The annual Turkey Trot 5K Run was festive as well as a big success. Turkey Trot attracted a fun bunch willing to arrive before sunrise and run or walk a 5K on a brisk Thanksgiving morning.
Many arrived in costume or wearing a turkey hat, and participated with their entire family including their dogs. Turkey Trot participants shared that they enjoy being able to add more meaning to their holiday by supporting local children & families through the programs of Lafayette Urban Ministry. Special thanks to our first annual Costume Contest celebrity judges, Indiana State Representative Sheila Klinker and Joe Micon, LUM executive director. To view the TT5K Run results, click HERE. To view event PHOTOS, click button below.
The event was also a successful fundraiser for all of the LUM programs & services offered to local families and children. It is still early but Turkey Trot 2019 is on track to raise more than $21,000. Thanks to all of our participants and Event Sponsors. If you were not able to participate and would like to give, click the donate button below.
PHOTOS – To view photos from the event, click HERE.
Every year, hundreds of low income families come to LUM to get their taxes done. And YOU can be a part of making that happen!
The average family that uses the LUM Tax Assistance Program earns a little more than $20,000 a year, cannot afford to pay a professional to do their taxes, and often lack the confidence, experience, or ability to complete the returns on their own.
Being a volunteer tax preparer at LUM can be an incredibly rewarding and fun experience.
Tax tax clinics are scheduled for Tuesdays & Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Wednesdays from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m., and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., beginning in February and going through early April. You can sign up for as many or as few clinics as you’d like. All volunteers need to complete an IRS tax certification. Saturday prep classes will provided for volunteers in December and January to help you get ready. Anyone can learn to do this, regardless of background or experience.
If you’d like to find out more about becoming a volunteer tax preparer, please email program director, Josh Prokopy at jprokopy@lumserve.org.
In our joy, we think we hear a whisper. At first it is too soft. Then only half heard. We listen carefully as it gathers strength. We hear a sweetness. The word is Peace. It is loud now. It is louder. Louder than the explosion of bombs.
Dear Friend,
It was during the lighting of the National Christmas Tree in 2005 that Dr. Maya Angelou first shared her poem Amazing Peace.
As one of the most renowned and influential voices of our time, Angelou’s words beckon us to contemplate a world of peace during a season of peace. She wrote that, “there is no better time than Christmas to come away from rancor; no better time to look beyond complexion to see community; no better time to mend that which is broken into that which is whole. “
They are powerful words that speak directly to the mission of the Lafayette Urban Ministry. An organization of 47 Greater Lafayette churches, LUM nurtures children and strengthens families who are experiencing difficult times.
During the past year, the Lafayette Urban Ministry served 4,723 families through one or another of our 22 programs.
TheLUM overnightEmergency Shelter continues to serve compassionately the chronically homeless in our community. TheLUM shelter and Winter Warming Station will provide shelter and addiction services to more than 900 homeless individuals during 2019.
TheLUM 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 1,780 families this year.
TheLUMTax Preparation Program served 522 low-income workers, returning to them $906,000 in tax credits and refunds.
In addition, the Lafayette Urban Ministry started the LUMProtein Food Pantry in 2019. This new and innovative response to persistent food insecurity in our community provides meat, eggs, fresh vegetables, infant formula and baby food to children and families in need. More than 50 families are served each week.
In her poem,Maya Angelou interprets peace as a harmony of spirit and a comfort of courtesies. She defines it as security for our beloveds and their beloveds. She calls Christmas the halting of hate time.
In the spirit of peace this Christmas season, I hope that youwillsupport the important work of LUM with a gift of cash. Your contribution of $50, $100, $250, $500, or $1,000 will be used to support needy children and their families, right here in our own community.
I share below Dr. Maya Angelou’s Christmas poem, Amazing Peace, in appreciation of the kindness you have always shown toward those LUM serves. On behalf of each child and family, please accept my heartfelt thanks and my wish for a joyous Christmas.
Donate to LUM
Amazing Peace by Dr. Maya Angelou
Thunder rumbles in the mountain passes
And lightning rattles the eaves of our houses.
Flood waters await in our avenues.
Snow falls upon snow, falls upon snow to avalanche
Over unprotected villages.
The sky slips low and grey and threatening.
We question ourselves.
What have we done to so affront nature?
We interrogate and worry God.
Are you there? Are you there really?
Does the covenant you made with us still hold?
Into this climate of fear and apprehension, Christmas enters,
Streaming lights of joy, ringing bells of hope
And singing carols of forgiveness high up in the bright air.
The world is encouraged to come away from rancor,
Come the way of friendship.
It is the Glad Season.
Thunder ebbs to silence and lightning sleeps quietly
in the corner.
Flood waters recede into memory.
Snow becomes a yielding cushion to aid us
As we make our way to higher ground.
Hope is born again in the faces of children
It rides on the shoulders of our aged as they walk into their sunsets.
Hope spreads around the earth. Brightening all things,
Even hate which crouches breeding in dark corridors.
In our joy, we think we hear a whisper.
At first it is too soft. Then only half heard.
We listen carefully as it gathers strength.
We hear a sweetness.
The word is Peace.
It is loud now. It is louder.
Louder than the explosion of bombs.
We tremble at the sound. We are thrilled by its presence.
It is what we have hungered for.
Not just the absence of war. But, true Peace.
A harmony of spirit, a comfort of courtesies.
Security for our beloveds and their beloveds.
We clap hands and welcome the Peace of Christmas.
We beckon this good season to wait a while with us.
We, Baptist and Buddhist, Methodist and Muslim, say come.
Peace.
Come and fill us and our world with your majesty.
We, the Jew and the Jainist, the Catholic and the Confucian,
Implore you, to stay a while with us.
So we may learn by your shimmering light
How to look beyond complexion and see community.
It is Christmas time, a halting of hate time.
On this platform of peace, we can create a language
To translate ourselves to ourselves and to each other.
At this Holy Instant, we celebrate the Birth of Jesus Christ
Into the great religions of the world.
We jubilate the precious advent of trust.
We shout with glorious tongues the coming of hope.
All the earth’s tribes loosen their voices
To celebrate the promise of Peace.
We, Angels and Mortal’s, Believers and Non-Believers, Look heavenward and speak the word aloud. Peace. We look at our world and speak the word aloud. Peace. We look at each other, then into ourselves And we say without shyness or apology or hesitation.
Peace, My Brother. Peace, My Sister. Peace, My Soul.
This Match Program expired November 30 at midnight.
Thanks to Neil Klemme State Farm Insurance for making it possible.
During the month of November, take advantage of the Klemme Insurance $3,000 Match Program and double your donation to LUM, increasing your impact on strengthening local families thanks to the generosity of Neil Klemme State Farm Insurance Agency.
It’s simple — click the “Make A Donation” button below, make a donation by November 30, and Neil Klemme Insurance Agency will match all donations, up to $3,000.
PLUS — $10 Donation to LUM —for every insurance quote requested. You must be a new customer, email michael@neilklemme.com for an insurance quote, mention Lafayette Urban Ministry — and $10 will be donated to LUM!
All money will benefit local children & families through the LUM Jubilee Christmas program. Jubilee Christmas is a special LUM program for families with children ages 12 and under. Families who participate in Jubilee Christmas are invited to a host site and are able to select new toys for their children. Families also receive some food items to make their Christmas dinner more special. This year, 617 local families are registered for Jubilee Christmas, impacting 1,766 children.
This is an exciting partnership because Neil Klemme State Farm Insurance Agency is a local business. LUM is very fortunate and sincerely grateful to have this support from Neil Klemme State Farm Insurance Agency.
This year, considering replacing your Office Holiday Party “gift exchange” with a collection of “needed items” for LUM.
Whether it’s after school snacks for our students or cleaning supplies for the Emergency Shelter or toys & books for Jubilee Christmas or paper products for the Protein Food Pantry — each donation is helpful and appreciated. Make your holiday celebrations, at work and at home, more meaningful for your family, your guests and your colleagues by allowing them to give to local families in need.
To view the entire LUM Wishlist of needed items, click HERE.
LUM Jubilee Christmas is Saturday, December 14, and the Donation Center opens Monday, December 2 from 1-5 p.m. For a list of needed items, and the locations and open hours of the Donation Centers, click HERE.
Thanks to the members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 668 for their recent donation of 25 turkeys to Lafayette Urban Ministry.
These turkeys will be served at the annual LUM Greater Lafayette Interfaith Community Thanksgiving Celebration next Thursday and offered to the families using the LUM Protein Food Pantry this week.
LUM is grateful to IBEW 668 for their continued support of the LUM mission.
Consider a Donation to LUM This Holiday Season
This year, considering replacing your Office Holiday Party “gift exchange” with a collection of “needed items” for LUM.
Whether it’s after school snacks for our students or cleaning supplies for the Emergency Shelter or toys & books for Jubilee Christmas or paper products for the Protein Food Pantry — each donation is helpful and appreciated. Make your holiday celebrations, at work and at home, more meaningful for your family, your guests and your colleagues by allowing them to give to local families in need.
To view the entire LUM Wishlist of needed items, click HERE.
LUM Jubilee Christmas is Saturday, December 14, and the Donation Center opens Monday, December 2 from 1-5 p.m. For a list of needed items, and the locations and open hours of the Donation Centers, click HERE.
This Match Program expired November 30 at midnight.
Thanks to Neil Klemme State Farm Insurance for making it possible.
During the month of November, take advantage of the Klemme Insurance $3,000 Match Program and double your donation to LUM, increasing your impact on strengthening local families thanks to the generosity of Neil Klemme State Farm Insurance Agency.
It’s simple — click the “Make A Donation” button below, make a donation by November 30, and Neil Klemme Insurance Agency will match all donations, up to $3,000.
PLUS — $10 Donation to LUM —for every insurance quote requested. You must be a new customer, email michael@neilklemme.com for an insurance quote, mention Lafayette Urban Ministry — and $10 will be donated to LUM!
All money will benefit local children & families through the LUM Jubilee Christmas program. Jubilee Christmas is a special LUM program for families with children ages 12 and under. Families who participate in Jubilee Christmas are invited to a host site and are able to select new toys for their children. Families also receive some food items to make their Christmas dinner more special. This year, 617 local families are registered for Jubilee Christmas, impacting 1,766 children.
This is an exciting partnership because Neil Klemme State Farm Insurance Agency is a local business. LUM is very fortunate and sincerely grateful to have this support from Neil Klemme State Farm Insurance Agency.
The LUM Turkey Trot 5K Run is open to runners of all ages and abilities and welcomes runners, walkers, dogs, strollers, wagons, turkey hats, costumes and more. Advanced registration is encouraged but race day walk-ups are welcome!A few more volunteers are also needed.
All Turkey Trot 5K Run proceeds directly support local children & families through the programs and services offered by Lafayette Urban Ministry — and it’s a blast! Register TODAY!
Central Presbyterian Church, 31 N 7th St., Lafayette, IN
FREE – All are welcome
More than 800 people will be served at the annual Greater Lafayette Interfaith Community Thanksgiving Celebration.
It is a true community event, where everyone is welcome. To make it a success, LUM relies on donations of money as well as food & supplies. Please consider making a donation, cooking a casserole or baking a pie.
Greater Lafayette Interfaith Community Thanksgiving Celebration
More than 800 people will be served this Thanksgiving at the LUM Greater Lafayette Interfaith Community Thanksgiving Celebration, and we’d love to have you get involved in some way.
You may bake pies, prepare casseroles, donate money, volunteer and donate other food items and supplies.
If your business or group would like to become an event sponsor, call or email us (765-423-2691 | thanks@lumserve.org).
If your business or group would like to become an event sponsor, call or email us (765-423-2691 | thanks@lumserve.org).
Turkey Trot 5K Run – Fundraiser for LUM benefiting Local Families
Don’t forget to get registered for the most festive 5K run of the year — the LUM Turkey Trot 5K Run. Families, dogs, walkers, strollers, wagons, costumes & turkey hats are welcome. It is a great way start off your Thanksgiving day. Build lifetime memories — and support local families in need through the programs of Lafayette Urban Ministry.
Every year, hundreds of low income families come to LUM to get their taxes done. We all know how scary tax time can be, but here at LUM it’s often a time of joy. Families who struggle every day just to get by, come here to learn they’re going to get a refund that will place badly needed money back in their pockets. And you can be a part of making that happen!
The average family that uses the LUM Tax Assistance Program earns a little more than $20,000 a year. They cannot afford to pay a professional to do their taxes, and many lack the confidence, experience, or ability to complete the returns on their own.
Being a volunteer tax preparer at LUM can be an incredibly rewarding experience.Since, it is a small program, our volunteers have the chance to get to know their clients, and to feel the very personal and immediate reward that comes with realizing they have truly helped someone. At the same time, our volunteers have a lot of fun. Volunteers and staff get to know each other, socialize together between client visits, and help each other solve problems as they arise.
While a few of our volunteers are tax professionals, looking for a way to use their skills to help those in need, others just love the mental challenge of completing a tax return, and still others come to us with no background in math or taxes whatsoever. There have even been volunteers who started off terrified of numbers, only to discover that taxes weren’t that scary after all.
Tax tax clinics are scheduled for Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Wednesdays from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m., and Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., beginning in February and going through early April. You can sign up for as many or as few clinics as you’d like.
All volunteers need to complete an IRS tax certification. This can seem intimidating at first glance, but don’t worry! There will be Saturday prep classes in December and January to help you get ready. And once you’re certified you can spend a clinic or two shadowing a more experienced volunteer before taking your first client. And if you run into problems you don’t understand, there’s always someone there to help!
Anyone can learn to do this, regardless of background or experience. If you’d like to find out more about becoming a volunteer tax preparer, please email program director, Josh Prokopy at jprokopy@lumserve.org.
The annual Turkey Trot 5K Run was festive as well as a big success. Turkey Trot attracted a fun bunch willing to arrive before sunrise and run or walk a 5K on a brisk Thanksgiving morning.
All money will benefit local children & families through the LUM 
special LUM program for families with children ages 12 and under. Families who participate in 
NEXT Thursday, Nov. 28 (Thanksgiving Morning)
