Winter 2012 | Volume 110 | Number 662
Look What You Did!
See the great work that Lutheran organizations are doing with the help of Thrivent Choice DollarsSM.
by Meg McCormick
Providing wood to heat homes. Collecting shoes for orphans in Third World countries. Giving Bibles to young children. Turning a parking lot into a community garden.
Those activities sound like the typical volunteer efforts of Thrivent members, don't they? But all this work was accomplished in a unique way: without anyone leaving their homes. If you're wondering how this is possible, the answer is Thrivent Choice®, one of Thrivent Financial's charitable grant programs. Thrivent Choice allows and encourages eligible members to recommend where Thrivent Financial should donate portions of its charitable outreach funds each year.
Music and Memories
Sometimes all it takes is a song to improve your mood and make you remember different times in your life. Just consider the men and women suffering memory loss and dementia at Lutheran Homes of Michigan and their families, who have found music to be an unexpectedly helpful tool in maintaining their relationships.
"Family members often feel so disconnected from their loved ones with Alzheimer's," says Al Kaul, program director. "It's challenging for families to have meaningful interactions with their loved ones when the patient forgets names and loses memories."
One solution has come from music therapy, which the organization began using in recent years to connect with residents who have Alzheimer's disease and to minister to children after the death of a family member. Studies suggest that music can temporarily improve mood, memory and thinking for people with Alzheimer's. Visitors see the improvement in their family members and often plan their visits around music therapy appointments.
Thrivent Choice grant funds have provided more than $8,400 to the Lutheran Homes of Michigan since 2010. The organization has used the money to purchase more instruments so more people could participate in its music therapy programs, and to support the music therapist on staff.
"We now have enough instruments for everyone to make music together as a family in a way that they wouldn't otherwise be able to connect," Kaul says.
Thrivent Choice grant funds also are used to help fund the organization's annual trip for children ages 5 to 17 to Camp Hope, a place for grief and healing after a family death. The impact music therapy has on the children is "absolutely remarkable," says Kaul. During last year's trip, many teenagers at Camp Hope came out of silence over their recent losses and into expression, pouring their feelings into song.
Retreat for Missionaries
Gary Thies often comes to work in his overalls, but his supervisor doesn't mind. "My boss started this," he says, nodding at a painting of Jesus above his desk. "His picture reminds me every day who I work for."
Gary's workplace is Mission Central, a renovated farmstead near Mapleton, Iowa, that provides lodging and more to Lutheran missionaries returning to the U.S. from other countries. It becomes a temporary home to them, providing a place for them to work, hold meetings, worship and reconnect with their sponsoring churches or organizations.
All the work of Mission Central is funded by monetary gifts, while operations – cooking and more – are handled by volunteers. The Thieses do everything they can to minimize costs to ensure that each gift is used to its maximum potential for the missionaries. For example, 60 volunteers come from all over the Midwest to help run the facility. Three groups of local women provide visitors with free home-cooked meals. All of the food is donated by the Lutheran Women's Missionary League, and the meat – beef and pork – is donated by local farm families.
That level of volunteer support means that the more than $32,000 Mission Central has received in Thrivent Choice grant funds goes a long way. "What a joy it is to apply every penny of these Thrivent gifts to the missionaries' support account," says Gary, who considers Mission Central a "miracle place. God is still in charge, not us."
Local Helpers
Helping one another is one of the defining characteristics of Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Lake Mary, Florida. "We're all about community," says Dennis McGavok, the congregation's director of operations. "Our mission involves being at the center of the community, finding opportunities to help others."
They recently did just that, thanks to a successful campaign by Thrivent Financial representative Tim Fraser. His efforts resulted in more than $8,300 granted to Holy Cross through members' Choice Dollars recommendations, which the church leaders decided to put toward domestic missions. Those dollars have supported:
- The Oasis, a place for people in need to do their laundry, study, shower and more.
- The Disaster Assistance Response Team, or DART, a team of Holy Cross volunteers who lend a helping hand whenever a natural disaster strikes. Thrivent Choice Dollars and additional funding from Thrivent's Seminole County Chapter have equipped DART with a trailer and tools to help with recovery and repair projects, such as clearing downed trees, boarding broken windows and covering roofs with tarps.
- Essential home repair work for a church member who had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Her family's home had a leaky roof that allowed mold to grow, which was unsuitable for a patient undergoing chemotherapy, which weakens the immune system. DART volunteers identified the family's need and purchased materials; shortly thereafter, a new roof was installed and drywall damage repaired.
New STUFF for Families
What would you call a kit containing sheets, towels and utensils for families? STUFF!
STUFF, a program of Community Lutheran Partners (CLP) in Wheeling, West Virginia, started with the main focus on helping people in West Virginia and nearby Maryland after natural disasters, but CLP Executive Director Sherri Schafer realized there was more to be done in her community.
"I have trouble watching supplies sitting on shelves when there are so many people in need," she says. When a domestic violence shelter called and asked about STUFF, Schafer expanded the program. Today, STUFF serves five communities in the West Virginia-Western Maryland Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, providing kits to women transitioning from prison, women and children from abusive homes, youth aging out of the foster care system and others.
Each STUFF kit contains sheets, towels, a set of pots and pans, laundry detergent, cooking and eating utensils, pillows and a laundry basket. "We only use new items," said Schafer. "It's important to tell people that they are worthwhile and to give them items that represent a fresh start."
The program has benefited from the Thrivent Choice program. More than $2,000 in Thrivent Choice grant funds for Community Lutheran Partners has been allocated to the STUFF program and the ongoing need for its care packages. So far, the Thrivent Choice grant funds distributed to CLP have added up to more than a year's worth of funding for STUFF.
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