In this edition of Wes's Weekly Wrap Up, Wes Tillett, LUM executive director, reflects on the success of the We’ve Got Talent event this past Saturday. Please take 59 seconds to watch the video and SHARE with others. See below for more about the We’ve Got Talent event.

Carol C. Robicheaux is the April LUM Volunteer of the Month. 

Carol currently lives in Lafayette, IN, with her husband, Francis. She grew up in Evanston, IL and earned a bachelor's degree in European History from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Carol retired as the buyer & manager with the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art at Auburn University (Alabama). She and Francis have two grown children, Colette & Peter, who live in California.

Carol is being honored for her volunteer work with the LUM Protein Food Pantry, Tax Assistance Program, and Jubilee Christmas as well as serving as a LUM Office volunteer afternoon receptionist. She has been a treasure to LUM program directors for her willingness to help wherever she is able. The food pantry director is grateful for Carol because she is hardworking, reliable, attentive to our clients, and very good with technology and data entry. As a result, she makes LUM better. When asked to reflect on her service at LUM for the past five years, Carol shared that, LUM provides vitally needed, practical, and immediate assistance to our most vulnerable citizens and does so with empathy and compassion. I have been grateful to be a part of this work.

LUM is grateful to Carol for choosing to volunteer with so many areas at LUM. She encourages anyone who is thinking about helping out to take the first step. Carol shared that, One of the best parts of volunteering with LUM is meeting so many nice people who either work with LUM or are clients.

If you wish to volunteer with LUM, please check out all of the opportunities on the LUM website at LUMserve.org/volunteer. If you still have questions or need more information, please email or call the LUM volunteer coordinator (volunteer@LUMserve.org | 765-423-2691).

This past Saturday, LUM hosted We’ve Got Talent — an amateur talent competition judged by a panel of local experts. The lineup of talent wowed the capacity crowd who responded with wild cheers and applause for each contestant. The judges offered immediate feedback after each performance and selected a winner and runner up. The We’ve Got Talent champion was Hilary Mirelez, who sang & played keyboards, representing the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tippecanoe County. The runner up was Michelle Newell-Jackson, who sang a song she wrote, from Second Baptist Church.

It was an exciting evening, and it was all in support of the LUM Good Samaritan Fund – the emergency financial assistance fund for local families. We’ve Got Talent raised more than $14,000 (so far) for the LUM Good Samaritan Fund, giving the LUM Financial Assistance Program a much needed boost.

If you missed We’ve Got Talent, you still can make a donation to the LUM Good Samaritan Fund — just click the button below.

Thanks to First Farmers Bank & Trust, St. Andrew United Methodist Church, Lafayette Brewing Company, judges, contestants, volunteers, and staff member for making We’ve Got Talent a success. To view a complete list of acknowledgements & thank you and event photos, click the buttons below.

St. Thomas Aquinas Music Ministry presents its annual Celebration Concert on Thursday, April 27 at 7 p.m. in the church (535 W State St., West Lafayette, IN). The concert is free and will include a freewill offering to raise funds for Lafayette Urban Ministry and St. Francis Xavier School at St. Tom's sister parish in Baudin, Haiti. The Schola Choir will perform Morten Lauridsen’s O Magnum Mysterium, William Byrd’s Ave Verum Corpus, Franz Biebl’s Ave Maria, and a first live performance of G. Bradley Bodine’s Irish Blessing. The Saint Thomas Aquinas Chant Choir will present three classics from the rich heritage of Gregorian chant. The concert will be rounded off by the Boiler Awakening Band performing a selection of contemporary praise songs. The concert is being sponsored by Purdue Boiler Catholics. For more information, please email brad@boilercatholics.org. Please join us for a wonderful evening of live music and an opportunity to support LUM.

The LUM After School Program students were treated with Easter surprises from the members of East Tipp Baptist Church and the Gamma Lambda Chapter of Delta Tau Delta Fraternity at Purdue. {Pictured above L to R: Kristi Hogue, LUM youth programs director; Patsy Moore, East Tipp Baptist Church; Bre Stewart, Frederick Clark & Patrick Renfroe, LUM program aides; and Madison Shoff, volunteer & Purdue student.}

Both groups recently surprised LUM with treats for Easter. The students were thrilled, and the teachers were touched by their kindness and generosity. Special thanks to the members of East Tipp Baptist Church and the Purdue Delts for this special, surprise gift for the LUM students.

If you or your group would like to make a monetary donation, a gift of needed items or volunteer with any LUM youth programs, please email or call Kristi Hogue (khogue@LUMserve.org | 765-423-2691).