Share the Love, Hosanna!

At Christmas, we celebrate that God is near to us.  You can be like the manger into which Jesus was born, bearing the loving and gracious presence of God into the world when you help others.

 

We’re inviting you this Christmas and New Year’s Season to look through this list, choose one (or several) ways to you'd enjoy serving someone, then either do it right away or make a plan to serve in one of these ways in the next month and put that plan into motion.  

 

In Our Community

• Tame the Christmas clutter and make room for new gifts by donating items you don’t use anymore.  Offer outgrown children’s clothing to families you know who have younger kids.  Donate other items to the Hillcrest Hope Thrift Store in Liberty.  Proceeds from their sales help families get back on their feet and into housing after a crisis.  Find out about the store and their mission at https://www.hillcresthope.org. 

• Help our local food pantry.  In As Much Ministry is seeing a huge need for food assistance right now.  Drop off food in the food wagon at church, visit their website to learn how you can volunteer at http://www.inasmuchministry.org, or call them at 816-781-6357. 

• Assembly a Happy Kit for sick kids at Children’s Mercy.  Kits are used in a variety of areas throughout the hospital to help patients and families feel welcome and happy during their visit.  Learn more about how to donate at https://www.childrensmercy.org/ways-to-give/donate-goods/happy-kits.

• Help Feed the Hungry with Harvesters.  Food insecurity continues to grow across the Kansas City.  Harvesters uses volunteer to feed 141,500 hungry people every month by sorting food, assisting at special events, or providing professional services.  Learn how you can give your time at https://www.harvesters.org/how-to-help/volunteer. 

• Deliver Meals to Liberty Seniors.  Liberty Meals on Wheels volunteers deliver a nutritious meal, friendly visit and safety check to Liberty seniors. The time commitment is minimal--one hour, one day a week.  Sign up at https://www.libertymissouri.gov/1528/Meals-on-Wheels.

• Serve meals to the homeless.  Gathering Table (previously Children’s Memorial) is a ministry of the ELCA that provides food and the good news of Jesus to the very poor who may not have other opportunities to worship, engage in fellowship, nutritious meals, bible study, and holy communion. Invite a few friends or congregation members to join you on a Saturday to serve a meal.  Find out more at https://gatheringtablekc.org/volunteer-opportunities. 

• Support struggling residents in the KC metro.  Metro Lutheran Ministry (MLM) connects those in need with food, housing, health care, education, employment services, and other resources in order to nurture greater hope, health, opportunity and peace.  Learn more about how you can support their work at https://mlmkc.org. 

• Support women and children escaping domestic violence.  Synergy Services provides safety for individuals and families of the Northland in desperate situations.  Support their work financially, volunteer, or provide clothing, personal care and household items for people who often arrive with only the clothes they are wearing.  Find out how you can help at https://www.synergyservices.org/get-involved. 

• Help a Hosanna! member in need.  Hosanna! members have a variety of needs, resources, and relationships.  If you’d like to help a Hosanna! member with cleaning, repairs, a few frozen meals, or just a friendly visit, call the church office or send an e-mail to Pastor Mike (pastormike@hosannalutheranchurch.org) to see who might benefit.

• Help refugees learn skills for employment.  Refugees in the Kansas City area learn sewing and business skills that help them find suitable employment through the organization Once We Were Refugees.  See how you can volunteer, donate in-kind items, or support them financially at https://www.oncewewererefugees.org/get-involved.

• Spend time with people who might feel lonely or bored at a local nursing facility.  Lead your favorite activity, go door to door to visit residents, or send cards and pictures.  The easiest way to get started is to call a local nursing facility and talk with the activity director about how you can help.  Facilities local to Liberty include Norterre, The Wellington, Oxford Grand, Addington Place, Ashton Court, Pleasant Valley Manor, and Liberty Terrace Healthcare and Rehab.  

• Show love to lonely inmates to help them on the road to new life.  Many inmates don’t feel that anyone cares about them, which can perpetuate personal struggles.  Contact the state prison in Cameron to see how you can volunteer or support prisoners.  Find out more at https://doc.mo.gov/divisions/human-services/volunteer. 

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Make a Global Impact

• Sponsor a project through ELCA Good Gifts.  Pay for livestock, crops, or tools for a subsistence farmer.  Sponsor a microloan for a female business owner or school supplies for children.  Buy mosquito nets for people vulnerable to malaria, medications for a remote clinic, or vaccinations.  Simply give the gift or give it in honor of someone. Visit https://goodgifts.elca.org to see what you can give.

• Help Lutheran World Relief with development work.  LWR works around the world to lift the most vulnerable people out of poverty with sustainable living, not just handouts.  Visit https://lwr.org. 

• Provide help for disaster victims.  Lutheran Disaster Response continues long-term support to people still recovering from past natural disasters, but it’s also constantly preparing so they are ready for the next one.  Visit https://elca.org/disaster. 

• Write a note or send artwork to a veteran or someone serving.  Call the local Veteran’s Administration office in Excelsior Springs at 816-922-2970 to see how you can help.  Learn more about sending something to miliary personnel at https://www.militaryonesource.mil/relationships/support-community/sending-a-military-care-package/. 

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LOVE FROM YOUR HOME

• Write a loved one.  Color pictures or send a letter to a loved one. 

• Give the gift of time with a visit.  Invite family or friends over, or go to visit them.  Take a gift, take your favorite game to play, or just give them your love, listening ear, and attention.  If you have family or friends that live far away that you haven’t seen in a long time, make a solid plan to visit them this year. 

• Invite a friend and pay for them to join you in a fun activity:  roller skating, video games, ax throwing, miniature golf, or the like. 

• Hand out hot cocoa and coffee on the street corner, or drive around and deliver it to utility workers and others you find working out in the cold.  If people want to pay, donate the proceeds to a charity. 

• Leave a treat for the mailman, Amazon, or UPS driver.  Leave it with a note of gratitude and encouragement. 

• Bake cookies and or another treat.  Deliver them to a friend or neighbor just because.  You could also take them to a fire station,police station, or hospital.

• Choose a day to serve your own immediate family inside your home.  Swap the chores you normally do, jump in and do the task that a family member has been putting off, pick up a sibling’s toys, and show appreciation for one another.

• Volunteer to babysit.  Invite a couple with children to bring their kids over so that they can go out on a date.

 

Out and About

• Give a gift card to a cashier.  Whether there’s a regular worker at a favorite store or you just want to bless a stranger, consider buying a gift card from them (or from a non-competing store) and gift it to them. 

• Buy someone’s food in the drive-through.  Simply ask the cashier if you can pay for the bill of the people behind you. 

• Give a restaurant server an unusually large tip.  Write an encouraging note on the receipt. 

• Smile.  Make a point to spend a whole day smiling at everyone you see.  Look people in the eye and express appreciation with a simple “thank you” or a compliment.  Make it your mission to spread joy. 

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Whatever you do, talk about it with a spouse or kids.  
Let them know why you’re doing it.  Recount all the wonderful gifts and blessings we have.  Talk about how good it is to show love.