75th Convention Ingathering – Slidell Ladies for Liberty
The 75th Convention of the Southern District will include an ingathering to benefit the Slidell Ladies for Liberty. This special group meets monthly to pack care boxes for service men and women stationed in the Middle East. We are blessed to host their packing days at the Southern District Mission Center.
As the Ladies for Liberty established their group, now more than ten years ago, they packed boxes in a member’s living room. Eventually outgrowing that space, the Mission Center was able to offer use of its banquet room. Since that point, the Ladies for Liberty have continued their monthly packing days, but now at the Mission Center. This larger space has enabled the group to continue growing. They have packed thousands of care boxes since their inception, and they have served hundreds of soldiers over the years. In 2012, the Ladies for Liberty received the American Patriot Victory Award.
Currently, the Ladies for Liberty are sending care boxes to 40 service men and women. They receive one box during each month of their deployment. All of the care boxes are hand-decorated before they are filled—some of them decorated by local artists and others by local school children. When a deployment ends, the Ladies for Liberty host a lunch to meet the soldier and welcome him or her home.
The Mission Center is pleased to partner with the Slidell Ladies for Liberty as they perform this loving service for our men and women in uniform. Each care box goes through two checkpoints, to ensure that it is properly filled, before it is sealed for shipping. The cost to ship each box is just over $16, so two checkpoints are of utmost importance in the packing process. Over the years, the Ladies for Liberty have developed a precise procedure for packing these boxes. So, while it is not feasible for convention attendees to be hands-on with packing boxes, we will gather items that the Ladies for Liberty can expertly pack during their next scheduled packing day.
The congregations, schools, and ministry partners of the Southern District are invited to gather items noted in the list below for this special 75th Convention ingathering. Convention attendees may bring the donated items with them to the convention, on behalf of their congregation or school.
Here are the items which are most requested:
| Beef jerky | Individual drink mixes | Loose individually wrapped candy |
| Ramen soup | Tuna in foil packets | Gum |
| Dried fruit | Small bags of chips | Razors |
| Lip balm | Eye drops | Shampoo (8 oz. bottles) |
| Body wash (8 oz. bottles) | Body lotion (8 oz. bottles) | Toothpaste / toothbrushes |
| Hand-written cards and letters (great way to involve Sunday school or day school children) | Donations toward postage are also a blessing, to cover the cost of shipping these care boxes. | Â |
* The Ladies for Liberty are unable to accept any items in aerosol cans or glass containers.