WATERVILLE – For 22 years, Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church’s Mission Endowment Fund has benefited a broad range of regional, national and global nonprofit organizations with $2.6 million in grants, meeting its goal of “Bringing Mission to Life.”
And it all started with a couple who donated a $3.6 million inheritance to the church.
Doug and Katie Graf, longtime members of the Waterville church, lived simply off their incomes from Waterville School, where Doug was a custodian and Katie was a music teacher. When Katie’s mom passed away, she left a large sum to her only daughter, but by then, Katie was in a nursing home, so Doug decided to donate the funds to the church. In the years since, the fund has enabled hundreds of organizations to benefit.
This year, the Mission Endowment Fund is awarding $171,000 in grant funds to 20 nonprofit organizations. In the Anthony Wayne area, Nature’s Nursery will receive $5,800 for education and outreach materials about its wildlife rescue and rehabilitation services. Genacross Lutheran Services will use $13,700 for special furniture in its Whitehouse home for youth. A grant of $10,000 will finance critical improvements to Luther Home of Mercy’s Highpoint Commons apartments in Whitehouse. For the past 10 years LHM has managed and maintained the 24-unit apartment complex, which serves low-income seniors and individuals with disabilities, said Vice President Megan O’Brien. Built in 1980, the property has one- and two-bedroom homes with rental assistance to assure affordability for residents on fixed incomes.
“Grant support from the Zion Mission Endowment Fund will allow Luther Home to refurbish aging units as need arises. New windows, flooring, and appliances will help the ministry to continue to provide affordable, accessible, and beautiful homes for many years to come,” O’Brien said.
Three area churches will also get assistance. Hosanna Lutheran Church in Grand Rapids, Ohio will receive $14,000 for a roof replacement; Salem Lutheran in Toledo will received $14,600 for building repairs; and St. Lucas Lutheran in Toledo will use $5,000 for food purchases. All three churches serve free meals and provide community outreach programs.
Other Northwest Ohio grant recipients include:
•Right Direction Youth Development, a sports mentorship program in Bowling Green, will receive $5,200 for bikes and safety gear.
•Lucas County Isaiah 117 House, which serves as the first stop for children awaiting foster care treatment, will use $13,000 for an equipment storage shed.
• Heartbeat of Toledo, which offers services to pregnant women – including counseling education and health care – will use $11,400 for transportation, supplies and testing.
•Spirit of Faith Adoptions will use $6,300 to equip its pregnancy resource centers.
•East Toledo Family Center will use $4,500 to make updates to its preschool and Head Start classrooms.
•Social Services for the Arab American Community will use $4,000 to provide financial literacy training to recent immigrants and refugees.
•Mobile Meals of Toledo will use $2,100 to buy route carts and a commercial mixer to help meet higher demand.
The grants will also benefit others in Ohio and around the world. Veterans’ Outreach of Youngstown received $15,000 for financial assistance to homeless veterans. A grant of $15,000 to Lutheran World Relief is designated to pay school expenses for girls in Sierra Leone on the southern coast of West Africa. Missions International of America received $8,700 to finish construction of a post-op surgical room to its medical complex in a small rural community in Haiti, where it has been funding improvements since 2005. The Jubilee House Community works with Nicaraguan communities to improve their economies, agriculture, education, and health care. A grant of $5,000 will go toward travel, housing and food for U.S. volunteers working in Nicaragua.
Trinity Lutheran Seminary at Capital University in Columbus was awarded two $5,000 grants to buy equipment that will increase the seminary’s visibility across various social media platforms and to fund a Trinity Ambassador program, engaging congregations across the country in the story of Lutheran higher education. The Northwestern Ohio Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America received $7,700 toward to costs of a gathering in Tanzania in 2028 of youth from that country as well as Serbia, Mexico, and the U.S. Programing will highlight team building, intercultural competency, scripture study and will explore how young people are uniquely called to create social change through lives of Christian service.
A celebration service is planned for Sunday, Oct. 18 during the 10 a.m. service, with a guest speaker is from Social Services for the Arab Community – one of the 2026 recipients.
