Volunteers Relieving the World2 min read

Putting a donation event together is never easy.

There are many parts that make up the whole of what is supposed to be an act of Christian kindness. So much so that sometimes it feels like you’re one part of an octopus with eight sentient, free-thinking arms. It can be exhausting work, but I’ve come to appreciate the various volunteers that way.

The nature of how our ingatherings generally work is that the Onsite Coordinator and I get help from willing students loading up large semi-trucks. These are then driven to one of the Lutheran World Relief’s warehouses where the boxed-up kits are sorted and then sent around the world to places in need. On Monday, October 14, I went to Valley Lutheran High School in Saginaw, Mich. That was Columbus Day, which meant that it was a student-free day—a plus for the students, but trickier for the planned ingathering.

The ingathering coordinators had extensive warning about the lack of students before the fateful day; but Lou Ann Krueger, Saginaw’s Site Coordinator, was undeterred in her resolve to get the mission done. She and her family worked through chilly winds and light rain sprinkles, through late semi-trucks and heavy boxes. They worked with me through it all and, in the end, we loaded almost 800 boxes of varying shapes and sizes into two semi-trucks.

Throughout the day there were helpers. The morning started with unpacking a U-Haul truck with the help of a man who was not even a member of the church he was dropping off for; he also had a knee issue, but he was doing a favor for the original volunteer who had recently needed surgery.

There were returning volunteers in U-Hauls and trucks. There were longtime friends, and husband-and-wife duos all stopping by before their lunch plans to unload boxes destined to end up in dire areas where education supplies, baby formula, hygiene kits, and quilt warmth are appreciated.

That was just one of the three large ingathering sites. At the smaller sites—churches collecting for their nearby congregations—similar volunteers are seen daily: workers who aren’t paid but sacrifice their sweat, money, time, and craft to provide for others in need. In the past, recipients in need have included Ukraine, Ecuador, Guatemala, and many other countries. This year, LWR will also be sending emergency quilts to states in the US impacted by the hurricanes. We are no longer nice people helping only the unseen stranger; we are God’s volunteers helping out the WHOLE world.

_{Photo courtesy of Hannah MacAfee}