Our Savior's Lutheran church in Lansing, 480 Diagonal Street (a block north of Main Street at 5th), will be hosting a holiday concert entitled “Jazzed about Christmas” at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, December 20th with a reception following. The concert will feature the church’s worship musician, celebrated Iowa jazz composer and pianist Tom Bourcier, on their new baby grand piano.
A freewill offering will be taken at the event to support a local outreach program known as the "Giving Tree" program, which provides gifts of toys, clothing, food and other resources to local families in need of assistance.
The Giving Tree began over 25 years ago. At that time, it was called the Toy Tree and it simply provided gifts for children of low income families at Christmas time. It was developed by the youth group of Lansing United Methodist Church. As the outreach project grew, additional support developed from individuals of other Lansing congregations. "Sister Kathyrn" of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church was actively involved as well as friends from Our Savior’s Lutheran who have made financial contributions over the years. This local outreach continues to be sponsored by the United Methodist congregation and is chaired by Angie Colsch. It serves families in Lansing, New Albin, Harpers Ferry, Waukon, Waterville, and surrounding rural areas.
As the needs of Allamakee County have grown, so has the program. Now the assistance is provided year round and it includes not only toys, but other necessities as well.
A lot of clothing items are given to kids. Colsch explains: “It is surprising how many kids in the area come to school in the winter without adequate socks, mittens, boots, or headwear because their families can't afford them.”
The Giving Tree provides socks, mittens, gloves, hats, scarves, winter coats, boots and other clothing items. They also donate towels, laundry detergent, clothes baskets, hygiene products and food for families who may not otherwise have these basic resources. And yes, toys, games, coloring books, dolls, balls are purchased, wrapped and given to brighten Christmas morning for many youngsters.
Allamakee County is already served by the food shelf in Waukon but the struggling economy has led to record numbers served. As of April, the unemployment rate of Allamakee County was 10%—the highest level in the state. Prior to the recent factory layoffs, the Allamakee County Food Shelf served about 80 households per month. Now it serves over 100 every month.
Furthermore, many families do not have transportation to Waukon and so the need for food assistance in Lansing, Harpers Ferry and New Albin as well as rural areas is an issue.
Throughout its history, the Giving Tree has operated on a volunteer basis. This enables every dollar given to go directly to Allamakee families, rather than to administrative costs. With a very modest budget, they were able to serve around 70 individuals last year.
“The purpose of the ‘Jazzed About Christmas’ concert is two-fold,” Pastor Laura Gentry explains. “We want to offer the community a wonderful Christmas concert while raising funds as well as awareness about the needs of our county. At this time of year, people are eager to be generous and this is an exciting opportunity for them to make a difference right here.”
This is the second benefit concert hosted by Our Savior’s Lutheran this year. In July, the church opened their doors to the public for a summer jazz concert featuring Bourcier to raise money for the Lansing Fire Department Building Fund. Between the concert and the additional funds contributed by the church, $1,000 was gathered for this cause.
Now, with the acquisition of a new instrument (pictured below), the church hopes to bring many people in to enjoy the music of the season while again, raising funds for a worthy cause.
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