In this edition of Wes's Weekly Wrap Up, Wes Tillett, LUM executive director, shares how LUM is giving shelter during the COVID-19 surge. When the local day shelter is locked down due to COVID-19, the Annex Day Shelter & LUM Winter Warming Station are available for others. Please take 60 seconds to watch this video and SHARE with others. If you wish to donate bagged meals to the Annex or Winter Warming Station, click HERE.

LUM is proud to introduce the talented LUM After School Program team. Led by Kristi Hogue, LUM Youth Programs director, the LUM teachers do an incredible job of caring for and educating the LUM students each weekday afternoon, especially during the COVID-19 surge. This school year 62 students are enrolled from all over Tippecanoe County. The 2022 ASP teachers are as follows:

KRISTI Hogue grew up in Logansport and currently lives in Lafayette with Jeff, her husband of 27 years, and their children, Jaedren (14) and Maekenna (10), who have been enrolled in the LUM After School & summer programs for the past few years. Her oldest daughter, Taelynn (21), also lives and works in the Lafayette area, and has volunteered, sharing art ideas and homework help. Kristi graduated from Logansport High School, earned a BS in Child Development & Family Studies from Purdue University, and is a member of the National After School Association. She has worked with children and families as a career for nearly 30 years and enjoys continuing to learn and grow with LUM Youth Programs. Thanks to LUM and Indiana’s TEACH Scholarship program, she started her Master’s in Education focused on Early Childhood Education and a Graduate Certificate in Autism this semester at Ball State.

LUM is fortunate and grateful to have these dedicated teachers on the ASP Team.

For many, Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a long weekend, but for some it is a Day of Service. Eight Purdue University students honored the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by volunteering this past Monday at LUM. These students helped advance the LUM Healthy Shelter initiative by cleaning the Emergency Shelter dining room, kitchen, bedrooms, lobby and stairwell. They also helped disassemble and removed wooden bunkbeds making room for new metal beds, which are easier to disinfect and help with pest control.

Please join us in thanking these students for choosing LUM and working hard to make the shelter cleaner, safer and healthier. LUM is grateful to be a part of such a giving community including the Purdue student body. Boiler Up!

Three Ways YOU can help the LUM After School Program TODAY are as follows:

The LUM After School Program needs VOLUNTEERS from 2 to 6 p.m., every weekday. Volunteers are needed to tutor, read to students, give spelling tests and supervise the children. Please consider signing up TODAY. To begin, click HERE.

The LUM Solar Energy Initiative was switched on three years ago. The amount of energy generated daily has been substantial. In addition to the environmental benefits of going solar, the savings to LUM has been close to $5,000 per year. These savings include a reduction in energy needed as well as revenue from trading Solar Renewable Energy Credits.

The money saved ($14,749.24) has been reinvested in LUM programs & services in support of local families, children and individuals experiencing homelessness. LUM plans on expanding this solar energy initiative in the future. Stay tuned.