St. Stephen Lutheran Church Youth Fill Buckets for Fresh Start

The youth of St. Stephen Lutheran Church, Marlborough, formed a “bucket brigade,” collecting and filling 40 buckets with essential cleaning supplies for the clients of the Hudson-based Fresh Start Furniture Bank. Not only the youth and their families, but also other parishioners of St. Stephen Lutheran Church chipped in and dropped off cash donations, along with supplies including paper towels, all surface cleaner, toilet brushes and cleaners, dishwasher soap, glass cleaner, and disinfectant wipes.
​Pleased to be able to gather, though distanced and masked, a dozen teens put together the buckets of cleaning supplies over two recent Saturdays. The full buckets will be given as housewarming gifts to the Fresh Start clients.
​Fresh Start Furniture Bank is a volunteer run charity which helps restore hope, dignity, and stability by recycling donated furniture and housewares, for free, to people in need. The charity’s secondary goal is to keep these items out of the waste stream.
​Fresh Start's customers are individuals and families in transition who need help to rebuild their lives. They include women and children escaping domestic abuse, people transitioning from shelters or halfway houses, veterans, individuals and families in recovery from physical and mental illness or addiction, victims of fires, floods or hurricanes, refugees and recent immigrants, and the working poor. Customers are referred by social service agencies. For more information or to donate, go to https://freshstartfurniturebank.org.
​For more information about St. Stephen Lutheran Church, visit the church’s Facebook page or website, www.saintstephenlutheran.com. Saint Stephen is a member of the New England Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (www.elca.org). The church is a Reconciling in Christ congregation, inviting people of every gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, ability, marital status, or class. Parishioners come from Marlborough, Hudson, Berlin, Northborough, Southborough, Westborough, Shrewsbury, Sudbury, Stow, and Bolton. Sunday services at 10 am alternate between Zoom broadcasts and outdoor worship.

PHOTO 1 -Lily Ruggiere, Abby Maston, Jillian Johannes, Ross Gibson, Ella Gibson

PHOTO 2- Brian Downing, Griffin Majer, Jillian Johannes, Abby Maston, Emma Keledjian

PHOTO 3- Brian Downing, Griffin Majer, Jake Allison, Emma Keledjian, Shay Warner, Robin Warner

PHOTO 4 - Ben Vartabedian, Brendan Coyne, Mike Napoleone, Emily Haley, Zach Gogan, Caitlyn Gogan