When U.S. troops serving in Iraq use a donated phone card to call home, they may have the women of Faith Lutheran Church in Forest Lake to thank.

Thanks to a spring drive sponsored by the Women of the ELCA at Faith, more than $900 in cash was donated by Faith members. When coupled with cards purchased by church members and donated to the drive, Faith will have more than 26,000 minutes of phone time to donate to troops serving in the war zone.

Some of the phone cards will also be shared with the families of military personnel to help them call loved ones overseas.

ìOur womenís group has been trying for some time to find a way to help,î said Ellie Nessel, ELCA chair. The drive was part of a material offering from the Forest Lake congregation and encouraged by the St. Paul Area Synod, Nessel said.

ìPeople wanted to do something,î she said. Nessel said she was amazed by the church response to the drive.

For the past several Sundays, the Women of the ELCA have placed a table presenting information on the drive and accepting donations of cash and purchased phone cards.

The Faith drive organizers are working with Walgreens in Forest Lake to purchase phone cards at a special bargain rate for the drive. Come late in April, Nessel says, the batch of cards will be taken to the St. Paul Synod for distribution to families of troops serving in Iraq and other points overseas.

Nessel said she was optimistic that some of the cards generated from the Faith Lutheran Church drive will wind up in the hands of Forest Lake families who have loved ones serving in the military this spring.

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Forest Lake Times
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