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At Home, In Church, Abroad - Meet other Thrivent Financial for Lutherans members taking action and having fun.
A Child’s Charity
 LINCOLN, NEBRASKA—Not many 8-year-olds are willing to forgo birthday gifts. But last year, Johnny Strayer learned the value of giving after asking his friends to donate to Thrivent Builds with Habitat for Humanity® instead of bringing presents to his birthday party.
The idea started before Johnny’s birthday, when his mother, Joy, suggested that he use the occasion as an opportunity to help others. As the two brainstormed about possible charities, Johnny remembered that their church, Sheridan Lutheran of Lincoln, Nebraska, built houses for people in need.
“I’m a big believer that if you don’t teach children at this young age to give and not take, they’ll never be givers,” says Joy Strayer. “Johnny really got into it. He has a generous heart.”
Ten children brought donations totaling $225 to Johnny’s birthday party in September. Joy Strayer, who expected $100 at the most, was blown away by their generosity. Little did she know that more donations were on the way.
After hearing about Johnny’s birthday request, the Rev. Greg Bouvier of Sheridan Lutheran Church matched the children’s $225, introduced Johnny to the congregation and told his story. After one of the services, a church member wrote out a $2,000 check for the cause.
To date, Johnny’s initiative has helped raise about $4,000 for a house that is being built this summer by members of Sheridan Lutheran as part of Thrivent Builds with Habitat for Humanity. “I really believe that God put His hand into this project, jostled it around a little and let it grow,” Joy Strayer says.
—by Holly O’Dell
Hunger Relief
 SOUTHERN MINNESOTA—More than 1,800 students, teachers and volunteers from 29 southern Minnesota Lutheran schools packaged nearly 421,000 nutritionally rich meals with the nonprofit Kids Against Hunger during Lutheran Schools Week, March 2-8. Bethany Lutheran College in Mankato, Martin Luther College in New Ulm and Rochester Central Lutheran School in Rochester became sites for temporary assembly lines to accommodate the food-packing activities. In addition to the hands-on work, the schools raised $18,476 to help pay for the supplies, and Thrivent Financial contributed $34,238 through a regional program and a grant. “It’s amazing to see so many kids come together to volunteer—and to think about how many kids around the world will be impacted by their work,” says Nancy Hansen, a Thrivent Financial representative in Redwood Falls who participated in the activities.
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More Than Chatter
IN THE MIDWEST—For the past several years, a group of people from across the country, many of them Thrivent Financial members, have been “chatting” in Lutherans Online (www.lutheransonline.com) chat rooms, sponsored by Thrivent Financial. They’ve shared stories, prayer requests, Bible study and opinions on a number of topics. But chatting wasn’t enough. Six years ago, the group hosted a “Midwest Chatter Meeting” in Rochester, Minnesota, where seven of them gathered to meet for a weekend of fun and fellowship. Since then, the “chatters” have met annually in various Midwest locations, and the attendance list has included people from as far away as Colorado and New Mexico. This year’s event, in late September, will be held in Dubuque, Iowa. “Lutherans Online is a great place to meet new friends,” says Jesse Engelmann of Antigo, Wisconsin, one of the annual event’s coordinators.
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Reformation Day Race
 FOLEY, ALABAMA—The 12 Lutheran churches in Baldwin County, Alabama, joined forces last October to help stage a 15K (9.67 mile) race on Reformation weekend to raise money for a Thrivent Builds with Habitat for Humanity® home in Foley, Alabama. Thrivent Financial members and others planned the event, which included a pasta dinner, and found sponsors. Members from each of the 12 Lutheran churches, representing four Lutheran church bodies, staffed water stations along the route. The race raised $3,000 for the Foley home, which was the first Thrivent Builds home in the country to be dedicated in 2008.
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Project Socks
 ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA—Thrivent Financial members from the Alexandria Chapter, along with local metro-area Lutheran churches, donated more than 1,000 pairs of socks for children at Village of Hope School in Ganthier, Haiti. The children received the socks packaged with pencils, bracelets and other school-related items such as notebooks, paintbrushes and chalk. Village of Hope is part of The Lazarus Project, which also includes Grace Mission School and Orphanage and Little Children of Jesus, an orphanage for children with handicaps.
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Souper Bowl
ACROSS THE U.S.—Eight Thrivent Financial regions serving members in 18 states combined efforts to support Souper Bowl of Caring with $40,000 on Super Bowl Sunday 2008. Souper Bowl of Caring is a national youth-led effort that encourages people to give $1 while leaving worship services on Super Bowl Sunday; 100 percent of the dollars raised are then donated to a local charity of choice. Members from more than 2,500 Lutheran churches across the country supported the event, raising more than $1 million of the $10 million raised overall. Youth also participated in local community service activities the day before. |
Fancy Footwork
 LIBERIA, AFRICA VIA ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA—Because of many volunteers, soccer players at St. Peter’s Lutheran High School in Liberia, Africa, all have much-needed soccer supplies. A seminarian at Wartburg Theological Seminary in Iowa told Rita Sewell, a Thrivent Financial member in St. Petersburg, Florida, about Goals for God, a Christian soccer outreach being run by a Liberian Lutheran pastor. Sewell began calling friends and businesses for donations. One of her calls was to Soccer Supply in Clearwater, Florida, which donated boxes of soccer stuff. Students at Lutheran Church of the Cross Day School in St. Petersburg helped collect and sort items; they also sold candy to raise the funds needed to ship the supplies. The South Pinellas County Thrivent Chapter added to the funds, bringing the total raised to $540.
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Relief on Wheels
 NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, South Carolina—The South Carolina Lutheran Men in Mission recently turned a dream into reality with the unveiling of its new Lutheran Disaster Response and Recovery Unit. The truck and trailer combination, filled with tools and supplies, will be used by volunteers trained to assist in disaster situations. The idea for the unit came about after nine people from King of Glory Lutheran Church in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, traveled to Slidell, Louisiana, to help the rebuilding effort there. The Lutheran Men in Mission, along with Thrivent Financial, combined monies collected through fund-raisers and corporate donations to cover the $45,000 needed
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Your Turn
Share a member event of your own with us.
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Connections
What are chapters? Chapters are local groups of members that plan and carry out charitable, social and educational activities. All Thrivent Financial for Lutherans members belong to a chapter. |
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