The financial impact on LMC congregations is very uneven. Many congregations lost income when members lost jobs or suffered reduced hours at work. In some cases, small business owners lost their business. The virtual school sometimes resulted in one parent remaining at home to provide child care and education support. The finances of two-income households then had reduced funds to work with. In all of this many congregations saw steep declines in congregational giving. The LMC Coronavirus Relief Aid Fund provided financial support to LMC applicants. 

To date, the LMC Coronavirus Relief Aid Fund distributed $155,439.00 to 38 congregations and 99 different individuals in an effort to support mutual aid and care within LMC. Some of the recipients sent pictures and words of gratitude for the aid.

HELPING CHURCHES IN CUBA:  (Picture 1) Concilio de Iglesias Evangélicas Shalom (CIES, Shalom Council), New Holland, PA, received funds to help LMC congregations in Cuba provide food aid to their community and church members.

AID TO LMC CHURCHES IN MEXICO: (Picture 2 & 3) Concilio de Iglesias Evangélicas Shalom (CIES, Shalom Council), New Holland, PA, received funds to help LMC congregations in Mexico provide aid to their community and church members.

HELP REPAIRING A WATER TREATMENT SYSTEM: (Picture #4) Norma Mennonite Church, Norma, NJ used some of the COVID funds they received to repair their water treatment system in the church building. Many congregations affected by COVID lost offerings that provide for regular building maintenance.

COMMUNITY FOOD AND COAT DISTRIBUTION: (Picture #5) Revive Faith, an LMC church that starts in Annapolis, Maryland, participated in community food distribution and a coat giveaway with funds received from the Coronavirus Relief Fund.

ANNUAL BUDGET SUPPORT: (Picture #6) Congregacion Menonita Shalom, New Columbia, PA received funds to help support its annual budget. Job losses and work-hour reductions in the congregation radically impacted church support. In generosity, they forwarded a part of the funds to a church member in Central America experiencing great loss from the hurricanes. This family sheltered on their roof for 4 days during the floods.