There’s joy in giving

by Women of the ELCA

Women boxing up in-kind gifts at the Eighth Triennial Gathering in 2011.

Continuing a long-standing tradition, when women and girls gather in Charlotte, N.C., this July for the Ninth Triennial Gathering, they are invited to bring along in-kind gifts. In-kind gifts will include quilt kits (fabric and thread), gift cards, phone cards, hygiene items, socks, bras and underwear. Here’s a downloadable fact sheet with all the details.

These gifts have been selected by working in community with women in local agencies and Lutheran Social Services of the Carolinas. The in-kind gifts will be distributed among many of the agencies and organizations leading the interactive learning opportunities at the gathering.

Women and girls can focus on one in-kind gift or collect all of them. It can be a congregational unit project or it can involve the whole congregation. Participants are invited to add in a local component by giving a gift in their community for every gift given to the triennial gathering collection.

In-kind giving is about relationships and partnerships. In-kind gifts are a way for all women to participate in the triennial gathering, whether attending the event or not. We give these tangible items to meet immediate needs and to stand in solidarity with the recipients.

Will 2011 giving be exceeded? At that gathering, participants collected $10,420 in gift cards, 11,160 minutes of phone cards, 600 health kits, hundreds of school supplies, 58 clothing support kits and nearly 800 bags of socks, all given to Spokane, Wash.-area agencies and ministries. In addition, participants made 80 quilts on site that were given to Lutheran World Relief.

In-kind gifts  can be brought to the exhibit hall, The Dor, at the Charlotte Convention Center during the gathering. Items can also be mailed to the following address, for arrival between May 15, 2014 and June 15, 2014.

WOMEN OF THE ELCA
IN-KIND GIFTS
8765 W HIGGINS RD
CHICAGO IL 60631-4101