5 /5 Linda Nguyen: I have never felt more welcome than when I am at St Matthews Lutheran Church. If you are seeking a loving, diverse community that will accept you, respect you, and enrich your life, look no further. You dont even have to be of the Lutheran faith; I am not. Over the past 5 years, I have volunteered closely beside St Matthews pastors, staff, and fellowship in the innumerable free programs that St. Matthews generously organizes and hosts for the benefit of the community. Such programming has ranged from free groceries in conjunction with Sustainable Renton, free kitchen use for unhoused refugees, free summer lunch for children and adults, free closet pop-ups, and free afterschool activities and leadership opportunities for local youth in alliance with Across the Streets AfterSchool Program. Having volunteered with the AfterSchool Program for two years, I have watched it grow from hosting 5 students to 25 students. This exponential growth in popularity directly reflects how much creativity, time, energy, staffing, and resources are poured into the AfterSchool Program each week to ensure that our student participants and volunteers feel welcome, enjoy their time, and are safe. This includes constant retooling/tweaking of our programming, procedures, and policies as we learn better practices and respond to new safety concerns in an ever-changing world. Towards that goal, feedback from our students, parents, volunteers, and staff is always appreciated because that is how we grow and be better.