Last week, April 7 – April 14, was National Volunteer Week. While we at Habitat for Humanity La Crosse Area celebrate our volunteers every day, we took this special week as a chance to truly highlight what their hard work and dedication mean to us. We did this with our annual Habitat La Crosse Volunteer Recognition Dinner.

Habitat La Crosse staff organized the dinner, held Monday, April 8. All volunteers were invited and enjoyed a delicious meal catered by Celebrations on the River. This included ReStore volunteers, office volunteers, construction volunteers, committee members and board members. As volunteers arrived, they were handed certificates to acknowledge the work they’ve done for Habitat in the past year.
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After everyone had time to mingle and find their seats, the ceremony began. Habitat La Crosse’s volunteer coordinator welcomed everyone. Next, awards were presented. First were some fun awards. Office volunteer Mary Greene won the “Rookie of the Year Award” for being the best newcomer. 

​Next, the board members whose terms are ending this year were recognized. These members are Tom Uphaus and Sarah Arendt-Beyer.

​Next, we moved on to our more formal awards. These winners were all chosen after staff reviewed nominations other staff and volunteers submitted. Tim Skinner won the June Kjome Volunteer Award. This award is named after Habitat La Crosse’s founder and recognizes the volunteer who best embodies the values of service, stewardship and good will that June Kjome herself represented. Tim was nominated for his far-reaching participation in Habitat’s events and campaigns and his sincere dedication to Habitat’s mission. 

Tim Hansen won the Al Lien Volunteer Award. Al Lien, for whom this award is named, faithful served Habitat for Humanity La Crosse Area for over a decade, helping construct the first twenty-three houses built by the Affiliate.
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The Al Lien Volunteer of the Year Award is given out to those in his honor each year to an individual who embodies the values to service, stewardship, and good will which Mr. Lien exemplified through his service to this Affiliate and throughout his life. Tim was nominated because of his extensive experience, his willingness to help his fellow volunteers and his passion for building for Habitat La Crosse. 

​Habitat La Crosse staff were so excited to recognize all the hard work our volunteers have done in the past year to help us expand our services and build even more homes, communities and hope. If you’re interested in volunteering with us, email volunteer@habitatlacrosse.org to learn how you can help. 

Habitat for Humanity La Crosse Area has an excellent community partner in Thrivent Financial. As an organization and through the members it serves, Thrivent supports Habitat La Crosse’s mission to build homes, communities and hope.

Thrivent provides financial services and guidance to its members. Some of these services are philanthropic in nature, and those can be used to support Habitat La Crosse. One of these is Thrivent Action teams. Each Thrivent member is able to apply for up to two Action Teams each year. An Action Team encourages members to strengthen and give back to their communities. These teams provide up to $250 for members to create fundraising activities for philanthropic reasons. This money can help fund volunteer events, purchase the materials needed for a fundraiser, purchase materials for an already planned fundraiser, purchase meals for volunteers at a nonprofit and more.

In the past, Thrivent members have used Action Team money to buy lunches for Habitat La Crosse volunteers on the job site and to provide materials needed for a Habitat La Crosse fundraiser, to name two examples. Both Thrivent and Habitat La Crosse have tons of examples of ways these Action Teams can be used. These range from very little effort to very involved. Either way, they can help build homes, communities and hope.

Thrivent Choice Dollars are another way for Thrivent members to help Habitat for Humanity La Crosse area. Certain Thrivent members are allotted a certain number of Choice Dollars to allocate each year. These are not dollars that come out of the individual’s pocket. Instead, they are gifted to the individual’s chosen nonprofit from Thrivent. And Habitat La Crosse is one of the nonprofits members can choose. This is an even easier way to give back and help build homes, communities and hope.

Thrivent gives its members several ways to live generously. Additionally, Thrivent as an organization is a generous partner for Habitat for Humanity. Thrivent Financial partners with Habitat affiliates to bring church members and people across communities together to help build more homes. These include individual Faith Builds and even Thrivent homes, which are built when Thrivent funds a portion of the home building costs for a Habitat family.
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Thrivent Financial has many employees and members who support Habitat La Crosse through volunteering, sitting on committees and donating. Are you a Thrivent member? Learn how you can help us build more homes, communities and hope today by speaking with your Thrivent representative.