Shoe Recycling returns to St. Matthew’s
St. Matthew’s will once again collect old, worn out athletic shoes to be recycled through the Nike reuse-a-shoe program. Instead of going to the landfill shoes will be recycled into materials for the creation of new athletic surfaces. Drop off your athletic shoes during church hours in the barrel located in front of the church office. Please follow these guidelines:

• Don’t tie the shoes together
• Don’t put them in plastic bags
• Don’t bring shoes with metal, cleats or spikes

We will run this program through mid-October. If you have any questions, please contact Jennifer Kramer at jenkqk@yahoo.com.

 

Annual Toy Swap - Oct. 23 - What to do with all those extra toys?

• Does your child have too many toys to appreciate and play with?
• Has your child outgrown several toys?
• Do you feel like replacing current toys with something more age appropriate?
• Do you not have enough time for a rummage sal
• Now that it is back to school are you trying to clean out toys to promote good study habits?

If yes, then remember the St. Matthew’s Toy Swap is just around the corner. Please donate your old and outgrown toys, books, and DVDs.

The date for this year’s swap is Sunday Oct. 23 9:45-11:00 a.m. in the Upper Room. Bring your donations to church the week before and place them outside the office or on the stage. Donations are also accepted the day of the swap. During the swap feel free to take as many items as you can use. If you don’t have items to donate, simply make a monetary donation. All left over toys and cash donations are given to Reformation Lutheran to benefit The Neighborhood Store.

 

Holden Visit a welcome respite after travel challenges
Planes, trains and buses – after two days of travel following the cancellation of planned AMTRAK travel due to flooding in Minot, S.D., our St Matthew’s group of 17 arrived in the peace and beauty of Holden Village, an ELCA family camp located on the east side of the Cascade mountains in an old copper mining camp. Fresh, dry mountain air, stimulating classes, inspiring worship, challenging hikes, tasty food and the warmth of the community welcomed us. The sound of children’s voices, (the village has special programs for children so that parents can get a rest), the peace of the craft center and generous daily ice cream scoops topped things off.

The St. Matthew’s Group which traveled to Holden Village in Washington state July 14-25.	Brian, Lynn and Don Koebel prepare to go on a hike in the mountains.	The mountains surrounding Holden Village.

 

Hoop House project moves forward - goal of $7500 reached
Thanks to the generosity of all of you we were able to achieve our goal of $7500 for Growing Power Hoop Houses. Pictured here is Will Allen standing in the middle of a hoop house. Growing Power’s initiative is to build 150 hoop houses, establish 150 living wage jobs and create an ongoing source of healthy, “local” food for our community.

Donations will help meet the challenge of donors Mike, Laura and Michael Randa. This project will pay for the construction of two hoop houses and work toward getting one job for each of our city partner congregations, Cross and Reformation Lutheran churches.

This project was a feature of the presentation by Will Allen when he was at St. Matt's for the Adult Forum June 5.

Read more about Will Allen's visit on this web page below [here].

 

Altar flowers were local this summer
Our altar flowers this summer were flowers shared from people’s gardens. The schedule was set up by Bob Zwaska, who coordinated the altar flower ministry. Our thanks to all who contributed flowers and Bob who coordinated the schedule.

 

Renowned Milwaukee leader Will Allen visited St. Matthew’s, June 5
Will Allen, the inspirational leader of Growing Power, one of TIME 100 most influential people (2010) and a 2008 recipient of the $500,000 MacArthur Foundation Genius Award was our speaker for Adult Education on Sunday, June 5. (see the Time magazine article [here]. See more about the Sunday Adult Forum [here].

Will Allen was also featured in the NY Times Magazine (July 1, 2009) [here].

Information about the MacArthur Foundation award is [here].

St Matthew’s Social Ministry and Care for Creation teams joinied together to raise money to support Growing Power’s new initiative, Growing Capacity for the Green Economy Project. The goal of this project is to create 150 full time jobs through the construction of 150 hoop-houses and associated urban sustainable food production in the City of Milwaukee. Join us for this inspiring session and learn how you can support more jobs and better food for our central city.

Videos (2) of Will Allen's Adult Forum presentation online [here].

Podcast of Will Allen's Adult Forum presentation online [here].

Photos of activities, Sunday, June 5, including Will Allen's visit [here].

Read more about the Hoop House project on this web page [here].

More photos of Will Allen's visit to St. Matt's June 5 below (click image to enlarge):

Pr. Margaret Schoewe, right, gives leadership to St. Matthew’s Care for Creation ministry and had a vision of Mr. Allen’s visit since learning about Growing Power during a visit there over a year ago. Will Allen, left, stands next to Mike and Laura Randa and their son, Michael. The Randa Family donated the cost of a Hoop House and challenged the congregation to match the amount ($3750) for a total gift of two Hoop Houses for Growing Power. This challenge was met through the strong giving of our congregation.		Will Allen gave a fascinating talk on June 5 about the Growing Power organization and the dozens of groups, schools, and agencies it partners with for a variety of agricultural projects. Mr. Allen is the innovator of dozens of organic processes for growing healthy foods, and then distributing this food throughout the area as well as training people from around the world with his unique and efficient farming methods. About 200 people came to hear him. Local TV station WISN - Channel 12 covered Mr. Allen’s visit and vision for the work he does.
Thank you to all the volunteers who helped with the pancake breakfast. Their work helped our fund raising and also gave those who came to Will Allen’s presentation an opportunity to taste how good “local” food can be. Pancake Breakfast Helpers (left to right): Mary Collins, Kathy Hale, Cathy Laszewski, Mike Thomae, Scott Villmow, Greg Laszewski, Jeanne Collins (with apples); Tim Schoewe and Bob Storm. Amelia Scheiber stands in front.		Hoop House Project – Thanks to the generosity of all of you we were able to achieve our goal of $7500 for Growing Power Hoop Houses. Pictured here are some of the first hoop houses to be built at 13th and Reservoir. Plans are to begin growing vegetables in September. Read more about the Hoop House project on this page above [here].

 

Mazagine Swap:What a great idea!
Share what you have - Take what you’ll read
As part of our Caring for Creation ministry, we are inviting people who have extra current magazines to consider "recycling" their magazines when they’re done reading them, by bringing them to church to share with others. There is a magazine rack outside the church library, near the Prayer Shawl display, where magazines can be placed. If you are interested in a reading others’ magazines, feel free to take any that you might read. It is not necessary to bring them back, but if you wish to return it, it may be read by another.

 

4th annual Children’s Clothing Swap a success!
Thank you to everyone who donated clothing for our 4th Annual Children’s Clothing Swap April 10, 2011. Not only did many of our kids find great “new”clothes, but we gave $92.50 and lots of wonderful clothing to Reformation Lutheran’s Neighborhood Store. Thank you to the cloth­ing sorters, who made sorting and displaying the clothes a breeze: Julie Abrahamson, Terri Suchy, Linda Wunderlich and Cristin Bock.

 

What is "Urban Agriculture"?
The trend toward urban agriculture is born out of the need to increase the availability of healthy, affordable food in our central cities and throughout metropolitan areas. Join us to prepare and plant the St Matthew’s/Reformation garden. This year the garden is moving to Reformation. Watch for planting dates.

Please contact the church office [here] if you can help us get any of these plants:

• Greens (collard, turnip)
• Radishes
• Tomatoes
• Cucumbers
• Onions
• String beans
• Peppers
• Basil and herbs
• Sunflowers
• We also have need of a dump truck to haul dirt

A study in 1997 in Milwaukee (Food System Assessment Study) showed low availability of healthy food in our central city. Few supermarkets were available and most food was purchased from corner convenience stores at prices 29% higher than in suburban stores. In response organizations such as Walnut Way, Alice’s Garden, Fondy Food Market and Growing Power [see below] have worked to create urban gardens to teach residents to grow food nd to increase the availability of fresh produce. Smaller gardens are also springing up around churches and schools.

 

Care for Creation visits “Growing Power” program in Milwaukee, 2010
Care for Creation team sponsored a visit to Growing Power on Saturday, June 5, 2010. Growing Power transforms communities by supporting people from diverse backgrounds through the development of Community Food Systems and by providing training, active demonstration, outreach, and technical assistance.

Will Allen, Chief Executive Officer believes, “We cannot have healthy communities without a healthy food system.” The cost per person for the tour is $10. Will Allen was recently honored in Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Will was invited to the White House in May to meet with the President and Mrs. Obama to discuss his work.

Some photos of the event are below. (Click photo to enlarge.)

 

Children's Clothing Swap April 25, 2010
The Care for Creation Team held its Third Annual Children’s Clothing Swap, Sunday, April 25, 2010, in the Upper Room. The event was an opportunity to recycle gently used children’s articles while finding other gems for one's own tykes. All unclaimed items will be given to Reformation’s Neighborhood Store. Some photos of the event are in the online Photo Album [here].

 

No more collections of alkaline batteries
Please note that we will no longer be collecting alkaline batteries. These batteries tend to be AAA, AA, C, D, 6V and 9V - the kind that are used for flashlights, calculators, toys and clocks. These batteries are now classified by the federal government as non-hazardous waste and can be placed in normal trash. If you use a number of these batteries you may want to consider rechargeable batteries.

We will continue to collect and recycle lithium (found in cameras, calculators, computer memory backup, tennis shoes) and nickel metal hydride (rechargeable) batteries. Nickel-cadmium (rechargeable) batteries are considered hazardous waste and should be disposed of at your nearest hazardous waste site. Thank you for all you do to Care for Creation.

 

What does one do with burned out fluorescent tubes?
We have gotten a number of questions regarding florescent tube recycling. Florescent tubes, often in 4 ft and 8 ft lengths, contain mercury and need to be recycled as hazardous waste. They can be taken to one of the hazardous waste sites in your community. From those sites the components are recycled – glass, metal and mercury. Please do not bring these tubes to St Matthew’s. We will continue to recycle the smaller compact florescent bulbs.

Recycle Used TVs and Computers at Goodwill
Wauwatosa residents can dispose of their used televisions (working or not) at no cost through the Goodwill Store and Donation Center, 12121 W. Feerick St. Goodwill also accepts computer towers and laptops for recycling, as well as accessories like printers, monitors, keyboards, mice, speakers, scanners, and fax machines. Televisions and computers are on the list of electronic devices the state will soon ban municipalities from putting into landfills. Electronic waste is the fastest growing component of waste in the United States, according to the state Department of Natural Resources. Electronic devices can contain harmful chemicals as well as chemical flame retardants.

 

More Green links [here]

 

Lug-a-Mug each week

There is now a labeled shelf in the upper kitchen for your “lug-a-mug” coffee mug or thermos that you bring from home. After you have enjoyed your coffee, feel free to wash/dry your mug and leave it on the shelf labeled “lug-a-mug” in the kitchen. Your coffee mug will be waiting for you on the shelf every Sunday! No need to remember your cup every Sunday and you’ll be helping us cut down on the use of paper products!

 

Recycling continues at St. Matt’s "Recycling Center"!

Remember the many items which you can recycle at our Recycling Center inside the southwestern entrance of the building, where Reformation food and Neighborhood Store items are also collected.

Recycling items accepted are batteries, ink cartridges, cell phones, CFL bulbs, Ronald McDonald soda can tabs, and eyeglasses. Check out the neatly organized area and take care of the earth by recycling these items responsibly to prevent them from sitting in landfills.

© 2010 St. Matthew's Ev. Lutheran Church 1615 Wauwatosa Ave., Wauwatosa, WI 53213 Phone: (414) 774-0441     Fax: (414) 774-0989 Email: office@stmattslutheran.org	Designed by St. Matthew's Communications Committee based on a design by Andreas Viklund JavaScript slideshow by BarelyFitz Designs DHTML scripts by Dynamic Drive