In order to maximize our impact around our community Good Shepherd partners with several organizations who share our common goal of helping our neighbors. Some of our partners in the community are listed below:
Inspiritus (formerly known as Lutheran Services of Georgia- LSG) supports and assists children and families by providing services that focus on strengthening families. Inspiritus offers services to families in the areas of adoption, foster care, disability care, regaining custody of minors, immigration, and refugee resettlement. Good Shepherd supports Inspiritus by providing Christmas packages to newly resettled refugee children, furnishing apartments for refugees, as well as individual collection and service campaigns throughout the year.
Lutheran World Relief, With 100 local partners, LWR works to improve harvests, health and education in some 35 countries each year. LWR partners train local women and men to produce local foods, dig low-cost wells and protect and restore their local environments. Good Shepherd supports LWR by promoting and selling fair trade coffee and goods every third Sunday of the month as well as supporting independent collection and service campaigns throughout the year.
Lutheran Disaster Response Lutheran Disaster Response brings God’s hope, healing and renewal to people whose lives have been disrupted by disasters in the United States and around the world. LDR works to accompany disaster torn communities from immediate relief through long-term recovery. Good Shepherd supports LDR through various fundraising campaigns when disaster strikes within our community or around the world.
ELCA World Hunger By providing immediate relief to those who are hungry, ELCA World Hunger meets basic needs and recognizes the universal human right to food. In addition to funding relief and development projects that assist our sisters and brothers in need, we engage members of the ELCA in education and advocacy to help change the systems that perpetuate poverty. From health clinics to microloans, water wells to animal husbandry, community meals to advocacy, ELCA World Hunger responds, supporting sustainable solutions that get at the root causes of hunger and poverty. Good Shepherd has consistently supported and promoted the ELCA World Hunger and Malaria campaign through several fundraising campaigns throughout the years, including but not limited to the very successful God’s Global Barnyard Lenten collection and the Malaria Bites 5K.
MUST Ministries:Created by a conglomerate of local churches, MUST has established itself as a servant leader caring for those in need in the Cobb and Cherokee county communities for more than 40 years now. The MUST Ministries Cherokee Program offers food, clothing, and employment services. Good Shepherd serves as a year round collection facility for MUST Ministries as well as helps support seasonal ministry services such as the MUST Summer Lunch Program and Thanksgiving bounty program.
Forever Fed:This mobile food ministry reaches out to the hungry in our community, ministering to under-served people regardless of age, ethnicity, gender, disability, political beliefs, or religious affiliation. Forever Fed also provides an in-house food pantry and a mobile food pantry. Good Shepherd works with Forever Fed by supplying manpower to help prep/sort groceries for mobile pantries.
Habitat for Humanity: is a worldwide organization founded on the conviction that every man, woman and child should have a simple, durable place to live in dignity and safety, and that decent shelter in decent communities should be a matter of conscience and action for all. The Lutheran Coalition for Habitat (a coalition of 12 local Lutheran churches) help provide affordable housing opportunities to hard-working, well-qualified, lower-income families in our surrounding counties.
GSLC supports Habitat for Humanity both financially and with hands on support of house builds through the Lutheran Coalition for Habitat for Humanity. The Lutheran Coalition is a non-profit organization consisting of representatives from eleven Lutheran churches in the north Atlanta area partnering with local Habitat for Humanity affiliates to eliminate substandard housing.
The Lutheran Coalition members advocate for funding for their builds from their home church budgets and coordinate help from volunteers in building Habitat houses. Additionally members conduct multiple fundraisers each year to assure funding of the houses.
This year the Lutheran Coalition will be building their 31st house – they have built at least one per year since 1993.
Two of the special fundraisers the Lutheran Coalition conducts each year are Vino 100 in early summer and Taste of Habitat typically held at the end of summer. Watch for details on these events in our newsletters and bulletins.
Click here for more information about the Lutheran Coalition.
Give a Kid A Chance is a program designed to help children in Cherokee County start each new school year on the right foot by providing filled backpacks, clothing, books and medical services to underserved children in our community. Good Shepherd supports GAKAC through an annual fundraiser to help provide 150 filled backpacks as well as provides volunteers on the day of service in July.
Papa’s Pantry is a food ministry whose mission is to partner with families who are going through a sudden, unexpected financial set-back whereby food is at-risk in the household. It is their goal to “partner” with these families as they go through the steps of getting back on their feet, by providing the tools needed. Good Shepherd supports Papa’ Pantry by asking our parishioners to consider donating two cans (or other nonperishable food items) every first Sunday of the month (Two-Can Sunday). These items are then donated to Papa’s Pantry and Timothy’s Cupboard on a rotating schedule.
Timothy’s Cupboardis a food bank that operates out of Timothy Lutheran Church in Woodstock, GA to provide food to less fortunate families living in Cherokee County. Good Shepherd supports Timothy’s Cupboard by asking our parishioners to consider donating two cans (or other nonperishable food items) every first Sunday of the month (Two-Can Sunday). These items are then donated to Timothy’s Cupboard and Papa’s Pantry on a rotating schedule.
GSLC Partners
In order to maximize our impact around our community Good Shepherd partners with several organizations who share our common goal of helping our neighbors. Some of our partners in the community are listed below:
Inspiritus (formerly known as Lutheran Services of Georgia- LSG) supports and assists children and families by providing services that focus on strengthening families. Inspiritus offers services to families in the areas of adoption, foster care, disability care, regaining custody of minors, immigration, and refugee resettlement. Good Shepherd supports Inspiritus by providing Christmas packages to newly resettled refugee children, furnishing apartments for refugees, as well as individual collection and service campaigns throughout the year.
Lutheran World Relief, With 100 local partners, LWR works to improve harvests, health and education in some 35 countries each year. LWR partners train local women and men to produce local foods, dig low-cost wells and protect and restore their local environments. Good Shepherd supports LWR by promoting and selling fair trade coffee and goods every third Sunday of the month as well as supporting independent collection and service campaigns throughout the year.
Lutheran Disaster Response Lutheran Disaster Response brings God’s hope, healing and renewal to people whose lives have been disrupted by disasters in the United States and around the world. LDR works to accompany disaster torn communities from immediate relief through long-term recovery. Good Shepherd supports LDR through various fundraising campaigns when disaster strikes within our community or around the world.
ELCA World Hunger By providing immediate relief to those who are hungry, ELCA World Hunger meets basic needs and recognizes the universal human right to food. In addition to funding relief and development projects that assist our sisters and brothers in need, we engage members of the ELCA in education and advocacy to help change the systems that perpetuate poverty. From health clinics to microloans, water wells to animal husbandry, community meals to advocacy, ELCA World Hunger responds, supporting sustainable solutions that get at the root causes of hunger and poverty. Good Shepherd has consistently supported and promoted the ELCA World Hunger and Malaria campaign through several fundraising campaigns throughout the years, including but not limited to the very successful God’s Global Barnyard Lenten collection and the Malaria Bites 5K.
MUST Ministries: Created by a conglomerate of local churches, MUST has established itself as a servant leader caring for those in need in the Cobb and Cherokee county communities for more than 40 years now. The MUST Ministries Cherokee Program offers food, clothing, and employment services. Good Shepherd serves as a year round collection facility for MUST Ministries as well as helps support seasonal ministry services such as the MUST Summer Lunch Program and Thanksgiving bounty program.
Forever Fed: This mobile food ministry reaches out to the hungry in our community, ministering to under-served people regardless of age, ethnicity, gender, disability, political beliefs, or religious affiliation. Forever Fed also provides an in-house food pantry and a mobile food pantry. Good Shepherd works with Forever Fed by supplying manpower to help prep/sort groceries for mobile pantries.
Habitat for Humanity: is a worldwide organization founded on the conviction that every man, woman and child should have a simple, durable place to live in dignity and safety, and that decent shelter in decent communities should be a matter of conscience and action for all. The Lutheran Coalition for Habitat (a coalition of 12 local Lutheran churches) help provide affordable housing opportunities to hard-working, well-qualified, lower-income families in our surrounding counties.
GSLC supports Habitat for Humanity both financially and with hands on support of house builds through the Lutheran Coalition for Habitat for Humanity. The Lutheran Coalition is a non-profit organization consisting of representatives from eleven Lutheran churches in the north Atlanta area partnering with local Habitat for Humanity affiliates to eliminate substandard housing.
The Lutheran Coalition members advocate for funding for their builds from their home church budgets and coordinate help from volunteers in building Habitat houses. Additionally members conduct multiple fundraisers each year to assure funding of the houses.
This year the Lutheran Coalition will be building their 31st house – they have built at least one per year since 1993.
Two of the special fundraisers the Lutheran Coalition conducts each year are Vino 100 in early summer and Taste of Habitat typically held at the end of summer. Watch for details on these events in our newsletters and bulletins.
Click here for more information about the Lutheran Coalition.
Give a Kid A Chance is a program designed to help children in Cherokee County start each new school year on the right foot by providing filled backpacks, clothing, books and medical services to underserved children in our community. Good Shepherd supports GAKAC through an annual fundraiser to help provide 150 filled backpacks as well as provides volunteers on the day of service in July.
Papa’s Pantry is a food ministry whose mission is to partner with families who are going through a sudden, unexpected financial set-back whereby food is at-risk in the household. It is their goal to “partner” with these families as they go through the steps of getting back on their feet, by providing the tools needed. Good Shepherd supports Papa’ Pantry by asking our parishioners to consider donating two cans (or other nonperishable food items) every first Sunday of the month (Two-Can Sunday). These items are then donated to Papa’s Pantry and Timothy’s Cupboard on a rotating schedule.
Timothy’s Cupboard is a food bank that operates out of Timothy Lutheran Church in Woodstock, GA to provide food to less fortunate families living in Cherokee County. Good Shepherd supports Timothy’s Cupboard by asking our parishioners to consider donating two cans (or other nonperishable food items) every first Sunday of the month (Two-Can Sunday). These items are then donated to Timothy’s Cupboard and Papa’s Pantry on a rotating schedule.