Bella Berry
As a member of Love of Christ Lutheran Church, I am starting my confirmation project this month to benefit our community.
I’ve created the ICE Box, or the In Case of Emergency Box. After seeing lots of people use coupons on great deals and stockpile items, I thought this would be a great way to help the community.
The items will be non-perishable foods and personal care items available to those in need. Some of the recipients will be Interfaith Homeless Emergency Lodging Program, or I-HELP, at Love of Christ and La Mesa, as well as various veteran organizations. A number of families experiencing rough times lately would be able to benefit, too.
My hope is to provide some relief to these families suffering from job loss, fires, death of a loved one and medical issues, to name a few. I would like to invite all members of the community to come together to support this project. Donations would be greatly appreciated.
Some of the most needed items are bottled water, snacks, adhesive bandages, baby wipes, hand sanitizer and washcloths, as well as Ziploc bags of all sizes. For all the details, please see the Facebook page.
We are accepting donations beginning Aug. 1, and continuing through Aug. 28, at the Thrivent Financial office in Mesa. The organizing of all the donations will be completed on Aug. 29 at our home, with the help of volunteers. The ICE Box will then be available to those in need, starting Aug. 29, and continuing as long as possible.
I know a lot of people give back around the holidays. My hope is we will be able to keep the ICE Box going year-round. It would be great if others start something similar in their community.
I also want to thank the Red Mountain Group of Thrivent Financial. The business is participating in an Action Team to kick-start this project, and allowing donations to be brought to their office, which is located at 2941 N. Power Road, Suite 105. Please bring your donations between the hours of 10 a.m. and
4 p.m. For more information, call Thrivent Financial at (480) 396-5333.
An Action Team will donate $250 in seed money for the purchase of items to help organize the ICE Box. For further information, please visit www.Thrivent.com/actionteam.
If you would like to know more about this project, what items to donate, or to volunteer, please contact us through the Facebook page.