At Christmas time we obtain information on a couple of families in the local area who are in need, and buy them Christmas presents. This year we are sponsoring four families. We give each family presents and food for a Christmas dinner. Shortly before Christmas we have a couple of wrapping parties and wrap all the presents and deliver them to the families.
The LWR Coffee Project is a new way to help people through Lutheran World Relief. Through the project, farmers in Latin America and Africa earn a fairer share of income, have access to services that are otherwise unavailable, and gain a trading partner they can trust, a fair trade organization called Equal Exchange. St. Andrew has purchased tea, English Breakfast Blend and Earl Gray. Tea will be on sale at the church by talking to the church office, or occasionally it will be displayed at church services.
St. Andrew also encourages its members to volunteer at CCWC, a local organization sponsored by a number of local congregations to help those in need in Waukesha county. Often times Confirmation classes volunteer there, and we give the first $500 raised from our Annual Spaghetti and Auction fundraiser to them.
Every third Monday of the month, members of St. Andrew provide a meal of sloppy joes, jellos, salad, vegetables, chips and dessert for the Hebron House homeless shelter. Volunteers provide food about 3 or 4 times a year. If you are interested in helping with this ministry, please call Cindy McCullough.
Interfaith provides the kind of help that allows many older adults to remain in their homes and connected to their neighborhoods. That is Interfaith's mission. It is friends helping friends, and one of the best examples of how neighboring congregations work together in caring communities. Interfaith has been serving the county of Waukesha for nine years now.
In every neighborhood of Milwaukee, Racine, Waukesha and Ozaukee Counties, Interfaith volunteers provide informal, direct services to older adults - things like transportation to medical appointments and grocery stores, reassuring telephone calls, in-home friendly visiting, errands, shopping or social day center respite and chores around the house, such as lawn care, leaf raking, snow shoveling, etc. Interfaith staff know about community resources, answer questions on issues of aging and refer to affordable paid services.
Interfaith doesn't live by the numbers, but in 1999, Interfaith programs of Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine and Waukesha Counties provided 175,317 direct services to 5,592 older adults through the services of 3,332 volunteers. Individual donations are welcome, but direct services are provided without charge.
St. Andrew has just begun an association with this organization and is recommending that any members who would like to can volunteer with them. Currently they are looking for people to do winter chores. Anyone interested in volunteering can call 549-1179.
Every year at Christmas time, St. Andrew's Sunday School fills shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child - a program for needy children worldwide run by Samaritan's Purse. This year we stuffed and paid for shipping for 45+ boxes.
On the 2nd and 4th Saturday of every month, we conduct a Bible Study session at the facility, providing Bibles and other reading material to those who attend. It has been a very successful venture for us with much interest by the Huber people. Our goal is to provide a positive image and most of all to spread the Word as the Lord has told us to do. This program could not go forward without the help of some very dedicated people who volunteer to drive any of the Huber people who wish to join our Sunday services. If you would like to become a part of this important work, please contact the church office.
Non perishable food items and personal care products are brought to church during the month with an emphasis on the 3rd Sunday. After 2nd service on the 3rd Sunday, volunteers gather donations to deliver to the Waukesha Food Pantry sometime during the week. In January of 2002, six bags of groceries were delivered to the Food Pantry on behalf of St. Andrew. The Food Pantry served 4,563 clients in January with 102 of them being new clients. A basic/starter bag consists of canned vegetables, canned fruits, tuna, salmon, chicken and soups, macaroni & cheese, pancake mix and syrup, dried pasta and spaghetti sauces, Chef Boyardee Pasta Meals, cereal and powdered milk, hamburger, chicken and tuna helpers, peanut butter & jelly, soda and graham crackers and toilet paper. Special needs include baby food including cereal, formula, etc., disposable diapers, baby wipes, children's vitamins, Tylenol and cold medicine. The food pantry is located at 417 W. Main in downtown Waukesha. They are open from 1-3 PM Monday thru Friday and 9:30 to 11:30 AM on Saturday, but one must call ahead to deliver donations at any other time. The food pantry phone number is 542-5300.
For ways in which we serve each other and the congregation, look in the our Service section.