At Grace we have a heart for loving and serving our neighbors and creation! Each month, we take a special collection called "Chuck-It-In-The-Bucket" that supports many diverse organizations. Our monthly Chuck-It-In-The-Bucket Offering goes 100% to that month's ministry!
Chuck-It began in 2006, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The homes of many of our members were damaged or destroyed and our church building was flooded for 9 days by over 7 feet of water. The home of one member, Peggy Umbdenstock, was damaged, and she lost many of her belongings. Peggy suffered a huge loss but she said that she had only lost “stuff.” She was sustained by her faith and her family and friends.
After Katrina, we started to rebuild but the money from insurance was not enough to recover from the level of devastation in our church building. It was Peggy who had the idea to collect loose change by tossing it into a bucket on the way out of church. She said that by chucking our loose change in a bucket it would add up to help us rebuild.
At first Chuck-It-In-The-Bucket helped fund our repairs and new pipe organ but over the years it has grown to support causes outside of Grace. As a result, thousands of dollars have been given to charities in New Orleans and beyond – all because of Peggy’s positive thinking and faith in God!
In addition to the ministries we support each month there are some ministries we participate in all year long.
- We take an ongoing collection of non-perishable food items that are donated to Second Harvest Food Bank. On average we donate a full grocery cart of food each month!
- On most Saturdays, you can find Grace members at Bethlehem Lutheran Church helping to serve food at the Community Meal. Interested in helping? Simply show up at Bethlehem at 10:30 AM on Saturday and introduce yourself to Katy! For more information, contact Barbara Artuso.
- In March 2023, we started collecting glass to recycle with Glass Half Full. We collected so much glass that we decided to make this an ongoing ministry! Bring your glass to Grace and instead of it being tossed in a landfill, it will be transformed into sand for disaster relief!
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