Local News - January 2003

ELCM serves record number

“After all, these are  our neighbors.”

— Gail Satterthwaite

By JACOB RUDOLPH, Staff Writer

January 1, 2003 - DENVER — On a cold day in late December, Gail Satterthwaite and Leila Hager sat at a table in the back room of the East Lincoln Christian Ministry.

As East Lincoln residents-in-need trickled into the warehouse-like building from the cold, Satterthwaite and Hager greeted them with warm smiles and hellos.

For three days last month, 152 East Lincoln families flocked to the ministry to collect Christmas baskets and angel gifts — requested by ELCM and donated by the community.

During those three days, handfuls of volunteers, such as Satterthwaite and Hager, helped load holiday cheer into the cars of those families.

Ronka Sowell of Lowesville smiled as volunteers loaded three large bags into her car–christmas gifts and a meal for her and her children.

“This feels so good,” Sowell said. “It makes Christmas so much better for me and my kids.”

This type of response is motivation for ELCM volunteers, who spent weeks preparing the angel gifts and food baskets.

Jo Anne Henley has been a ministry volunteer since 1995. She said more effort is required during the holiday season, but the good feeling she gets as a volunteer is also increased.

“I just love this,” Henley beamed. “I really enjoy seeing the people get the food and the gifts.”

The ministry collected 1,413 gifts for 413 family members as part of its angel tree program. Most of the gifts were donated by 28 local churches, organizations and individuals.

Requests were filled for toys and clothes — gifts many would go without if it were not for the generosity of donors.

This was the fourth angel tree Christmas for Denver resident Tina Smallwood.

She began to cry when she talked about the people who helped make some of her wishes come true.

“It means there’s still joy and peace in the world,” Smallwood said with tears in her eyes. “I know that America still cares, that people still do nice things for each other.”

The success of the angel tree program marked the end of a record year for ELCM.

The number of food assistance cases was up 55 percent from 2001, and requests for financial assistance increased about 15 percent from last year.

Since Jan. 1, 2002, the ministry logged more than 3,000 volunteer days in the Crisis Office and The Closet alone.

The Closet, a second-hand shop located within the ELCM complex, is the ministry’s primary source of funding. The ministry also relies on funding through community donations.

Volunteers with ELCM attribute the increase in case loads to the poor economic condition of the country in 2002.

Food Pantry and angel tree coordinator Judy Farris feared the economy would hurt the ministry’s ability to help the community. However, she said, the opposite was true.

“The outpouring the community has given us this year is amazing,” Farris said. “With the economy the way it is, I was dreading it financially, but we have been blessed.”

The record year of assistance was partially enabled by ELCM’s own advances in technology.

Satterthwaite, the ministry’s office coordinator, installed a computer system to organize the group’s activities, resulting in increased accountability.

The database allows the ministry to more closely examine the cases it fills.

There is a certain amount of scrutiny involved in serving families-in-need, Satterthwaite said, and sometimes people who do not necessarily need help receive it anyway.

The implementation of the database helped the ministry red-flag those abuses and better serve its most-needy clients.

“The database has made us aware of abuses,” Satterthwaite said. “It frees up money and resources to help those who really need it.”

A lot has changed in the 16 years Hager has volunteered with ELCM. The database is just one part of a system that is far more organized than that of the ‘80s.

“It was so much more hectic then,” Hager said. “It’s a completely different world now.”

When the ministry opened its doors in 1983, it was an effort of volunteers from three East Lincoln churches. Now, 21 churches contribute volunteers and funding.

Then, the ministry worked out of a 10-by-30-foot trailer on the former Triangle Elementary School property. Now, it has its own 5,000 square-foot building on Pine Ridge Drive.

However, with more volunteers, increased funding and a large building to boot, one thing has not changed for the ministry — the need for the community to help its less fortunate.

“After all,” Satterthwaite said, “these are our neighbors.”

© 2001 Lincoln Times-News  

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