St. Stephen Church Service Week Benefits Local Groups

St. Stephen Summer Service Week Benefits Local Groups

St. Stephen Lutheran Church parishioners and their friends stuffed backpacks, made greeting cards, created no-sew quilts, turned paper bags into art projects and filled them with snacks at the Marlborough church’s second annual Summer Service Week earlier this month. The 4-evening program addressed themes of hunger, health and wellness, education, and kindness. Following a light supper each night, Pastor Rheanna Goodrich, accompanied by youth members Kaili Goodrich and Lily Ruggiere, presented a Bible-based skit on the day’s theme before the service project began. Stephanie Ruggiere (Shrewsbury), Dianne Bruno (Hudson), Beth Warner (Stow) and Heidi Richard (Worcester) organized and coordinated St. Stephen Summer Service Week.
A variety of local organizations, children, families, and seniors will benefit from the activities of nearly two dozen church volunteers. Forty snack bags were targeted for Our Father’s Table; 10 completed fleece quilts, many in kid-friendly patterns went to Fresh Start Furniture Bank, along with 25 bags of toiletries. The United Way will distribute the 26 backpacks, filled with pencils and sharpeners, rulers, calculators, scissors and more to children who can’t afford school supplies. Greeting cards and bags of treats were delivered by the pastor to the Lutheran Rehabilitation and Skilled Care Center in Worcester.
Summer Service Week was a Thrivent Action Team event. Thrivent is a Fortune 500 financial services company that sponsors generosity programs. Thrivent members from St. Stephen applied for funding for materials and supplies for the various projects. Thrivent also provided “Live Generously” themed teeshirts for volunteers.