Lutheran Social Services of Northeast Florida invites you to join us in our mission: “Motivated and guided by the compassion of Christ, we serve and care for people in need.”

You are vital to us. What you do for us this year will help us meet the needs of thousands of people in our community, regardless of faith. We help the community in the following ways:

• SECOND HARVEST FOOD BANK OF NORTH FLORIDA: Distribute recovered food through our food network to 515 member agencies in 18 North Florida counties, which in turn serve thousands of hungry people, mostly the working poor; give food to low-income children through the Kids Cafe after-school program and their families through the Weekend Meals program; distribute food and water to disaster victims; and help staff the State’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC).

• REFUGEE & IMMIGRATION SERVICES: Resettle refugees sent to us from the State Department because their lives were at risk in their homelands due to religious or political persecution, by finding them places to live, helping them adapt to their new culture, enrolling their children in school, and helping them train for and find jobs.

• ACE PROGRAM: Provide HIV/AIDS prevention education to the community and help people who are HIV-positive or living with AIDS by helping them find the services they need to stay healthy as long as possible.

• REPRESENTATIVE PAYEE PROGRAM: Manage finances for 1,000 people who suffer from chronic mental illness and/or substance abuse or who are too young or too old to make sound spending decisions to ensure that their basic living needs are met.

• THE SHARING PLACE THRIFT STORE:The Sharing Place Thrift Shop offers the Northeast Florida community an opportunity to find great buys while helping people in need. Operated by Lutheran Social Services of Northeast Florida (LSS), The Sharing Place offers household goods, furniture, office equipment, knick-knacks, collectibles, appliances, clothes, jewelry, and more for sale. Purchases will provide much-needed revenue to fund programs and services of LSS to help the people we serve.