Greetings from your Chapter Leadership Board. We are all volunteers that want to make the best use of the allocated dollars that Thrivent has made available to the Care Abounds in Communities Program and to the Care In Congregations Program.
President                             Thomas W Hardgrove         330-854-2148          haauca@ sssnet.com
Vice President                      Jamie D Savarin                  330-323-4212         jsavarin@aol.com
Records Director                 Kristie Lyn Woods               330-834-3514          kwoods@stllc.org
Financial Director                Kenneth R Reinoehl            330-866-2452          reinoehl_k@neo.rr.com
Congregational Service Team Direcor  
                                           Richard F Spall                   330-499-7369          DDaug31@sbcglobal.net
Communications Director    Linda G Tomlinson              330-862-2504          lntoml@yahoo.com
Community Service             Nancy Ann Merryman          330-837-0307          merrymanlpn@yahoo.com
Youth Service                     Susan J Neel                        330-493-9005          sjneelaim@yahoo.com
Thrivent Builds Specialist    Michael L Kellog                   330- 699-8070         mkellogg123@yahoo.com
Thrivent Builds Specialist    Darrel S Rice                        330-862-2944          darrelrice@verizon.net
Thrivent Builds Specialist    Donald J Rice                       330-477-6205          ricedoncar@juno.com

Events Director & Assistant Financial Director positions are vacant at this time. If you would like to serve on the Board in either of these positions , call Tom Hardgrove or Jamie Savarin.

Karen Jeske, a Thrivent Financial Representative volunteers her time to attend Board meetings as a resource person and advisor.

The Board meets on the first Tuesday of the month at St. Stephen Mary Lutheran Church at 7:00 pm.

For last year. WELL DONE GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANTS !! Now for this year to make sure our new members and some of you that may not have been in church when the information was announced there, have the details, here is the proposition. Thrivent provides 65% if Habitat for Humanity of grater Stark & Carroll Counties will provide 25% of the cost and get clear titles to the lots, select Partner Families who get to pick a lot and house plan, order materials and supervise construction, AND IF, We Thrivent Members and our fellow Lutherans from the Churches in Stark and Carroll / Harrison County Chapters will raise 10% and furnish 50% of the volunteers to build the 5 houses. On average for all the hours on all the houses Thrivent wants at least 25% of the Lutheran volunteers to be Thrivent Members. So all you Members be sure you sign the log book and check the Thrivent Member Box when you come out to work or bring food to a house. If some folks helped purchase food and prepare it back at the church or at home, write their names in the log book at the work site and put down some hours.

At a planning meeting held at St. Stephen on March 24 we learned from Beth Tonsky and Joanne Callas from the Habitat staff that the families have been selected, lots and plans picked out and they are ready to go. One house will be in Carrollton, two in Waynesburg and two in Massillon.

The churches represented at the meeting volunteered to take responsibility for providing workers and food. Advent Uniontown, Holy Trinity on 55th st. and Peace will take one house in Waynesburg. To volunteer to work with this group contact Ed Metzger, 330-327-5495 or Mike Kellogg listed above.

Israel Paris, Koontze and Trinity in Magnolia will take the other in Waynesburg. To come out and work with this group call Jamie, Ken or Darrel listed above.

The houses in Massillon are located at the corner of Walnut Rd. and 14th st. and  the next lot on 14th. One will be built by St. Stephen Martyr and St. John Canal Fulton. To join them or to just go watch them work and have lunch with them call Don Rice or Tom Hardgrove.The other will be built by the same team of Massillon Churches as the one last year but additional volunteers are most welcome, especially if they are Thrivent Members. Call Pastor Mark Oster  330-832-7409 to get in on the action at this one.

If you want to know where you would be most needed or what will be going on at these 5 houses and at any of the other Habitat Houses that will be going up in Canton, call Joanne Callas  330-323-5989 or 330-493-6500.  Joanne schedules the materials and tools to be delivered to each work site and work to be done that day so she knows what was done by the Thursday Crew and if the job is ahead or behind the projected schedule. Lutherans that work on any Habitat House in 2009 can count their hours toward our committment. You may want to talk to Joanne about joining one of the Thursday Crews that do things like put up trusses.

And then for all you new members and anyone who missed the details last year, here is how we fulfill our committment to provide 10% or approx. $ 37,500.00, of the cost of the 5 houses. We ask you Thrivent Members and your fellow Lutherans in the 32 Lutheran Churches that are in the Stark and Carroll / Harrison County Chapters to raise the money. Each Church has been asked to pray about this project and decide how they want to help.

Many have chosen to continue to offer their members the same opportunities to make contributions as they did last year. Some may want to add a fund raising activity or provide special Thrivent Builds Envelopes to give more of their members the opportunity to participate.

Checks from your members and donors can be payable to your Church, designated for Thrivent Builds.
Your Church Treasurer makes Checks payable to Thrivent Builds and sends them to Stark Chapter Builds Specialist, Darrel Rice, 2821 Anderson Ave. NE Minerva, OH 44657. He sends them to the Thrivent Bank in Appleton WI for deposit in our Thrivent Builds Account.  All funds raised by or for Lutherans
toward our 10%  must go thru this account. Any checks from Lutheran Churches or individuals they know to be Lutherans that are sent to the Habitat office are sent to Darrel to be passed thru the Thrivent Bank.

2.   The Leaders, Pastor and the Coordinators plan a fund raising activity or activities to raise at least as much as your allocation but preferably you will gererate enough interest and enthusiasim for your projects that you will raise $2  for every $1  of your allocation.

3.   The Lead Coordinator reports online that the fund raiser that has been requested.

4.   The Projects and fund raisers are advertised along with the announcment that Thrivent Financial will match up to your allocated amount.

5.   The fund raising activities are held, encouraging as many Thrivent Members and your fellow Lutherans as possible to volunteer to help plan and conduct the activities.

6.   The Lead Coordinator reports on line the amount of money raised, volunteer hours by Members, hours by others, total attendence etc. In a few days a check for the allocated amount will come in the mail

9.   Ken sends you a check for an amount equal to what you raised plus the supplemented dollars that   were approved by the board.

All requests, even for events that will be held later in the year, should be presented early in the year. The Board takes them as they are received and wants to have all the dollares requested  before the end of the year. Money not given away by the end of the year does not carry over to give away next year.