A hands-on service activity involves volunteer labor to assemble, develop or improve something for an identified recipient. Through its chapter Care programs, Thrivent Financial provides financial assistance to purchase necessary materials used in an activity in which chapter service team members provide the volunteer support (labor) to help an individual, family, congregation or qualified not-for-profit organization.

To qualify as a hands-on service activity, the activity must:

• Bring together at least six Thrivent Financial members from different households working together at the same time and place to help an individual, family, congregation or qualified not-for-profit organization.
  
• Involve meaningful work that is directly related to the item(s) purchased with the funds. Meaningful work implies a reasonable commitment of time and effort.
  
• Have an outcome or product.

Examples of hands-on service activities include painting a church hall, constructing a wheelchair ramp, etc. See more examples below.

To determine if an activity is truly a hands-on service activity, consider:

• Who is the recipient of the activity?
• What is the need of the recipient?
• What is being assembled, developed or improved for the recipient through the activity?
• What hands-on service will be performed by volunteers?
• What materials or supplies do the volunteers need to complete their activity?

What does not qualify as a hands-on service activity? (See examples below.)

• Buying food and/or supplies to sponsor a social gathering that only provides an opportunity for a group of people to gather for friendly companionship. Social activities by themselves are not considered hands-on service activities.
• Buying food and/or supplies to sponsor an educational event.
• Buying supplies to be used to support fund-raising activities (i.e., cooking supplies to make and sell baked goods at a fair).
• Paying for professional services (i.e., carpenter, landscaper, professional presenter, professional movers) acquired by a chapter service team. The funds are not intended to pay for the work, but rather to purchase necessary supplies.

Examples

• A community service team wants to provide travel expense assistance for a young student to participate in a service activity in another state. Travel expenses are not materials needed to perform the service and are not an acceptable use of hands-on service funding through a chapter Care program. However, the community service team could hold a fund-raiser to help cover travel expenses.
• A congregational service team has been asked to provide funds to support a luncheon for confirmation students and their families. The luncheon is a social event and not eligible for hands-on service funds through the Care in Congregations® program. However, the service team could suggest that the students and parents enhance their social event by adding a service element. They could plan to do landscaping at the church or a local nursing home, or assemble health kits for local social service agencies. In these cases, they can request funds from the Care in Congregations® program to purchase the materials needed to complete the service activity.
• A chapter service team wants to host an educational event at the local grade school and is asking for funds for the materials they plan to purchase and distribute to attendees. Purchasing professionally-made hand-outs is not an acceptable use of hands-on service funds through the chapter Care programs. However, the service team may want to conduct a fund-raiser before the event to cover the cost of the hand-out materials.