Four page newsletter: San Mateo County Chapter Newsletter| Four page newsletter: San Mateo County Chapter Newsletter | | |
| San Mateo County Chapter, THRIVENT NEWS YOU CAN USE |
| 2006 CHAPTER BOARD ELECTED |
Each of the 19 Lutheran congregations in San Mateo County were to hold Thrivent Chapter elections in late October or early November. The following Board members were elected for 2006: President, Pastor Jeffrey Schufreider; Vice President, Greg Bohlmann; Records Director, Marilyn McKenna; Financial Director, Adele Koch; Congregational Service Team Director, Marion McDowell; Community Service Team Director, Pastor Paul Michaelson; and Events Director, Bette Blake.
Two members of the 2005 Board chose not to stand for election in 2006 - Mary Lasley and Lisa Hunt. Mary Lasley served two terms as president of the board and one term as Records Director. Lisa Hunt served one term as Events Director. Their past service is greatly appreciated!
Thrivent has a policy of four-year term limits. Therefore, Pastor Jeff Schufreider and Marion McDowell will be leaving the Chapter Board at the end of 2006. If you know people who would like to serve on the Board in 2007, encourage them to contact Pastor Jeff, 650-273-1202 about Advisor positions now available. They might be interested in serving as an Advisor to the Board in 2006 to gain knowledge of how the Board operates.
| CARE ABOUNDS IN COMMUNITIES® |
San Mateo County Chapter had a little over $19,000 to distribute in 2005. All 19 Lutheran congregations were invited to request supplemental funds up to $1,000 each to support a community agency or activity. Funds that were not requested by September were then available to congregations that had already requested $1,000 supplemental funds. At the last meeting the Board approved requests that equaled the remaining unused funds. This year Chapter "Care Abounds" funds were approved to supplement dollars raised from crab feeds, rummage sales, Mardi Gras activities, school plays, choir concerts, free-will offerings, ice cream socials, barbecues, fund raisers for Thanksgiving and Christmas food boxes, preparation of a dinner at Clara Mateo center, SSF Day in the Park, a carnival, a silent auction, a book faire, Talbot Toys fund-raiser, an organ concert, holiday boutiques, a bake sale, a Christmas appeal and a library benefit.
Several congregations have not yet requested their $1300 in matching funds from "Care in Congregations." December 22 is the last day that congregational coordinators can request funds. Important - "Care in Congregations" is an annual program and funds do not carry over from one year to the next. Therefore, all activities must be reported by December 31, 2005. Congregations cannot request funding from 2005 funds for an activity that will be held in 2006.
Here are some of the activities used by congregations to generate Thrivent matching funds for "Care in Congregations": free will offerings, holiday boutique, game night, booth at fireworks activity, barbecue, rummage sale, spaghetti feed, garage sale, luncheon, monthly breakfast, Easter breakfast, car wash, school musical, harvest festival, Palm Sunday breakfast, a booth at the pumpkin festival.
"Join Hands Day" is scheduled for May, 2006. It is not too early to start getting the word out to members about this special day of volunteering. Our San Mateo County Chapter will receive $1000 of Join Hands Day seed money on March 1 to underwrite project expenses. Activities can occur from April 1 to June 30.
| HURRICANE KATRINA RESPONSE IS OVERWHELMING |
Member response has been overwhelming to Thrivent Financial's Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. Over $11 million has been raised and donated to the devastated Gulf region. Our Lutheran response agencies - Lutheran Disaster Response, ELCA Domestic Disaster Response, LCMS World Relief/Human Care and WELS Committee on Relief - can still use more funds as the need is significant and ongoing.
| THRIVENT BUILDS IS LAUNCHED |
"Thrivent Builds with Habitat for Humanity" is a powerful opportunity for Lutherans and their communities to express their faith through volunteer hours, hard work and financial contributions that will support building simple, decent homes in partnership with families in need.
Opportunities to get involved are:
"Thrivent Builds Homes" provides opportunities for Thrivent Financial for Lutherans members and other Lutherans to join together regionally to provide financial and volunteer support to help recruit volunteers, organize fund-raising efforts and ultimately build homes with families in need.
"Thrivent Builds Giving" provides opportunities for members age 16 and older to contribute financial gifts directly to Habitat for Humanity International, with Thrivent Financial matching $1 for every $2 contributed up to a maximum supplement of $300 per member annually.
"Thrivent Builds World Wide" trips give participants a unique opportunity. Thrivent Builds Worldwide is based on an extraordinary Habitat for Humanity program called Global Village. Through short-term working trips in locations from Mozambique, Africa, to Dublin, Ireland, to Taos, New Mexico, Global Village trip participants become active partners with people of other cultures.
"Thrivent Builds Neighborhoods" is a new program designed to make a big difference in targeted communities within Thrivent Financial's 31 Regional Financial Office (RFO) regions. Thrivent Financial will contribute $3 million to $5 million per year, with grants from that pool totaling $500,000 to $1 million each. This program is under development, and more news on how to apply and participate will be available in 2006.
You may wish to log on to "thriventbuilds.com" to learn more about how Thrivent builds.
| CONTACT INFORMATION FOR NEW BOARD MEMBERS |
Here is the contact information for each of the newly elected San Mateo County Thrivent Board members:
President: Rev. Jeffrey L. Schufreider, 37 Lilac Lane, South San Francisco, CA 94080-2655. (650) 273-1202. e-mail: schufreider@hotmail.com.
Vice President: Gregory M.Bohlmann, 521 Breakwater Drive, Redwood City, CA 94065-2835. (650) 508-8415. e-mail: gbohlmann@sri.com.
Records Director: Marilyn McKenna, 705 Barneson Avenue, San Mateo, CA 94402-3414 (650) 573-8681. e-mail: mckenna@reedpatent.com.
Financial Director: Adele Koch, 1906 Kentucky Street, Redwood City, Ca 94061-3222. (650) 364-3968. e-mail: bestkoch1@msn.com.
Congregational Service Team Director: Marion McDowell, 896 Bauer Drive, San Carlos, CA 94070-3638. (650) 591-5949. e-mail: mmcdowel@seq.org.
Community Service Team Director: Rev. Paul Michaelson, 20 Valley Road, San Carlos, CA 94070-2035. (650) 593-7483. (no e-mail)
Events Director: Bette Blake, 347 Arroyo Drive, South San Francisco, CA 94010-4109. (650) 589-8449. e-mail: bebablake@aol.com.
This newsletter was written and edited by volunteer leaders of your local Thrivent Financial for Lutherans chapter to keep you informed of chapter news. If you have any questions and/or comments about the content of this newsletter or would like to learn more about chapter activities being planned in your area, please contact one of your chapter leaders. To access you chapter leader contact information, go to www.thrivent.com; Members/Chapters; Information About My Chapter; View Leadership/Activities/Website; Chapter Leadership Board.
|
print