LUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF BENEFITS, AGAIN, FROM GENEROSITY OF THRIVENT FINANCIAL FOR LUTHERANS
Baltimore, February 2, 2005 — As Lutheran World Relief and its partners continue distributing necessities to survivors in India, Sri Lanka and Indonesia, individuals, churches and organizations continue to support LWR’s work. Of particular note is an additional contribution from Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and an affiliate. Thrivent Financial has added $500,000 to a dollar-for-dollar matching grant for its members to benefit LWR’s efforts in South Asia. The $2.5 million grant will, as Brad Hewitt, senior vice president of Fraternal Operations at Thrivent Financial says, “multiply the good of our members. They want to support this important cause through a top-rated organization, and we are delighted to partner with them.” A Thrivent Financial affiliate also awarded a $1.5 million donation to be divided among the disaster relief programs of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod and the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, all of whom support LWR financially.
LWR is busy programming the money its WAVE OF GIVING™ campaign already has brought in, including a gift of $1 million from Thrivent as well as the original $2 million matching grant Thrivent established for its members in December. Lutheran World Relief has projected that the original matching grant probably has been met, owing the uncertainty to the backlog of mail that remains to be processed. “The response from Thrivent Financial and their members has been wonderful and nearly overwhelming,” said LWR President Kathryn Wolford of what will undoubtedly amount to $6 million from Thrivent Financial and its members. “It really says a lot about an organization that comes forward with this type and amount of support, and also helps their membership to do likewise. We’re blessed by such relationships.”
In the field, LWR and its partners are still distributing materials to help people begin providing for themselves again. In Indonesia, efforts include the distribution of tarpaulins, milk, baby food, biscuits, instant noodles, rice, tents, cooking oil, sugar, hygiene kits, sanitary napkins, generators and electrical equipment, clothes, underwear and water drums. Additional packages for volunteers include gloves, rain coats, handy wipes, soap, toothpaste, hats, boots, medicines and flashlights. LWR partners also are lending expertise to the challenges of organizing camps for internally displaced persons, or IDPs. Throughout South Asia, LWR continues to refine its rebuilding plan that will see the highly rated organization in the region for up to ten years. The organization said it will focus on building multi-use disaster shelters, mid-term and permanent housing, livelihood development and psychological counseling, among other activities.
“We’ve never quite witnessed the level of response we’ve witnessed since December 26 th,” comments Wolford. “Living in the technology age has helped quite a bit, with information, news reports and videos available to show people, in graphic detail, the severity of this disaster and the immense need for help. It also allowed people to research the best places to give, and to give online,” she adds. “We’re counting on these same people using the same technologies to keep abreast of the equally important work LWR is doing in Africa, in South and Central America and around the world. We’re counting,” she concluded, “on our caring donors not forgetting about the people in life-and-death situation in Sudan, Colombia and other hot spots.”
WHO IS LWR? Lutheran World Relief, an international nonprofit organization, works to end poverty and injustice by empowering some of the world's most impoverished communities to help themselves. With partners in 35 countries, LWR seeks to promote sustainable development with justice and dignity by helping communities bring about change for healthy, safe and secure lives; engage in Fair Trade; promote peace and reconciliation; and respond to emergencies. LWR is headquartered in Baltimore, Md. and has worked in international development and relief since 1945.
Lutheran World Relief is a ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS), individuals and parish groups in international relief, development, advocacy and social responsibility.
For more information contact Emily Sollie at esollie@lwr.org or 410-230-2802.
