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Boy Scout Troop 126

Camp Eastman

Troop 126 has 18 members. They meet weekly at the church and Trinity provides their annual re-charter fee. Their 2005 activities included summer camp at Camp Ben Delatour Scout Ranch near Redfeather Lakes, CO, which included 12 boys and five adults; Scout Sunday in which the Scouts assisted with the church service followed by a potluck dinner and court of honor; the Spring Camporee held at Bob White Park near Allerton, IA,  and  the fall Camporee held at Otter Creek County Park. Both are district-sponsored campouts; Merit Badge Day, working on fellow Scouts' Eagle projects and a trip to visit Cabelas in December. The Scouts earned numerous merit badges in areas of interest and several boys advanced in rank. The Troop marched in parades and had other Troop campouts to attend.

A part of the Scout experience includes service work. 2006 projects included:

· Adopt-a-Highway clean-up days;
· Mowed Helping Hand lawn;
· Helped put up flags for Memorial Day;
· Lawn mowing at the church.

To keep the Troop going financially, they conduct fundraisers. This year they raked leaves at the Des Moines Metro Opera, mowed the church lawn and sold Christmas greenery.

Trinity members serving Boy Scout Troop 126 are: Matt Kruse, Scoutmaster; Dave Grissom, Assistant Scout Master; John Hansen, Assistant Scout Master; Rodney Prickett, Committee Chair; Zach Prickett, Assistant Scoutmaster.

Helping Hand

Three local missions grew and eventually merged to become the current Helping Hand. The first, the Clothes Closet, began in the early 1970's in an upstairs room of Trinity's old manse. Members of the congregation and others donated good, useable clothing which was given to people in need.  The Attic, a separate space for donated furniture and household appliances, opened soon after in a house rented by the church. The entire community was asked to make donations. In 1981, the Indianola Ministerial Association established a food pantry which operated from the Indianola Friends Church.

It soon became apparent that it would be much more efficient to house all three facilities under one roof. A steering committee's recommendations resulted in the establishment of a board of directors. Peggy Kruse and Margaret Vernon represented Trinity. A temporary facility was donated People's Trust and Savings Bank and over the next year, many volunteers from numerous churches worked to get the building (located at 124 East Salem) ready to use.

From 1982 through 1985, hundreds of hours of volunteer time went into the day-to-day operation of Helping Hand and also into fundraising, planning and building a permanent facility. Helping Hand officially opened for business at its present location (Clinton) on March 14,1985.

In 2005, more than 2,000 families from Indianola received clothing and/or household items from Helping Hand. An additional 1,171 families from other towns also received this assistance bringing the total to more than 3,000 families. Also in 2005, nearly 400 families and 938 individuals received food items from the Food Pantry (housed in the same facility.) On an average, 20 to 25 volunteers work weekly at Helping Hand. There are between 50 and 60 total volunteers in most years. Peggy Kruse, Trinity member, is the executive director of Helping Hand and works with 20 board members representing the entire community.

Peggy Kruse, in red sweater, and Sue Tinder at work in the Helping Hand Food Pantry.

Operation Christmas

Operation Christmas, begun in 1987, is conducted annually by Helping Hand through donations from churches and the community. The event provides Christmas meals and gifts for children and families of Warren County who are in need of assistance.

Trinity makes an annual contribution to Operation Christmas to help pay for the gifts and food.  Additionally, many individuals and groups within Trinity support Operation Christmas.

Trinity members serving Operation Christmas are Peggy Kruse, co-chair, and Jim Davies, treasurer.

Indianola Ministerial Association

For many years this church has been an active participant in the Indianola Ministerial Alliance. Each year the IMA provides ecumenical leadership in our community by organizing a Baccalaureate service, a series of Lenten lunches and worship services and a Thanksgiving Service. In cooperation with the Indianola Police Department, the churches also provide funds to help those who need temporary assistance with food, gas or lodging.

Meals-on-Wheels

For more than 35 years, Trinity members have delivered Meals-on-Wheels in Indianola to those in need of a hot, prepared meal. The meals are prepared at the Warren County Administration Building at the congregate meal site.  Working in teams of two persons each, two teams deliver meals every Wednesday. This involves nearly 20 volunteers each month from September through May. An additional 6-8 persons serve as substitutes. In June, July and August, a new "crew" of approximately 15-20 people continue the deliveries for Trinity.

Dawn Dixon serves as Trinity's coordinator for Meals-on-Wheels.

Presbyterian Women Comforter Project

For many years, the women of Trinity PW have made comforters to donate to Helping Hand. During the months of January and February, volunteers meet on Tuesday afternoons to assemble the comforters. While many, many women have contributed to this project over the years, current volunteers lift up Thelma Pehrson's long-time commitment to dismantling electric blankets so they may be used in making the comforters. Thelma continues to do this service from her home.

Donations of sheets (flat and fitted), washable draperies, large-size table cloths and blankets are all crafted into comforters. Most donations come from Trinity members. Each year, approximately 20 comforters are completed and distributed by Helping Hand in September and October. PW also makes an annual monetary donation to Helping Hand and conducts a mitten and hat collection for the agency at Christmas.

The photos below were taken of women working on the comforters in February 2006.

-click on images for larger view-

Nancy Michaelson	Kathy Betterton, left, and Sandy Denning	Dru McLuen, left, and Peggy Kruse	Very colorful!

Warren County Habitat for Humanity

In 2005, 269 people or organizations donated 5,150 hours of their time to Warren County Habitat for Humanity, according to their tracking program. The data in the program reflects only those hours reported, but we should understand that much of the work done by our committees is not reported to the office. Thus, the total number of volunteer hours is more than 5,150 hours. The following Trinity members and friends volunteered their time to Habitat for Humanity in 2005: Bob Ford , Loren Bartlett, Blair Lawson, Betty Crawford, Don Hampton, Carmen Hampton, Al Farris, Kathie Farris, Scott Grissom, Jack Bishop, Amy Bishop, Brad Paulsen, Bill Bryant, Sonja Crain, Beverly Anderson, John Anderson, Maurice Dyer, Heidi Frerichs, Cindy Baldwin, Amy Edgington, Michael Edgington, Amanda King, Russ King, Kelly Vickroy, Dave Grissom, Derek Overton, Mark Wilson, Margaret Blair, Dawn Dixon, Adam Kruse, Matt Kruse, Susan Wilson, Wayne Martens, Tom Kimball, Bob Lester, Al Cronin, Tonya Moore, Shawn Moore, and Laurie Bowers.
 

Mission statement: We feel called to action by Christ to mobilize our faith community to help the poor and oppressed become empowered to achieve and sustain their independence through education, encouragement and compassionate care.

Many steps have been taken this past year to bring the vision of WeLIFT to a reality. The steering committee* has worked diligently using their talents/gifts to establish a community mission outreach. WeLIFT provides resource services to assist clients in Warren and Madison Counties to locate and obtain job opportunities.

Anyone is invited to visit and/or volunteer his/her talents in the WeLIFT facility during the week. This program is a visible expression of Christ's love reaching out to those in need in our community.

*WeLIFT steering committee team: David Albrecht, Betty Dyer, Ashley Druckenmiller, Rev. David Endriss, Kathie Farris, Kristi Hunter, Beth Leuwerke, R.J. Olsen, Mary Shaw, Margaret Vernon, Jovanka Westbrook, and Sue Kimball






Director: Kelly Rynor
WeLIFT: 962-5017