by Melissa Ramirez Cooper, ELCA News Service
"Trading Graces" -- an online auction on eBay hosted by Lutheran
Services in America (LSA) -- will open Feb. 25 and continue
through March 22. Now in its second year, Trading Graces is an
effort to raise awareness and funds to support Lutheran health
and human service organizations across the United States and
Caribbean. Forty social ministry organizations are scheduled to
participate.
"We have many interesting, original items to auction this year,
and we are excited about raising funds that will help make a real
difference in the lives of many people," said Jill Schumann, LSA
president. Items for auction include a timeshare at a resort in
North Carolina, naming rights to a new kindergarten classroom at
Holy Family Lutheran School in Chicago, antique dolls from 1917,
original artwork and more.
LSA is an alliance of nearly 300 social ministry organizations,
the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Lutheran
Church-Missouri Synod. Reaching six million people annually and
employing a quarter of a million staff and volunteers, social
ministry organizations provide care ranging from health care to
disaster response, from services for children and families to
care for the elderly, from adoption to advocacy and more. eBay
is a platform on the World Wide Web where millions of items are
traded each day. MissionFish -- eBay's charity support division
-- will provide technical support for Trading Graces.
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Information about Trading Graces is at http://www.ebay.com/tradinggraces on the Web.
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About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with 2.8 million members in more than 8,500 worshiping communities across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work. Our hands.," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer Martin Luther.
For information contact:
Candice Hill Buchbinder
Public Relations Manager
Candice.HillBuchbinder@ELCA.org
