Thrivent Financial News — A roundup of news and features

Bethania Reaches Out to Children Orphaned by Tsunami

The tsunami that ravaged South Asia last December left more than physical wreckage in its wake. It left orphans—lots of them.

“In South India alone, hundreds of children are now orphans, more than 100,000 homes are gone and more than 300,000 people have been left destitute,” says David Granner, a senior financial consultant with Thrivent Financial in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Granner is the co-founder and president of Bethania Kids—a Christian mission that provides for the physical and spiritual needs of poor, abandoned and disabled children in India. Bethania Kids has agreed to immediately take in 130 of the 800 children left fully orphaned in the region, and hopefully many more.

“We are partnering with relief organizations such as Lutheran World Relief to build a long-term future for children left destitute, orphaned or injured,” Granner says. “Our passion is to meet the daily needs of these children and equip them in the development of their faith, vocation and vision for their lives.”

Bethania currently serves about 600 children in three orphanages, six care centers and two centers for disabled children in India. To provide care for more children, Bethania plans to build two additional orphanages in Chennai and Kodaikanal and three additional Kids Centers along the coast. The estimated financial need is $250,000 for the infrastructure and $120,000 a year of ongoing support.

“We need immediate partnerships to get the orphanages off the ground, then sustain them for years to come,” says Todd Heidelberger, a Thrivent Financial associate in Winchester, Virginia, and a member of the Bethania Kids board of directors.

Granner and Heidelberger are two of 19 Thrivent Financial representatives serving on the Bethania board of directors and board of advisers. One hundred percent of the board members and most of the caregivers in India are Lutheran.

Thrivent Financial has offered funding opportunities to Bethania to help meet the long-term needs. An initial grant matched any donations up to $40,000. "We met that in less than two weeks," Heidelberger says.

A volunteer event in the Eastern Great Lakes Region of Thrivent Financial will provide a gift of $55,000 if fund-raising activities can raise $150,000. The activities will involve 60 financial representatives from that region.

All money donated to Bethania is used for the children. Bethania board members assume the cost of any overhead expenses.

A view of rebuilding taking place in Nagappattinam, India, an area particularly hard hit by the tsunami.

Read more about Bethania Kids

Thrivent Financial members and their congregations have gone the extra mile to help tsunami survivors in South Asia. On Feb. 25, Thrivent Financial members surpassed the goal of donating $2.5 million to Lutheran World Relief’s (LWR) Wave of Giving campaign, seven weeks ahead of the April 15 deadline for the Thrivent Financial member matching grant.

“Our members’ generosity continues to amaze me, but it isn’t a surprise that they reached this milestone well before the deadline,” says Brad Hewitt, senior vice president of Fraternal Operations at Thrivent Financial. “We continue to find ways to leverage our members’ desire to make a difference.”

In addition to the $2.5 million match, Thrivent Financial made an initial donation of $1 million to LWR. And an affiliate, Thrivent Life Insurance Company, gave $1.5 million to the disaster-relief programs of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod and the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. With member gifts, this brings the total to more than $7.5 million in total contributions given for tsunami relief.

While many Thrivent Financial members simply made a flat donation, others participated in planned fund-raisers. For example, youth groups at Amigos de Cristo Iglesia Luterano and St. Paul’s Lutheran in Sedalia, Missouri, held a dinner to raise money. And in Frankfort, Michigan, the Trinity Lutheran high school youth group sold virtual bricks on a Web site it started at www.rebuildinghope.org.

“Our goal is to help communities fully rebuild and recover,” says Kathryn Wolford, LWR president, “and this support ensures that we address the consequences of the tsunami in ways that leave communities better organized and able to reduce the impact of future disasters or crises.”

Lutheran World Relief work taking place along India’s southeast coast the week after the deadly waves came ashore.

TSUNAMI RELIEF IN NUMBERS

$1 million initial contribution from Thrivent Financial
$2.5 million from Thrivent Financial members
$2.5 million in matching from Thrivent Financial
$1.5 million from Thrivent Life Insurance Company

Management Changes

Teresa (Terry) J. Rasmussen has been named senior vice president, general counsel and secretary for Thrivent Financial, while David M. Anderson has been promoted to senior vice president of Financial Services Operations. In her role, Rasmussen leads the organization’s law, compliance, business risk management and government affairs functions. In addition, Rasmussen will serve as secretary to the Thrivent Financial board. She replaces Woody Eno, who retired from Thrivent Financial on Feb. 18.

Rasmussen, based in Minneapolis, brings broad financial services experience that includes positions with American Express Financial Corporation since 1990, most recently serving as vice president and general counsel of IDS Life Insurance Company, a subsidiary of American Express.

Anderson, based in Appleton, Wisconsin, oversees the organization’s Financial Services Operations for insurance and mutual funds, including new business services, product services, customer interaction and investment services, and other service support functions. He joined Thrivent Financial in 1983 and has served in a number of positions, including vice president of membership growth, vice president of member acquisition, and most recently as vice president of new business serv-ices in Financial Services Operations.

The Thrivent Financial executive management team manages the organization on behalf of Thrivent Financial members and the board of directors.

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Chairman of the Board John O. Gilbert will retire July 31, after serving more than 40 years with the organization. Thrivent Financial President and Chief Executive Officer Bruce Nicholson will assume the role of chairman following Gilbert’s retirement.

Gilbert’s retirement caps a three-year leadership transition plan put into effect following the January 2002 merger that formed Thrivent Financial. His membership on the board also will end July 31.

“Thrivent Financial is indebted to John Gilbert for his accomplishments and courage throughout his 40 years with the organization, and especially during these past three years,” says Nicholson. “John was instrumental in making Thrivent Financial a success. His unwavering commitment has helped to create a forward-looking financial services organization equipped to serve Lutherans into the 21st century.”

“It’s difficult to leave an organization that I love and have spent my entire career serving,” says Gilbert. “But I am leaving Thrivent Financial with the utmost confidence in the organization’s future. We’re now positioned to grow as a relevant, responsive, member-focused organization.”

John P. McDaniel, Albert K.W. Siu and Thomas R. Zehnder received the highest number of votes in the recent Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Board of Directors election. Each was reelected to a four-year term. Thrivent Financial benefit members voted by mail during the period of Oct. 15 – Nov. 30, 2004.

McDaniel, of Highland, Maryland, has been a member of the board since 1991. He is the chief executive officer of MedStar Health. Siu, of Carlisle, Massachusetts, has been a member of the board since 1998. He currently serves as vice president of Learning and Development for Millennium Pharmaceuticals. Zehnder, of Baileys Harbor, Wisconsin, has been a member of the board since 1997. Zehnder is a Lutheran clergyman, who has served as president of the Florida- Georgia district of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod.

Benefit members cast votes for the three open positions for a total of 170,602 votes. The independent accounting firm of Schenck, SC tabulated the results, and the Board of Directors Election Committee declared the winners.

In addition, Timothy J. Lehman of Neenah, Wisconsin, was appointed to the Board of Directors at its meeting in February to fill a vacancy. Lehman is president of the Adult/Feminine Care Sector for Kimberly-Clark Corporation.

2004 Election Vote Totals

2005 Board Election
Looking ahead, Thrivent Financial benefit members, as members of a fraternal benefit society, have a unique opportunity to participate in the nomination of candidates for the 2005 board election. Chapters can make nominations between April 1 and May 31, 2005. Contact your chapter for more information. To find out what chapter you belong to, call 800-THRIVENT (800-847-4836) and select option 3 for Fraternal Services. Or visit www.thrivent.com/members. First-time visitors will need to register.

Siu

McDaniel

Zehnder

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