Thrivent celebrates 20 years of our formal partnership with
Our members began working with Habitat for Humanity soon after its founding in 1976. They participated in fundraising through Aid Association for Lutherans (AAL)/Lutheran Brotherhood (LB) grant programs, building houses and simply promoting the cause.
In 1990, the National Fraternal Congress of America (NFCA) adopted Habitat for Humanity as its national cause. Over the next decade, AAL and LB continued to incorporate Habitat into their fraternal strategies and were leaders within the NFCA for their fundraising efforts, volunteer hours committed and homes built.
By 2000, AAL and its members had built 297 homes and contributed 350,000 volunteer hours through AAL’s Building Hope-Building Homes program. LB and its members had completed 1,766 projects. Together, the two organizations raised a combined $13.2 million.
Our formal partnership
Thrivent continued to build on this legacy. In 2005, Thrivent celebrated its 500th home built and announced a formal partnership with Habitat, with a four-year, $100 million commitment. The program was wildly popular. Within three years, 60,000 members participated, with 650 homes being built. And 1,258 members traveled on 138 Habitat and Thrivent Worldwide projects.
In the past 20 years, Thrivent and its clients have contributed hundreds of millions of dollars to home builds or repairs in the U.S. and around the world. We’re currently sending teams to three domestic disaster recovery locations and 18 international locations on weeklong volunteer builds.
Whether they’re swinging hammers, providing meals or raising funds, our clients continue to improve the living conditions of people around the world through the Thrivent and Habitat Partnership.
Lauren Gaines is Thrivent’s corporate historian and archives manager.
Strong foundations
