St. John church to install food pantry during day of public service Sept. 12

By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

Susan Leeper said she felt God giving her a “little nudge.”

Leeper, the wife of St. John Evangelical Lutheran Pastor Russ Leeper, is organizing a day of service for the congregation on Sunday, Sept. 12.

They call it “God’s Work, Our Hands,” and the local church members will be participating in 13 service projects around town, all of them suggested by congregation members.

“I felt like God was sort of giving me a nudge and telling me that this should happen here,” Leeper said. “And when God gives you a nudge, it doesn’t mean that he wants someone else to do it, so I thought I better put my money where my mouth is.”

St. John belongs to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), which started “God’s Work, Our Hands” years ago, meant to be a service day that all ELCA churches can take part in. Each year the ELCA designates a day and encourages its member churches to “serve their neighbor by completing a service project.”

Leeper said that it’s been done at other churches her husband has ministered, and she believed it had been done in Charles City in the past, but has not been repeated.

One project that Leeper said was particularly notable is the installation of a little free pantry, which will be located on the east side of the church along Clinton Street.

Called the “Blessing Box,” Leeper said it will be similar to the one currently in operation at the high school. She has been told that there is a need for one in that part of town.

“We have a lot of people who walk through the church parking lot headed across the river to Kwik Star or Hy-Vee or somewhere,” she said. “It’s basically a place where we can keep it stocked and anyone can stop, 24-7, and pick up something they need to help them.”

Leeper said that around 20 ELCA churches in this region of Iowa already have Blessing Boxes or something similar.

“That’s kind of cool,” she said. “We’re joining a bunch of people who have one.”

While the food pantry at the high school is specifically geared toward students, Leeper said that the pantry at St. John will be geared toward families, with items such as food, diapers and cleaning supplies, among other things.

Some of the other projects church members will take on that day include clean-up along Shadow Avenue north of town, clean up at some parks and at Sportsman’s Field, quilt making for those who need quilts, mulching and other care to trees in the school district, and cookies — baked, frosted and delivered — for people who just could use a cookie.

Donations from the congregation will fund all the projects. Church service will be at 9 a.m. that morning, followed by fellowship, coffee and treats so the participants can fortify themselves, followed by the projects, all day long. People in the community should be on the lookout for gangs of Lutherans in yellow T-shirts with the words “God’s Work. Our Hands” on them.