Jubilee Christmas Assisted 682 Local Families
Impacting 1,945 Children in Tippecanoe County
The 37th annual Lafayette Urban Ministry Jubilee Christmas Program took place this past SATURDAY, December 9, at 26 sites throughout Lafayette/West Lafayette.

Thirty churches along with Sigma Chi Fraternity at Purdue, numerous individuals, businesses and clubs provided gifts of new toys, books, food, and clothing, to parents from 681 local households impacting 1,945 local children. Jubilee Christmas is designed to let mom and dad be the heroes, rather than providing gifts to children at a large party or having volunteers deliver toys directly to the home. Jubilee Christmas strengthens families by supporting the important role of parents at Christmas time.

On Jubilee Christmas Saturday, parents arrived at their designated Jubilee Christmas site and with the assistance of a host, selected and gift-wrapped toys, clothing, books and stocking stuffers for their children. Each family also received a food card, homemade Christmas cookies and a holiday ham. Over $250,000 worth of toys and food was distributed; and it took over 1,200 individual volunteers to make it a success as it does every year.

A program of this size is a real benefit to our local retail economy. All the gifts, food, food cards and gift cards for Jubilee Christmas were purchased locally. As a result of Jubilee Christmas, LUM will also see fewer requests for emergency rent and utility assistance in January and February.

If you wish to invest in Jubilee Christmas, please make a donation today.
Hunger Hike 2017 - Raises Over $110,000
Second Year in a Row - Funds Exceed $110,000
At a celebration this morning, it was announced that the 25th annual Hunger Hike reached its goal. For the second year in a row Hunger Hike has raised over $110,000 — and for the third year, over $100,000.

The 2017 Hunger Hike total is $110,083 plus numerous gifts in kind. Each sponsoring agency received $36,694.

The celebration was capped off with the presentation of checks to representatives of the three sponsoring organizations: Fr. Patrick Baikauskas OP,  St. Thomas Aquinas Haiti Ministry; Katy Bunder,  Food Finders Food Bank, Inc.; and Joe Micon,  Lafayette Urban Ministry. All major donors and event sponsors were also recognized.
A majority of the money comes from local churches ( $58,498). The top six CHURCH fundraisers:

The top six INDIVIDUAL fundraisers:
  • Rob Pahl ($8,340)
  • Fr. Patrick Baikauskas, OP ($7,551)
  • Jane & Duane Sellers ($7,280)
  • Michael Lockwood ($4,250)
  • John Ginda ($2,705)
  • The Eros Family ($1,770)
The top organization/group TEAMS:
  • Purdue English Department Poets & Critics ($2,475)
  • Food Finders Food Bank, Inc. ($1,060)
  • Purdue Boxing Club ($990)
  • Purdue Crew ($550)
  • Grandma’s Bunch ($862)
  • Alpha Gamma Delta - Beta Xi Chapter at Purdue ($275)

Special thanks to DIAMOND Level event sponsors:
  • the Lafayette Life Foundation ($5,000)
  • Walmart/Sam’s Club ($5,500)

Total Hunger Hike corporate gifts totaled $30,488. To view all of our event sponsors, click  HERE.
The proceeds from Hunger Hike 2017 will have a tremendous & immediate positive impact on the Fight Against Hunger — locally, regionally & globally. Thank you all again for making history again this year at Hunger Hike.

Please mark your calendars for next year’s Hunger Hike event weekend
— September 15 & 16, 2018 —

More information may be found on the Hunger Hike website at  www.hungerhike.org.
If you wish to become a Hunger Hike 2018 event sponsor, please call or email Joe Micon (765-423-2691 |  jmicon@lumserve.org).
Share a Gift with LUM This Christmas Season
Little Mandy and her Ma, ‘s porest folks you ever saw!--
Lived in porest house in town, where the fence ‘uz all tore down.
Dear Friend,

The 1899 Christmas Classic  Little Mandy’s Christmas Tree  by Hoosier Poet James Whitcomb Riley is as much a social commentary as a holiday poem.

Written from the perspective of a child who accompanies her mother on a charity visit to a family in need, Riley, in his typical Midwestern cadence, shares the story of little Mandy, the terminally ill child who resides in the house.

Each stanza is filled with startling and vivid imagery about the family’s predicament and the community’s response. The images speak to Riley’s vision of how church and community members ought to relate to and be respectful toward the least among us.

It is a vision we work hard to make real each and every day at the Lafayette Urban Ministry . An organization of 47 local churches, LUM serves as a social safety net for children and families in our community who are experiencing difficult times.

During the past year, the Lafayette Urban Ministry served more than 5,200 families through one or another of our 20 programs.
  • Two-hundred and fifteen at-risk youth learned and grew because of LUM’s 5th Quarter, LUM Camp and Enhanced Afterschool Programs.
  • LUM’s Overnight Shelter continues to compassionately serve the chronically homeless in our community. LUM’s shelter and overnight winter warming station will serve more than 800 homeless individuals during 2017.
  • LUM’s Tax Preparation Program served 929 low-income workers, returning to them more than $1.4 million in tax credits and refunds.
  • LUM’s Good Samaritan Program serves up to twelve families each day – families that are in the throes of eviction, utility disconnects, health care or transportation emergencies. LUM has aided more than 2,200 such families so far this year.
  • More than, 2,900 individuals received emergency food from our St. John’s/LUM Food Pantry.
  • The Community Thanksgiving Meal served 900 individuals, LUM’s ID Clinic served more than 200 clients, our Legal Immigration Program served 39 individuals, and of course Jubilee Christmas – 1,909 children!

Perhaps Riley’s most powerful stanza in  Little Mandy  depicts the sharing of cash:
Nen my Ma she gived her Ma somepin’ ‘at I never saw,
And say ‘at she must take it, and, she ist maked her keep it in her hand.

In the spirit of this Christmas season I hope that you will share a gift of cash with the children and families served by the Lafayette Urban Ministry.  Your gift of $50, $100, $250, $500, or $1,000 will be used right here in our community to support LUM’s important work.

Place a copy of James Whitcomb Riley’s poem  Little Mandy’s Christmas Tree on your own Christmas tree as a reminder of the kindness and generosity you’ve shown toward those in our community who are suffering through a difficult time.

On behalf of each child and family served by the Lafayette Urban Ministry, please accept my heartfelt thanks and my wish for a joyous Christmas season.

Merry Christmas,

Joe Micon
Executive Director

PS – Please mail in or drop off your generous Christmas Season gift to LUM -- or give online at  www.lumserve.org/donate.