Event raises funds for New Orleans trip
By Michael S. Hoey
Correspondent
Our Redeemer Lutheran Church with School’s youth group is planning a trip to New Orleans and hosted a Mardi Gras dinner fundraiser Saturday.
The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod National Youth Gathering takes place every three years and offers participants the opportunity to meet other kids from all over the nation, see different parts of the country, and worship at a Sunday morning service with 25,000 other people. Leader Jackie Stark said she participated in two gatherings when she was in high school, one of them in New Orleans, and she said she can’t wait to go back.
Stark and her husband Nick, band teacher at Delavan-Darien High School, have been leading the group of 19 kids in eighth to 12th grades to New Orleans through several fundraising opportunities.
“It makes them work for something they want rather than just having mom or dad write them a check,” Stark said.
“It is a fun way to do it,” she said. “It is a party atmosphere and a fun way to put in some work and raise some money.”
The focus of the youth group is to provide some Bible studies and youth service opportunities and get the kids to the youth gathering every three years. Stark said the group has not missed a gathering in at least 30 years. The last gathering was in San Antonio in 2013. This year the gathering will be in New Orleans from July 16 to 20. The group will have worship and Bible study opportunities, do some sight seeing and see some entertainment provided by the gathering.
The Our Redeemer youth group themed its dinner fundraiser “Mardi Gras” because this year’s gathering is in New Orleans, but Stark said there is talk of making it an annual event.
“It’s a good winter-time thing to do,” she said.
The dinner included authentic cajun dishes like peel-and-eat shrimp and country paté appetizers, biscuits, garlic bread, and hushpuppies, and main dishes like jambalaya, red beans and rice, tasso maque choux, and Muffeleta salad. The meal was capped with banana Foster bread pudding, king cake and cupcakes. The meal was prepared by Luke Schuenke, a former restaurant chef who works for Sorg’s Meat Market.
Live jazz music was coordinated by Nick Stark, who played guitar and saxophone. Schuenke played drums, Peter Finnegan played violin and Adam Drefs played piano.
Lori Grover and Leigh Comas coordinated a silent auction that brought in about $2,300. Stark said tickets sold for $12 for adults and $8 for kids and raised another $800 to $1,000. Stark said the hope is that enough money can be raised through all the group’s efforts that little, if any, out-of-pocket costs will remain for participants.
Stark said the biggest challenge of coordinating an event like this for the first time was not knowing how many people to plan for and prepare food for. The dinner served 145 people.
Donations from the Alder Group and Sorg’s and a grant from Thrivent Financial helped make the event possible. Youth group members, their parents and other members of the congregation helped set up, serve and clean up after the event.
Stark said the youth group had a Christmas wreath sale in December and is selling Super Bowl pizzas. The group will hold a laser tag outing in Waukesha in February, a butter braid pastry sale in March, a brunch at Greenie’s in April and a car wash in May.
