La Grande’s Faith Lutheran Church recently was part of a mission to restore vandalized picnic tables at Morgan Lake. A portion of the tables’ tops had been removed and several of the benches had been removed or cut off. The tables were repaired Oct. 12 with the assistance of La Grande City employee Bob Leonard, who provided supervision and tools.

Rev. Sam Wiseman and five Faith Lutheran members participated in the Morgan Lake project, dismantling the damaged tables and installing new tabletops and benches. Meanwhile, Marilyn Herbst contributed by gathering trash that had been left in the bushes, along the paths or in the lake.

John Herbst brought the request to finance and organize the project to the Blue Mountain Chapter of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. The La Grande City Parks Department presented a bid for the materials, and Thrivent approved the full cost of the repairs ($509). Thrivent is an investment and life insurance provider that shares revenues with charities and private or community projects.

The matching funds for this project came from

the Blue Mountain Chapter’s general funds for operations.

The churches in the Blue Mountain Chapter include Faith LCMS of La Grande, First Lutheran of Baker City, Grace ELCA of Enterprise, Grace Community Lutheran Church of Cove, Redeemer LCMS of John Day and Zion ELCA of La Grande.