Speaking of Service- Words from corporate employees who received a 2008 Volunteer Excellence Award.

“The end result, it feels great.  I love making someone’s day brighter!” —Lonnie Sievert

Lonnie Sievert -Minneapolis—Church and Institution Financing

Lonnie and her husband, Chuck, have four children and four grandchildren. Lonnie is a member of the Minneapolis Corporate Center Chapter of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. She received her Volunteer Excellence Award in the Employees category and donated her grant to House of Charity and Best Prep, Inc.

Following is an excerpt from an interview with Lonnie:

Q. How did you first get involved in volunteering?
A. We started ushering at church. But really, I’ve done it all my life. I was a cheerleader in high school, and worked in the nursery at church when I was 14 so I understood it to be a way of life, helping others.  It feels a part of me, so I continue to do it.

Q. How did you first get involved in volunteering with Thrivent Financial?
A. It started when I found out we could serve lunch at House of Charity over our lunch hour. We had a team of four or five go over. We’d sign in for our shift in the kitchen and put on our Thrivent Financial aprons and hats. A couple would stay in the kitchen and others would work the line, serving salad and bread. I became so passionate about it that I took over as facilitator for Thrivent Financial. I currently organize Thrivent Financial’s 11 teams — we serve lunch the first and third week of every month. Then I became part of the board of director in 2001 at House of Charity.

Q. Why do you volunteer with your Thrivent chapter?
A. They support all the opportunities that we request funds for. I request funds a couple times a year. We make blankets and scarves out of fleece for House of Charity for our winter warm up project, and we usually get financial support from the chapter. We can buy several yards of material with the funds we receive. We started making the scarves to help individuals who use the services of House of Charity stay warm while living out on the street. We also do a tube sock drive for House of Charity. We go over during Christmas week and hand out tube socks, mittens, hats, scarves and winter coats. It’s amazing the difference we make.

Q. What’s the most heart-warming activity you’ve been a part of?
A. It would have to be Habitat for Humanity, before we even started Thrivent Builds. It was one of the first activities that my department did; I helped build a house for a family with a 9-year-old boy. I had the opportunity to work with the family. It was just heartwarming attending the celebration after and to see how appreciative they were for their house and for all the people who came out to help them get their very own home.

Q. What’s the most unique fund-raising activity you’ve been a part of?
A. Starting the fleece blanket project was unique. I started doing them, then put out a notice for help. I was amazed at how many people came. The first time I put a notice out, I got 27 people to show up over the lunch hour. We did six blankets in the first hour. One gal took the material home on a weekend, and she and her daughters made 14 blankets in one weekend. And now we’ve added making scarves. Our goal was 100 scarves a year in the past. This year we received extra funding to purchase material and we completed 365 scarves by Christmas 2007!

Q. What would you say to someone wanting to get involved with a Thrivent chapter?
A. I’m recruiting people all the time for House of Charity through the chapter! I just tell people it’s such a rewarding experience. When they start, they think they’re volunteering to help less fortunate people get a warm meal, but end up being the one who receives this wonderful feeling of really making a difference in someone’s life.

Q. What is your motivation for volunteering?
A. The end result, it feels great.  I love making someone’s day brighter!

Q. If the sky was the limit, and neither time nor money stood in the way, what would you like to see accomplished as a result of volunteer efforts?
A. I would like to see homelessness go away, so that we don’t have to see people sitting on the corner or people standing in the middle of a freeway with a sign. I’d like them all to have a place to call home.