LCMS World Mission saved more than $53,000 in labor costs during 2009 because of the service of volunteers at the International Center in St. Louis, according to Jane Cauchon, volunteer coordinator for the department.
Last year, 83 volunteers — including nine summer interns and three people who worked at home — provided 2,565 hours of service. They also provided many more hours of service to other departments housed at the Synod’s International Center.
These volunteers saved LCMS World Mission $53,480 in labor costs, based on $20.85 per hour, the value for an hour of volunteer work in 2009, according to Cauchon. There was a 60 percent increase in volunteer hours in 2009, compared with 2008, she added.
Work performed by volunteers included assembling binders, newsletters, and packets of information; helping with mailings to donors and others; addressing envelopes; data entry; filing; making phone calls; organizing videos; proofreading; typing labels; stuffing envelopes; and writing thank-you notes.
Alice Nickel, who helps coordinate some 20 volunteers from The Lutheran Church of Webster Gardens in suburban St. Louis, said she volunteers because “I want to use my time to praise the Lord.
“When I do volunteer work, I do it to serve the Lord,” Nickel said. “I love doing it, and my group loves doing it.”
The volunteers also provided “many intangibles that cannot be measured,” Cauchon said, and “bring enthusiasm to the office and show their support to LCMS World Mission. They not only give of 
Cauchon said she looks forward to another year of working with the volunteers and thanks God “for each of them and their service to our church.”
In addition to those who volunteer in St. Louis, more than 60 volunteers serve congregations Synodwide in LCMS World Mission’s outreach training program “The 72 — Partners on the Road.” Another 40-plus Synod leaders volunteer as Ablaze! Ambassadors — speaking with congregations and other groups about mission outreach. Dozens of volunteers donate hundreds of hours to LCMS World Mission’s “Mission Central” in Mapleton, Iowa. And countless other volunteers assist LCMS World Mission by hosting missionaries who are making stateside presentations, serving on short-term mission teams and sharing their talents in other ways.
For more information about the LCMS World Mission volunteer program, contact Cauchon at 800-433-3954, ext. 1629, or jane.cauchon@lcms.org.
Posted June 16, 2010
