MEDIA RELEASE

June 8, 2009

Contact: Jane Simpson, Director of Public Relations, (402) 978-5646

Justin Dougherty, Young Families Initiative Program Supervisor, (402) 978-5638, cell (402) 320-5830 or jdougherty@lfsneb.org

Lutheran Family Services holds Orphan Prayer Service and Building Families Boutique Open House June 16

Lutheran Family Services of Nebraska (LFS) will be holding an Orphan Prayer Service at Ridge Cemetery, 1761 W. Linden Ave. in Fremont, at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, June 16. The public is invited to attend with special encouragement for attendance by former orphans of the Lutheran Orphan Home, adoptive families and anyone with a prior connection to the Lutheran Orphan Home. The prayer service will be led by Nebraska District Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) President, Rev. Russ Sommerfeld. LCMS World Relief and Human Care and Trinity Lutheran Church of Fremont have provided funds to beautify the Orphan Ridge at the cemetery and repair the headstones. On May 26 several youths from Fremont's Boy Scout Troop 109 and the youth group from Trinity Lutheran Church cleaned up the orphan grave sites, straightened and cleared off the headstones and put rocks around the area for easier on-going maintenance.

Founded in 1892, the Lutheran Orphan Home was one of two orphanages (Fremont and Omaha) that eventually formed the agency now known as Lutheran Family Services of Nebraska. The LFS Fremont Area Building Families Boutique now exists on the original site of the orphanage, which is now the property of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church. The Boutique is a prevention/early intervention program encouraging parents of children prenatal to age five to participate in healthy family behaviors.

On June 16 LFS will also host a Fremont Area Building Families Boutique Open House and Dedication of the Boutique store as "Sara's Boutique" in loving memory of the daughter of John and Suzanne Loss of Grand Island, New York. The event, open to the public, will be at the Boutique, 1420 E. Military Ave., from 4:30-6:30 p.m., with the program starting at 5:30. Activities will include the unveiling of the new donor recognition wall, refreshments and performances by Zoe Children's Choir.

The Loss family learned about the LFS Building Families Boutique from the LCMS World Relief and Human Care staff members, and contributed to the Fremont Area Building Families Boutique campaign. John and Suzanne Loss of New York and staff members from the LCMS office in St. Louis will attend the June 16 events

About Lutheran Family Services of Nebraska:
Thousands of families of all faiths are served through LFS statewide programs and services that include foster care, adoption, respite care, maternal health services, family support, counseling, addiction services, immigration legal services and refugee resettlement.  Learn more about LFS at www.lfsneb.org or call (402) 978-5646.