Vice Pres.         Jamie D. Savarin               330-323-4212      jsavarin@aol.com
                         9626 Sommerville St., Louisville, OH  44641-8400

Records Dir.      Rev. Robert Paul Sander  330-497-7293      rev1bobs@aol.com
                         4818 Leigh Ave. NW , Canton, OH  44709-1943

Financial Dir.     Kenneth R. Reinoehl         330-866-2452      reinoehl_k@neo.rr.com
                         318 E. Lisbon St. , Waynesburg, OH  44688-9302

Congregational  Richard F. Spall                 330-499-7369     DDAug31@sbcglobal.net
Service Team Dr.119 Pershing Ave. SE , North Canton, OH  44720-3158

CommunicationsLinda G. Tomlinson             330-862-2504      lntoml@yahoo.com
Director              15400 Lisbon St. SE , Minerva, OH  44657-9143

Youth Director    Susan J, Neel                      330-493-9005      sjneelaim@yahoo.com
                          6726 Amsel Ave. NE , Canton, OH  44721-2605

Community          Nancy Merryman                 330-837-0307      merrymanlpn@yahoo.com
Service Team Dr.4178 Redoak Cr. , Massillon, OH  44046

Assistant Financial Director    Vacant at this time. Qualified Volunteers call Tom or Jamie.

Events Director   Darrel S. Rice                      330-862-2944      darrelrice@verizon.net
Build Specialist                           2821 Anderson Ave. NE ,  Minerva, OH  44657-8653

Build Specialist  Michael L. Kellogg                330-699-8070      mkellogg@goodyear.com
                          1681 Sawgrass Dr.,  Unointown, OH  44685-7848

Through the exciting chapter Care program called Care Abounds in Communities®, Thrivent Financial provides funding to members who form community service teams to conduct fund-raising or hands-on service activities to help individuals, families and/or qualified not-for-profit organizations.

So, do you want to help, but don't know how to get started? It's as easy as ABC 1-2-3.

This online tool—located at www.thrivent.com/ABC—is available to help you translate your desire to help into an action plan for making a difference. It provides easy steps to guide you as well as ideas, checklists and tips so you can successfully form a community service team and execute an activity through your Thrivent Financial for Lutherans chapter.

Here's a glimpse of topics you can read about:

Getting things started
1. Identify recipient of funds or service project.
2. Form your community service team. Any 6 Thrivent Members. Can't be 2 from same family.
3. Explore your capabilities; select your activity.

Making a plan
1. Request chapter leadership board funding approval.
2. Plan activity logistics and details.
3. Get the word out.

Do it! And Celebrate!
1. Do it! Carry out your plans to help others.
2. Celebrate completion of activity and recognize your volunteers.
3. Tell us what you did. Then pay bills and provide funds to recipient.

Thrivent Financial budgeted $125 million at the beginning of the alliance and allocated $105 with a plan to add the remaining amount if Thrivent Builds proved successful. Based on member response and results to date, the final $20 million is now being committed. The increased support comes at the midpoint of the alliance with Habitat.

In the past two years, more than 650 homes have been built with families in need of simple, decent, affordable housing thanks to Thrivent Financial members, Lutherans and other volunteers. That’s 650 families who have the increased financial security that comes from homeownership.

300+ FAMILIES WILL BE HELPED THIS YEAR. YOU CAN PLAY A PART!
So many American families struggle with even basic needs. Food. Electricity. A safe place to live. Some of these are families here in our community. You can help change that.

Help us build homes and strengthen families in our service area.

In 2006 and 2007 the Stark Chapter and Habitat for Humanity of greater Canton received funding from Thrivent to provide 65% of the cost of three houses each year if Habitat would put up 25% and us Lutherans would raise 10% of the money and provide 50% of the volunteer workers to build the houses.Many of your congregations participated. The 2006 build went a little slow at times with many Lutheran volunteers working with regular Habitat volunteers for the first time. The 2007 build went much better. We had many more volunteers and they were learning how to work together and we had one church be responsible for scheduling all the volunteer workers and snacks & lunches at one house.Advent, Uniontown took one house, St. Stephen the Martyr took the second and Israel, Paris did the third.

We did so well that Habitat for Humanity and Thrivent made some changes for 2008. Our Service Area was expanded. They are now Habitat for Humanity of greater Stark and Carroll Counties and Thrivent has offered us funding for at least 5 houses this year. The tentitive plan is to build 3 in Canton, 1 in Massillon and 1 in Carroll County.

We need everyone to pray about this to seek God's guidance. Please share with your Pastor and your church officers the news that we have this opportunity to move 5 families from deplorable housing into a nice new homes and ask them to have someone from your church council attend the Planning Meeting.

The Planning Meeting will be at St. Stephen Martyr Lutheran Church on Tuesday, Jan. 22 at 7:00 pm. We need to decide if we can accept this responsibility and how we can do it.

We will need two more volunteers to be Chapter Builds Specialists, one from a Massillon Congregation to work with the Massillon churches to help raise the 10% ( approx. $ 7500. ) that local Lutheran Churches need to raise in order to be able to receive 65% from Thrivent to build a house in Massillon and a volunteer that is willing to work with Lutheran Churches that want to help build a house in Carroll County.

The Habitat Affiliate has already agreed to supervise all the details of securing the lots, selecting recipiant partner families, providing site supervisors and provide 25% of the cost. We, Thrivent Members and our fellow Lutherans, have the opportunity and responsibility to make this good thing happen.

Here in the Stark Chapter the Champion in your congregation would be the contact person to know when volunteers are needed to work on any of the 5 houses we will be building in 2008 and share that information at your church. We have established a custom over the past two years that snacks at 10:00 am and a good lunch are served at each work site every Saturday. Hopfully many more congregations will take a turn to furnish snacks and lunch a few times next summer. A Champion or contact person at each church would help us have the right number of workers and the appropriate lunch at each house each week.

                                    This Newsletter compiled by Darrel Rice & Linda Tomlinson.