheets and quarters, to do a triple-load size laundry and distributed them to unsheltered people in Lakeland as well as working with the social workers for T.A.S.S.E.L., a group associated with Polk County Schools, to provide help to the families of local school children. we wrote 50 notes of Thanks to the teachers and staff at Padgett Elementary School in North Lakeland.
Watch here to see what we will be doing for our 2024 “God’s Work, Our Hands” project on Sunday, September 8th.
Sunday, October 29, we kicked off our 2023 “Christmas Gifts for Kids” project. We furnished Christmas gifts for 50 children through the 10th Judicial Circuit Guardian Ad Litem program and 20 T.A.S.S.E.L. Joy Boxes for children at Padgett Elementary School. These gifts totaled $5,900.
Contact the church via phone or email if you would like more information on these worthy projects or if you would like to contribute.