Paper Rollers volunteers at Immanuel Lutheran Church have been stacking, bundling and selling newspaper rolls for more than 75 years to earn money for the church and school. The newspapers are flattened into piles weighing 12 pounds each, then rolled and tied into bundles. The group is in need of more newspapers and flyers (on newsprint only) to keep the program going.
Seniors turn newspaper bundles into funds for local church
When does newsprint turn into money? When some seniors at Immanuel Lutheran Church create bundles of newspapers that are then sold to florists and companies that need packing material to ship their goods.
The tradition goes back at least 75 years, according to Muriel Schneider, one of the Paper Rollers volunteers, who said it all started with congregant Bill Osladil, who had a friend in the floral business, and who needed newspapers in which to wrap his flowers.
“Bill was the one who gathered his friends together to help the florist,” she said, adding, “His wife told me they didn’t have twine,” so they would tie up the bundled newspapers with string that was used to bundle hay.
Today, though, the group has a machine that ties the bundles together—although they are still rolled by hand.
Schneider said the volunteers collect newspapers (or flyers on newsprint only) from other congregants, the Elmhurst Public Library, Elmhurst University and other locations, and then they put the newspapers into 12-pound piles after separating out unusable materials.
Next, a machine operator rolls them by hand and uses a machine to tie the newspapers into bundles.
Schneider said the bundles—as many as between 30 and 40 per week—are still sold mostly to florists, but also, “There are people who make machine parts that they need to protect” when being shipped.
Immanuel Lutheran Pastor David Seabaugh said the money they make is used for “something we need that may not be in the budget.”
Schneider recalled that the funds earned have been used for “goods or services,” adding proudly, “We have bought a lot of things.”
She cited as examples tables and chairs for the parish hall, rugs for the kindergarten, a fence around the school playground, hymnals for the church and donations toward youth mission trips; in other words, “A wide variety of things.”
Pastor Seabaugh said the group serves a dual purpose, both to earn some money for the church and to socialize; and, he emphasized, “They sit around in this amazing space.”
With some 13 regulars who come over to the church on Monday mornings, there is “a camaraderie that exists among the paper rollers themselves,” Schneider observed. “It’s just a nice, easy-going group to be a member of.”
However, “They are struggling,” the pastor pointed out, with Schneider saying the group is in need of newspapers.
If you can donate newspapers or fliers printed on newsprint paper, you can drop them off in racks under the bridge at the church, 142 E. 3rd St. The “bridge” runs over the alley between the church and school buildings, off of 3rd Street.
For more information, call 630-833-4210.