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The TLC Project connects with young adults

By Nancy Ottem

Close your eyes for a moment. Envision this scene:

It’s finals week at “your” college or university. It’s late in the afternoon and you are bracing yourself for a long night of cramming for exams. You carry a heavy course load as well as varying amounts of stress, tension, self-doubt, self-blame, uncertainty, pressure. You flip the mailbox open, hoping for any glimmer of relief. Oh, whoopee … more credit card applications, just what you weren’t looking for.

Then you see a friend, and just look at that grin. … He has another one of those boxes … just like last semester. It’s a box from his church. Just look at that! Didn’t take him two seconds to tear into it. Aww, man! Look at those home-baked goodies and those handy little necessities, and those greeting cards. It looks like there are letters too.

Yes, Henderson Community Church (HCC) has been at it again. Twice a year this very intergenerational-minded church in Henderson, Colorado, sends TLC packages to their young adults who have finished high school and are working in the community, off at college, or in the military. The packages are timed to arrive just as final exams are “on the radar.”

The congregation knows that the “kids” are not all enrolled in higher education classes, but also realizes that any time can be a stressful time for a young adult, regardless of their job or endeavor. Finals week is just an arbitrary time to bring out the extra TLC!
We started this project two years ago when our associate pastor, Angie Menke, told us how very important the packages she had received from her home church were to her … and how totally jealous her dorm buddies always were. They just couldn’t imagine a church bothering to send TLC packages. We have heard that our packages stir up that same surprise and disbelief when we contact the young adults who not so long ago were our youth group regulars.

For example, we sent one to a grandson of one of our members. Since he had not been an actual member and had only attended our youth group, he couldn’t believe that we even knew where he was!

Pastor Angie, who is now an associate pastor in Beverly, Mass., explains, “College students love getting mail! To get a “package” makes up for a month of making the trip to the mailbox only to get another armload of credit card applications. This is an important time to reach out to our young adults and let them know that while they are not with us physically, they are still a part of the Body of Christ, and they are loved by God and the church.”

Pastor Timothy Merrill, minister of preaching and worship at HCC, observes, “For most kids, college while a great adventure, is also a huge disconnect. They’re suddenly separated from high school friends, from family, from church, and thrown into a totally alien culture. Getting goodies from home, especially from their church, is big, big, big. Three chocolate chip cookies from the pastor carry more weight than 30 Sunday sermons.”

The “packaging” event is announced a few weeks ahead of time. Often the boxes are packed on board meeting night, which is the same night as the youth group meets; everybody gets involved and it goes quickly.

What goes in the boxes has become more creative and extensive, but the basic idea is still the same. We want to send a touch of home to remind these young men and women that our church can always be “home” wherever they may go and whatever they may do.
The packages contain individually bagged, home-baked goodies, such as cookies, brownies, crispy bars, or candy. Other edibles such as gum, jerky, nuts, popcorn, cocoa, chips, peanut butter crackers round out the foodstuffs. A variety of office/desk items, such as sticky notes, note pads, pencils, pens, or white-out strips, are popular with the recipients.

The church also sends incidentals like 6 or 8 quarters for laundry machines, phone cards, or postage stamps. Sometimes the Sunday school children make cards, write notes or draw pictures, or the youth group writes notes.
In some packages, the youth pastor has sent photocopies of inspirational quotes or the church board has included a short letter or hand-written notes on stationery. Last semester the church sent Thanksgiving cards with wallet-sized inspirational cards and a Wal-Mart certificate tucked inside.

In spring of 2005, the HCC project “regulars” received an inspirational boost and additional motivation to continue the project when David Wood, a representative from the Great Plains Region of the Campus Crusade for Christ, attended the packaging event.

Wood spoke to the group of adult volunteers about the characteristics of young adults in “Generation Y,” and their search for meaning and purpose. He advised the volunteers of specific ways to pray for young adults and also shared ideas for parents and adults in the church community who want to create and/or maintain ties with young adults.
Wood’s comments are echoed and presented in a formal way in a document called “40 Assets.” This document presents a list of important experiences and qualities that help youth become healthy adults. One of the assets states that having adults other than parents and family that care about them helps young adults to mature and live healthy lives. For information about the “40 Assests” go to: www.search-institute.org/assets
Much more can be done, of course, and one of our next steps is to send birthday cards to each young adult who currently receives a package.

TLC is a very rewarding project, both for those who prepare the packages and of course, for the recipients. Several notes of thanks have been received at the church in the past two years, conveying how deeply appreciative the young people were when they were surprised by a sweet remembrance from home.

Some ideas to help you launch a successful TLC Project at your church

This type of outreach project is not hard to get off the ground, but it does go more smoothly if a few ideas are implemented and consistently followed. (Of course, HCC has learned some of these the hard way!)

1) Think about college calendars, not just the church calendar. Often, finals week in the first semester falls immediately after Thanksgiving and students scatter quickly in December to travel or return home for a long break between semesters, quarters, or trimesters. It is tricky to pick a good date to gather enough home-baked goodies and have them still be fresh by the time the packages arrive. Because of the busy time of year, which includes Thanksgiving, first Sunday of Advent, Hanging of the Greens, and other pre-Christmas projects, you may have to publicize the project far in advance.
Likewise, in the spring, students will usually be winding up their semester and moving out by very early May. Plan ahead. Make sure that spring break and Easter don’t interfere with your “best laid plans.”

2) Announce the packaging “event” via a church newsletter, bulletin board, and worship bulletin for a few weeks ahead of time. Advise the church board. Contact the youth group and their parents. Since the youth will soon be the grateful recipients, they often are willing to participate, perhaps in the hopes of a yummy “payback” later! Call some of the retired “famous cooks” in the church and ask for donations of baked goods on a certain day. It works well to collect baked goods on a Sunday and then pack on Sunday or shortly thereafter.

3) Have an address and information collector or a committee of persons willing to do this record-keeping. Young adults move, often! Contact their parents every semester to verify addresses.

4) Always ask for news of the son or daughter. Parents like to know that someone else still cares about their children. Publish the news about where they attend school, work, serve our country. What semester are they in? What is their (latest) major and their current career plan? Especially announce upcoming graduation and other major accomplishments.

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