February 24th, 2010
The greatest two words in fundraising are “Thank You!” We cannot thank you enough for your faithful support in 2009.
Many non-profit agencies experienced less than usual giving in 2009. The national economy was the major culprit, plus the uncertainty factor concerning our wars in the Middle East and the health care debate. However, our faithful financial friends kept on giving and our total 2009 contributions were $1,298,863 – an incredible amount!!
You believe in what we are doing to help the abused and neglected youth of our state: ages 10-17 and it shows BIG TIME. Give yourself a “big pat on the back”. We could not be where we are without your prayerful support and encouragement.
We wish we could personally visit with each of you and thank you for your steadfast support.You are extremely important to our Mission.
Wow! How blessed we are to have such wonderful friends. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
February 19th, 2010
Each year, the Men’s Group of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Monroe, LA, holds a “To Do at the Zoo”. This year was no exception. The goal of this event is to raise money for our Children’s Home, and we are so thankful to the Men’s Group for helping us! This year the group decided to help fund our Vocational Training School which is currently under construction on our Ruston Campus. They have pledged $20,000 in honor of the United Methodist Church Men of St. Paul’s. A plaque honoring this group will be hung in one of the offices in the new Career and Vocational Training facility.
February 18th, 2010
The Louisiana Tech University Photo Club and Art 173 classes in participation with the National campaign Help Portrait recently photographed our residents of the Ruston campus. Help Portrait is a project in which photographers give of their skills and resources to photograph those who would not normally be able to afford portraits of their own. On December 12, 2009 photographers worldwide united using their time, skills, and equipment to give back to their communities. This is a movement of both professional and amateur photographers from all backgrounds hoping to make a difference during the holiday season.
Help-Portrait was formed by celebrity photographer Jeremy Cowart. “December 12th is about helping people who never imaginged having their portrait made. Kids who don’t have their own families, those in need at children’s hospitals here and abroad, single moms, the elderly, the homeless or even your own neighbor. This is about giving pictures, not taking them. It’s about building relationships in your own community and giving hope,” shares Cowart.
So, in the spirit of giving, the group from Louisiana Tech came to our campus on Saturday, December 12th, and spent the day photographing our 106 residents. The pictures will be printed and returned to each participant for them to keep and have as their own.
The staff and youth of LMCH sincerely thank all of the photographers and assistants who made this very special day happen.
February 17th, 2010
A “Celebration for the Children” was held this past fall on Sunday, October 25, 2009. The local community of the Sulphur/Lake Charles area and representatives from across the Lake Charles District turned out to show their support of a new Home being built to serve youth in the Southwestern part of Louisiana. Construction is underway to build a facility which will eventually house up to 32 youth. This new Home is the realization of the ongoing mission of the Louisiana United Methodist Children and Family Services, Inc. to “Guide Children and Families Home to Experience God’s Love by Following the Teachings of Christ.” The new residential facility will enable the Home to minister to even more of Louisiana’s hurting youth and families.
Part of the celebration was a time during which churches and individuals announced their commitments to support the new Home. One such commitment was made by the people of DeQuincy, UMC. Rev. Jerry Crise stated that his rural church had made a commitment of $20,000 over the next 5 years but expected that it would be paid off within a couple of years. He challenged other United Methodist Church’s in the district to do the same.
On Wednesday, January 27, 2010, Rev. Crise made the trip to North Louisiana to the Ruston campus of LMCH where the home office is located, and presented a check for $20,000 to President/CEO Terrel J. DeVille. Just 3 months after making their commitment, DeQuincy UMC paid in full. Rev. Crise and Mr. DeVille would like to challenge every church in the Acadiana and Lake Charles Districts, as well as every church in the state to step up and make commitments to support the new Home being constructed in Sulphur.
With your help and commitments, the new Home in the Sulphur area will be a tremendous success.
November 9th, 2009
Four charitable organizations in the communities served by Claiborne Electric Cooperative recently received a total of $26,342.86 in grants from Co-op members participating in the Operation Round Up program.
Grant recipients included the Family Counseling Center of Louisiana Methodist Children and Family Services, Inc., Union Parish Emergency 911, Farmerville Police Department, and Homer Elementary School.
Operation Round Up is a community service program that gives Claiborne Electric members the option to allow their bills to be rounded up to the next whole dollar. The difference in the actual bill and the rounded amount is deposited into the Operation Round Up Trust Fund. The funds accumulated are dispersed to charitable causes in the communities served by Claiborne Electric.
The program is governed by the Claiborne Electric Operation Round Up Trust Board. The board consists of nine Claiborne Electric members from across the Co-op’s service area. The board receives and reviews applications for the funds, makes decisions about allocation, and disperses the funds accordingly. The Trust Board met Sept. 15 to assign donations.
On Oct. 1, a grant check was presented to representatives of the Family Counseling Center of Louisiana Methodist Children and Family Services in Ruston. The Family Counseling Center of Louisiana Methodist Children and Family Services, Inc., is located in Ruston and serves 2,247 individuals from throughout the state. The organization was granted $7,895.96 to purchase two SMART Boards for classroom instruction. SMART Boards are interactive, touch-sensitive whiteboards used in classrooms to control computer applications, write notes, pull up charts and images, search the Internet, play videos and save work.
The recent grants approved by the Trust Board pushed the organization’s donated total to $264,332.03. The program has been used to award 59 grants to organizations, individuals and families since the first grants were dispersed in Oct. 2007.
Billy Hood, vice chairman of the Operation Round Up Trust Board, is amazed at the program’s success. “I was sitting in our last Trust Board meeting, and I realized that we had just given away more than a quarter of a million dollars total,” Hood said. “In just about two years, with just a few cents each month from most of Claiborne Electric’s members, we’ve been able to make that kind of difference for the organizations and people in need right here in our local communities. This is really a great program.”
November 5th, 2009
A “Celebration for the Children” was held Sunday, October 25, 2009. The Henning Life Center located across the street from Henning Memorial UMC, was the site for the celebration. While original plans were to host the event at the building site of the future children’s Home, recent rainfall made that impossible. The local community of the Sulphur/Lake Charles area and representatives from across the Lake Charles District turned out to show their support of our new Home being built to serve youth in the Southwestern part of Louisiana. Construction is underway to build a facility which will eventually house up to 32 youth. This new Home is the realization of the ongoing mission of the Louisiana United Methodist Children and Family Services, Inc. to “Guide Children and Families Home to Experience God’s Love by Following the Teachings of Christ.” The new residential facility will enable the Home to minister to even more of Louisiana’s hurting youth and families which is our ultimate goal.
It was standing room only as there were approximately 250 seats available and an estimated 350 people in attendance! The First United Methodist Church of Lake Charles, along with Henning Memorial United Methodist Church, DeQuincy UMC, University UMC and other churches from the Lake Charles District planned this event through a Volunteer Committee that just took the idea and ran with it!! These volunteers could be seen wearing red t-shirts with “Let’s Get it Built” printed on them. With an outpouring of commitment from the community and an overwhelming response, the celebration was a rousing success. Guests were welcomed by volunteers from Westlake UMC and then treated to an old fashioned Hymn Singing and Ice Cream social. Students from the Wesley Foundation of McNeese University (in Lake Charles) served the delicious Klienpeter ice cream.
Hymns were sung by all in attendance, while a children’s choir comprised of children from all of the different churches in the district provided special music through songs such as “Jesus Loves Me”. One of the older children in the group, Mark Losey, performed an amazing saxophone solo of the song “Amazing Grace”.
Ben Mount, a member of the volunteer committee, served as Master of Ceremonies and introduced Rev. Stephen Spurlock who gave the invocation. Terrel J. DeVille, President and CEO of LUMCFS, Inc., then spoke, thanking everyone for such great attendance – especially those who were fans of the New Orleans Saints who happened to be playing during the event. He gave a brief history of how the need arose for a facility in the SWLA area, stating that hurricanes Katrina and Rita were the catalyst that helped make us acutely aware of the needs of children and families in the southern area of our state.
The presentation of a Time Capsule ensued. The Time Capsule was donated by Howell Industries and the intention is to bury it on the new campus to be opened 50 years from now. Children came forward with items to place in the time capsule. Their items were pictures of their churches and their written visions of what they expect their churches will be like in future.
Following Mr. DeVille’s remarks, Bishop William Hutchinson gave a sermon. In regards to the new facility he said “This is an important Methodist institution deserving of our support in all ways; worthy of our prayers and giving of our time and monetary donations.”
Mayor Ron LeLeux of Sulphur, and Mayor Randy Roach of Lake Charles were on hand as well and emphasized the needs of their communities and stated that the area was sorely lacking in resources for the overwhelming needs of hurting youth and families here. This facility will fill a void in the area of services for children.
Part of the celebration was a time during which churches and individuals announced their commitments to support the new Home. One such commitment was made by Rev. Jerry Crise of DeQuincy UMC. Rev. Crise stated that his small church had made a commitment of $20,000 over the next 5 years but expected that it would be paid off within a couple of years. He challenged other United Methodist Church’s in the district to do the same. Mickey and Bob Shannon along with several other couples from University UMC announced their commitment to provide funds for the naming opportunity for one room and are “working on a second naming opportunity.” Ben Mount also mentioned a generous gift by Dr. and Mrs. Scott Bergstedt and family which will provide funding to name and furnish the Lobby as a memorial to their son Benjamin Pierce Bergstedt. It was shared with those in attendance that the very first naming opportunity donation was made by Dr. George Vincent in honor of his wife Nina Vincent.
Mr. DeVille said that the fact that the Lake Charles District had stepped up to take ownership of this new Home, accepting it as a responsibility and a calling to support it, really bodes well for the future of the home.
The celebration wrapped up with a benediction by Rev. Aneice Moses of Warren UMC.
Prayer Rocks were passed out by Sue Crise, with DeQunicy UMC, to encourage everyone to pray for the new Home in Southwest Louisiana.
October 4th, 2009
Watch "Louisiana Methodist Children’s Home" on Louisiana Public Broadcasting’s "Louisiana: The State We’re In".
September 16th, 2009
In spite of a troubled economy, we are expanding our services throughout the state. How many agencies are able to say that these days?
That we are a connectional ministry is one of the keys to our success.
Our growth has been made possible by strong participation from communities throughout the state. This support is essential in order to sustain the programs we have developed. One way that this is done is through our Local Church Representative (LCR) program. We are in the process of involving each United Methodist Church throughout the state, inviting them to share their gifts and talents.
The LCR serves as a liaison between his or her church and LMCH, to help strengthen the relationship between the two. We rely on each LCR to help promote our programs. They receive information from the Home on a regular basis, and help to insure that their congregation is kept informed of all that is going on in our programs. LCR’s may also be able to introduce others to mission work opportunities at one of our campuses, or help coordinate a fund-raiser event to benefit our children – i.e. a car wash, bake sale, or video night. We welcome your creativity! We currently have approximately 150 LCR’s and need church pastors to appoint one if the church does not already have one.
There continues to be much enthusiasm throughout the state, as we are in the process of building our new facility to help youth and families in southwest Louisiana. This is a huge project, and we will need your continued prayers and monetary support to bring this to fruition.
Our programs in southeast Louisiana continue to thrive too, and our children are enriched by your creativity. Thanks to the combined efforts of Pearl Squires and her staff at Bright Hopes Quilting in Mandeville, and the Sharper Needles group which meets at her store, each child at our Mandeville location has received a beautiful, hand-made quilt. The children love having their own quilt, which they take with them when they leave our Home.
Also in Mandeville, Dick Kilgore and friends of St. Timothy on the Northshore, UMC have been sharing their green thumbs and gardening expertise with our youth. The kids get to plant whatever they would like (including okra, jalapeno peppers, and even a white English rose!) With Mr. Kilgore’s guidance, they are learning to share their bounty with others. This fall they will be planting vegetables as part of the “Plant a Row, Share a Row” program, benefiting those involved in a local food bank program.
Bob Squires and his committee of volunteers are working hard to repeat the success of the annual golf tournament. The 30th Annual Methodist Home Golf Classic will be at the Beau Chene Country Club, October 5th. All proceeds benefit the Methodist Home for Children of Greater New Orleans.
August 18th, 2009
The children, staff, and board of LUMCFS, Inc., and the LA Annual Conference are deeply indebted and very grateful for the support pledged to our organization by the members of the Central Pennsylvania Conference and the ministry of the United Methodist Home for Children in Mechanicsburg, PA. This ministry, under the excellent leadership of Dr. David Reed and staff, has graciously been giving support to help us recover from 4 devastating hurricanes during the last 3 ½ years.
In February of 2008, we relocated the Children’s Home from its site in New Orleans to a temporary facility in Mandeville, which we are currently leasing from the state of Louisiana. This relocation has bought us some time, however within the next few years we must locate a site and construct a permanent Home for the children being cared for. Terrel J. DeVille, President and CEO of LUMCFS, says,
“When Dr. Reed called to inform me that the Pennsylvania Conference had elected to conduct a financial campaign to make major improvements on the campus of the Children’s Home located in Mechanicsburg, and that they would designate a portion of the Campaign to assist us with the relocation of the New Orleans facility, I have to admit it almost overwhelmed me.”
Mr. DeVille complimented Dr. Reed with the following quote:
“What a servant leadership the Central Pennsylvania Conference has. What a commitment to ministry your membership is demonstrating. We of the LA Annual Conference and the LA Methodist Children’s Home covet our relationship with you and with our sister agency in children, youth and family ministry. Anything we can do to make your effort successful, we are here to serve. May God’s blessings be with all his children throughout the world.”
August 18th, 2009
LAKE CHARLES – After 57 years of serving the people of Oak Park and the Lake Charles community, Oak Park United Methodist Church held its final worship service May 31. However, the legacy of Oak Park UMC will continue to serve the people of Calcasieu Parish for many years to come.
At the Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church held in Kenner June 7-10, Oak Park UMC Pastor Shawn Hornsby presented Terrel Deville, CEO and President of the United Methodist Children’s Home with a check representing an endowment created for the new home, which is currently being constructed in Sulphur.
The $70,000 endowment established with the United Methodist Foundation of LA will provide an annual gift through the interest earned to the Methodist Children’s Home for Southwest Louisiana. The congregation of Oak Park UMC decided to create the endowment as they wrestled with the many decisions leading to the closing of their church.
Oak Park UMC, located at 1800 Orchid St. in the heart of the Oak Park neighborhood of Lake Charles, first opened to the public in March of 1952 under the leadership of the Rev. Theodore Weber.
After an extended period of membership decline, the congregation decided to disband but refused to go quietly into history. Members of the church’s administrative council made the decision to begin the closing process last August. The conversation around that decision led to the discussion of creating an endowment so that the church’s legacy might continue. The new children’s home to be constructed in Sulphur instantly came to mind and the congregation eagerly embraced the idea.
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