Social Ministry: February 2019

“God's Work, Our Hands ..."

Have you checked the rotating kiosk in the Gathering Area lately? If not, I would like to suggest that you look at the side which is captioned “Thank You Holy Trinity – Because You Gave ..." There you will see acknowledgments, as well as sincere thanks and gratitude for our financial assistance from The Salvation Army, Good News Garage, ELCA World Hunger; from Operation Blessing for financial and other types of assistance which we provide on a regular basis; fom Ascentria Care Alliance for the nearly 40 gift bags we gave and packed last October for seniors who live alone; and most recently from Wentworth-Douglass Hospital for our donation of many hats, gloves and scarves which we donated last month to benefit those in need of extra winter clothing. Our time, talents and treasure do make a difference in the Seacoast region and beyond!

Krissi Birthisel was just voted in as the Church Council Secretary. For the past year, Krissi was very active on the Social Ministry Team, but she felt that she could not do both, and so she reluctantly resigned from Social Ministry, hopefully only temporarily. Thanks for all you did, Krissi; we'll miss you!

If anyone has ideas for service in the community, please don't hesitate to contact me or any member of the Social Ministry Team.

Ron Indorf, Team Chair

End 68 Hours of Hunger: February 2019 Update

Just a reminder...Holy Trinity Lutheran Church has a team that packs food for the program 'End 68 Hours of Hunger' for the city of Portsmouth!! This program is designed to provide food for children in need that would sustain them for the weekend when school is not in session. Kathy McKenna and Lauren Gianino are the Team Coordinators for our church.

Our team is responsible for packing food bags for children on 3 more days in the school year. We pack at the First United Methodist Church, 129 Miller Ave. Portsmouth and we meet at 6 p.m. Depending on the number of volunteers, the packing process takes around 45 minutes.

Our next packing date is Wednesday, March 20th. The remaining dates our team is responsible for are:

  • Wednesday, March 20th
  • Thursday, May 9th

  • Thursday, June 13th

    If you are interested in joining our team please email myself (mckenna.kathy.62@gmail.com) or Lauren Gianino(pglg813@comcast.net). We always welcome new participants!!

Let us know if you have any questions!! Kathy McKenna & Lauren Gianino

End 68 Hours of Hunger: January Update

Now that the new year is upon us, are you looking for a new opportunity to volunteer? Holy Trinity Lutheran Church has a team that packs food for the program 'End 68 Hours of Hunger' for the city of Portsmouth!! This program is designed to provide food for children in need that would sustain them for the weekend when school is not in session. Kathy McKenna and Lauren Gianino are the Team Coordinators for our church.

Our team is responsible for packing food bags for children on 4 more days throughout the school year. We pack at the First United Methodist Church, 129 Miller Ave. Portsmouth and we meet at 6 p.m. Depending on the number of volunteers, the packing process takes between 40 minutes to an hour - but rarely a full hour.

Our next packing date is this Thursday, February 7th. The remaining dates our team is responsible for are:

  • Thursday, February 7th
  • Wednesday, March 20th
  • Thursday, May 9th
  • Thursday, June 13th

If you are interested in joining our team please email myself (mckenna.kathy.62@gmail.com) or Lauren Gianino(pglg813@comcast.net). We always welcome new participants!!

Let us know if you have any questions!! Kathy McKenna & Lauren Gianino

End 68 Hours of Hunger: December Update

Holy Trinity Lutheran Church has a team that packs food for the program 'End 68 Hours of Hunger' for the city of Portsmouth!! This program is designed to provide food for children in need that would sustain them for the weekend when school is not in session. Kathy McKenna and Lauren Gianino are the Team Coordinators for our church.

Our team is responsible for packing food bags for children on 6 more Thursdays throughout the school year. We pack at the First United Methodist Church, 129 Miller Ave. Portsmouth and we meet at 6 p.m. Depending on the number of volunteers, the packing process takes between 40 minutes to an hour - but rarely a full hour. Many thanks to all who contributed or volunteered for E68HOH during 2018. Our next packing date will be Thursday, January 3, 2019. We wish you all a joyful holiday season.

  • Thursday, January 3rd
  • Thursday, February 7th
  • Wednesday, March 20th
  • Thursday, May 9th
  • Thursday, June 13th

If you are interested in joining our team please email myself (mckenna.kathy.62@gmail.com) or Lauren Gianino(pglg813@comcast.net). We always welcome new participants!! Let us know if you have any questions!!

Kathy McKenna & Lauren Gianino

End 68 Hours of Hunger: November Update

Holy Trinity Lutheran Church has a team that packs food for the program 'End 68 Hours of Hunger' for the city of Portsmouth!! This program is designed to provide food for children in need that would sustain them for the weekend when school is not in session. Kathy McKenna and Lauren Gianino are the Team Coordinators for our church.

Our team is responsible for packing food bags for children on 6 more Thursdays throughout the school year. We pack at the First United Methodist Church, 129 Miller Ave. Portsmouth and we meet at 6 p.m. Depending on the number of volunteers, the packing process takes between 40 minutes to an hour - but rarely a full hour.

Our next packing date is this Thursday, November 15th. The remaining dates our team is responsible for are:

  • Thursday, November 15th
  • Thursday, January 3rd
  • Thursday, February 7th
  • Wednesday, March 20th
  • Thursday, May 9th
  • Thursday, June 13th

If you are interested in joining our team please email myself (mckenna.kathy.62@gmail.com) or Lauren Gianino(pglg813@comcast.net). We always welcome new participants!!

Let us know if you have any questions!! Kathy McKenna & Lauren Gianino

End 68 Hours of Hunger: October Update

Holy Trinity Lutheran Church has a team that packs food for the program 'End 68 Hours of Hunger' for the city of Portsmouth!! This program is designed to provide food for children in need that would sustain them for the weekend when school is not in session.This year Kathy McKenna and Lauren Gianino are the Team Coordinators for our church.

Our team is responsible for packing food bags for children on 7 Thursdays throughout the school year. We pack at the First United Methodist Church, 129 Miller Ave. Portsmouth and we meet at 6pm. Depending on the number of volunteers, the packing process takes between 40 minutes to an hour - but rarely a full hour.

Our first packing date is this Thursday, October 11th. The dates our team is responsible for are:

  • Thursday, October 11th
  • Thursday, November 15th
  • Thursday, January 3rd
  • Thursday, February 7th
  • Wednesday, March 20th
  • Thursday, May 9th

  • Thursday, June 13th

    If you are interested in joining our team please email myself (mckenna.kathy.62@gmail.com) or Lauren Gianino(pglg813@comcast.net). If you know of someone who would like to join our team....please have them contact us!! We always welcome new participants!!

Let us know if you have any questions!! Kathy McKenna & Lauren Gianino

“God’s Work, Our Hands”

“God’s Work, Our Hands” will be starting October 14. The social ministry has arranged a number of activities for all ages to participate in. These are some wonderful opportunities for us to be of service locally, in our own communities.

1) In church activity, between services, we are going to be collecting items for the In Home-Care services of Ascentria Care Alliance. In Home-Care services approximately 400 home-bound NH residents state wide. The typical client is in their 60’s and female.

We will be posting lists out in the Gathering Area and we ask that you take one and purchase any item s you would like to donate. On God’s Work Our Hands Sunday, the children will be decorating the bags and we envision the adults putting together the packets. This should be so much fun for all.

Here are some ideas of that we are looking for as suggested by the people who work with the in home client:

  • Adult Coloring Books with crayons or colored pencils.
  • Paint by numbers
  • Reading books, large print
  • Cross stitch kits, jewelry king or other activity kits
  • Yarn or crochet baskets
  • Puzzles
  • Holiday decoration making kits
  • Airplane models
  • Card Games
  • Cooking Kits
  • Scrapbooking supplies
  • Small games, word find, or puzzle books.

We are sure you can think of additional items that would be appreciated. Please bring in items by Sunday, October 7.

2) Singing, along with bingo, prizes and more at the Pines Nursing Home in Newmarket. The signup sheet is for singing or making cookies, or both, for our senior friends!

3) Town of Kittery Community Center. We will be spreading woodchips in the playground area to enhance safety for the kids. Four to eight people. We will need 2-3 wheelbarrows and shovels and a tarp. Please sign up and indicate if you are able to bring tools.

4) We are attempting to attempting to schedule one or two additional projects., so stay tuned! All of the activities except the first, will begin at 2 pm on Sunday October 14.

God’s Work Our Hands!

Ron Indorf For the Social Ministry team.

Operation Blessing: September 2018 update

Since we have been supporting Operation Blessing for many years and because they have new programs and have reorganized many things, I thought it might be good if I included how they are trying to help our community. The following information has been taken directly from their website.

“OB believes in empowering change. Every day we provide services for people, because we realize that providing for a physical need paves the way for us to provide for a spiritual need.

Transaction -Free food and household necessities for those in need. Transition- Promote healthy life choices through education and outreach programs. Transformation - Offer hope for a changed life comes through faith in Jesus Christ.”

We are continuing to collect items for OB to use in their food pantry. Won’t you help by contributing any of the following items?
BAKED BEANS, RED, BLACK or KIDNEY BEANS, CEREAL, VINEGAR, COFFEE, TEA, or ALMOND MILK. (The entire list of items they need are on their website, OperationBlessing.Org.). I have asked for only a limited number of items to make it easier for you to remember when shopping! Thank you.

Lois Laurence

End 68 Hours of Hunger: August 2018 update

Holy Trinity Lutheran Church has a team that packs food for the program 'End 68 Hours of Hunger' for the city of Portsmouth!! This program is designed to provide food for children in need that would sustain them for the weekend when school is not in session.This year Kathy McKenna and Lauren Gianino are the Team Coordinators for our church.

Our team is responsible for packing food bags for children on 7 Thursdays throughout the school year. We pack at the First United Methodist Church, 129 Miller Ave. Portsmouth and we meet at 6pm. Depending on the number of volunteers, the packing process takes between 40 minutes to an hour - but rarely a full hour.

We know that everyone can not make every date but we send reminders a week ahead of each date and you just respond to let us know if you are available or not. Occasionally, we will have to change our packing date if there is a storm predicted. Right now, we do not have this year's schedule. Our first packing date will be some time in October. Once the schedule is out, we will let everyone know.

If you are interested in joining our team please email myself (mckenna.kathy.62@gmail.com) or Lauren Gianino(pglg813@comcast.net). If you know of someone who would like to join our team....please have them contact us!! We always welcome new participants!!

Let us know if you have any questions!! Kathy McKenna & Lauren Gianino

Operation Bless Update: June 2018

Posted by Mark Donahue on Wednesday, June 6, 2018 @ 2:42 PM

For the next few months I will be writing about the mission of Operation Blessing. The Executive Director, Tammy Joslyn, is a very dedicated, talented and hard working woman who along with a small paid staff, has transformed OB this past year. There is a new website which I ask you to check out. It is OperationBlessingnh.org. It will tell you about the mission of OB, the history and the services.

In this article I would like to tell you a bit about New Life which is an outreach program of OB. “The New Life Program is a faith-based program for adults recovering from substance use disorder who would benefit from a structured schedule. Based on the Genesis Process relapse prevention curriculum, students develop an individual plan designed to support them as they seek long-term recovery.” The 6month program is part-time so it will accommodate family and work commitments. It is voluntary and there is no cost to qualified adults. It is open to anyone willing to explore a fifth-based approach to long-term recovery. To learn more about the program contact OB at newlife@theobnh.org or call 603-430-8561,ext. 5.

There is a New Life brochure and a new OB brochure on the bulletin board.

OB is open Wednesday-Friday 10 am-4pm.