What have we been doing?

Social distancing and stay-at-home criteria have caused some diminishment in our ability to be overly proactive. We have not been able to distribute our annual hygiene products to Skid Row, although, we have amassed bags of supplies for this purpose. We were able to continue our efforts in securing eyeglasses to be recycled and issued to those in need. And, yes, we produced another 7lbs of pull-tabs, delivering them to Ronald McDonald House in Long Beach. To date, we have recycled 71lbs or 80,900 individual tabs! Whew…

Certainly, we are most proud of our January 2021 e-worship service in tribute to The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., that by all accounts was phenomenally received and served as a grand opportunity to praise and honor God for His work in and through the life of Dr. King. Many have said that even next year’s service should be virtual or e-based because of its ability to reach so many people nationwide. There were nearly 1,000 views of the worship service, realizing that in many cases, two or three people may well have viewed it together, which would have made individual viewing that much more significant in number. It was, unquestionably, a powerful witness!

Arising from this e-experience, we agreed as an association to advance our web-based capabilities to be more in-line with the visual display demonstrated by the King celebration production. With that in mind, we agreed to raise funds to revamp our website and to offer a brand new platform for user review and ultimate appreciation. This new platform will be interactive and shall be updated with reasonable frequency. The new platform should be on-line by May 2021.

Just last week, ADLA received from the Office of ELCA World Hunger and Disaster Appeal their heartfelt thanks for the $2,500 that was donated in support of Lutheran Disaster Relief. Here again this year we’ve witnessed flooding in the Midwest and severe winter storms on the eastern seaboard. We pray that these resources will extend some level of relief and restoration for those hard hit. We also recently forwarded to Interfaith Refugee and Immigration Service (IRIS) a check in the amount of $1,700 in support of the children held as detainees at our southwest borders. Some 700 children are being housed in quarters designed for less than half of that number, detained for weeks on end. We pray that this gift as well will have significance. We, as an association, shall endeavor to do more, for we can do no less!