caring - Lutheran Senior Services

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Simply the Best At Lutheran Senior Services, we help older adults improve their lives through a wide array of resources and options. We deliver value and security through our network of senior living communities, affordable housing, and in-home services. In living our Christian mission, we offer seniors a complete continuum of life choices in loving, person-centered environments. Whether a person lives in one of our communities or at home, we offer multiple levels of care. Letter From the President and the Chairman of the Board Not long ago, the executive director of one of Lutheran Senior Services’ senior living communities received a letter from a family member. His mother Hazel had recently passed away, and he wanted to share some insight with the staff who had served her at St. Joseph’s Home (an LSS community in Jefferson City). He writes: “One of the most precious things that I will never forget about her stay [there] is the name you gave her — Grandma. She was always Grandma in our family, but suddenly she was Grandma to everyone at St. Joseph’s. May God bless all of you who put the words of Jesus into action every day.” As we touch the lives of older adults and their families, we are blessed and we are honored to become part of their stories. Hazel became part of our family. She found what she needed — a sense of belonging. At LSS, we are the stewards of a 150-year legacy of devoted service in Christ’s name. We serve older adults as He would serve them. We create homes and we help seniors live in their homes as independently as possible. We help them to make their stories joyful ones. In this publication, you will read about only a few of the people we’ve had the privilege of serving over the past year. We’ve shared their struggles, and we’ve shared their triumphs. We cherish their stories — they are at the heart of all we do. Yours in Christ, Rev. John R. Kotovsky LSS President A. Earl Wendt Chairman of the Board 2009 annual report 1
Service is at the Heart of All We Do. 2 Service Elsie Fruend As a wise man once said, “All pleasures pale before service rendered in a spirit of joy.” If the laughter coming from the craft room at LSS’ Breeze Park community is any indication, he may have been onto something. “We love quilting,” grins Gloria Kersten as she tacks three layers of a newly sewn quilt together. “It keeps us out of the taverns.” At that, fresh peals of giggles go up around the room. Each week, Gloria and eight of her friends gather to laugh, tell stories, and create quilts for the Ronald McDonald House. “We started in the Spring of 2007,” says Elsie Fruend, whose daughter-in-law volunteers for the local charity. The initial order was for 39 quilts, but the young recipients liked the gifts so much, they all wanted to keep them when they were discharged. So, the ladies kept on sewing. “By the end of 2009, we had sent them 200 quilts. As of today (February 23), we’re up to 232, with 11 more in the making,” she says. Though Elsie and company are too modest to do the math, that’s 43 quilts, sewn almost entirely by hand in under two months. Fabric comes pouring in from local churches, family members, and most voluminously, other Breeze Park residents. Whether or not they’re handy with a thimble, the quilters’ neighbors are their biggest supporters. After all, the quilters are just one service group of many at Breeze Park. The residents turn out to support charities both local (Woodward School for atrisk children and the Missouri Veterans Home among others) and global (Haitian relief efforts, the Alzheimer’s Association, and the United Way, just for starters). All for service rendered in a spirit of joy.
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caring - Lutheran Senior Services

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