I am in awe. I just finished a 2-week whirlwind tour of every LSA facility, participating in the quiet phase/staff phase of the Keeping The Promise capital campaign in 8 of our 9 operations. Over 80% of staff have contributed, though it was a very soft sell. Many can’t afford to contribute due to the current economy. I am humbled that so many staff are participating. KTP is our statewide $5 million capital campaign, which happily coincides with our 50th anniversary. We kick off the campaign publicly at our June 2010 Lutheran Synod Assembly.

There are too many people to thank. Lutheran Home at Trinity Oaks Environmental Services Director Maggi Blizzard and Lutheran Home - Hickory Maintenance Director David King have co-chaired the statewide staff campaign with our 1,200 staff members. Local efforts were led by: Todd Rogers at Lutheran Home -Albemarle, Becky Good at Lutheran Home - Hickory, Susan Young and Amber Morrison at Lutheran Home – Hickory West, Marcy Strickland and Fleta Grant at Lutheran Home at Trinity Oaks, Sherrie Jacobs and Shonnette Patterson at Winston-Salem, Jonathan Forrester at Crescent View, Nita Cheek at The Elms, Donna Barnes and Diane Hundley at Trinity Oaks, and Lydia Foy, Brenda Sheets, and Meta Fisher for the LSA Office, Abundant Living Adult Day, and LSA Pharmacy. 80% response rate is phenomenal, especially in light of the economy.

For what it’s worth, I have included my notes below. It may help someone understand the campaign and LSA a bit more.

• Thanks for letting me be here and for all your hard work to fulfill LSA’s mission to express God’s love in Christ to those we serve.

• Every 4 years a Lutheran agency gets the chance to have a statewide campaign. Our last turn came in 1985, so we don’t get the chance often. We are trying to raise $5 million from major donors, Lutheran churches, former and current families, staff, and other friends.

• My primary job is to discuss the inside panel of the KTP brochure: the campaign projects. Projects.
1. $2.6 million is our down payment on 4 new nursing facilities: Wilmington, Winston, Hickory West, Clemmons.
2. Explain Winston as good example: 100% Medicaid/indigent, 65% African American, dedicated staff but bad conditions. LSA has proven you can run a good nursing home in a bad building, but every resident deserves a nice place to live.
3. $1.4 million because we need to keep our current facilities in good shape. Each of our current facilities have projects that will be aided by the campaign.
4. $750,000 to take our expertise outside the walls of our facilities into the communities we serve: home services, geriatric care management, home improvements to keep people at home.
5. $150,000 as seed money in Raleigh area.
6. $100,000 to offset campaign costs. We keep expenses low, but it costs to print brochures, travel the state, etc.


• Let’s put the dead rat on the table: none of us even got a raise this year and here I am asking you to make a donation to LSA. People understand that the economy and Medicaid made that impossible. We’re all happy to have a job, when many have lost theirs, and more are losing theirs. And people understand that LSA has to keep growing to stay strong to fulfill our mission and to keep us employed.

• But take your employee hat off a minute. A fund raiser told me that an employee of a not for profit should include that NFP as one of their top three charities. If they don’t, something is bad wrong. Staff might give to their church, maybe one other, but LSA could and should be in the top three. You all see the love and care that takes place here more than anyone else could, so it’s natural LSA would be one of your top three.

• I have drunk the Kool-Aid; I buy into the mission of LSA 100%. I told Chief Development Officer Betty Kuhn I wanted to lead this campaign, so what would it take. I’m the president of the organization and the highest paid employee, so I need to put my money where my mouth is. After I came to, I went home and discussed and prayed about it with Cheryl. I wasn’t planning to share this, but it will eventually be public anyway and it’s no big secret: I have pledged $25,000 to the campaign. It’s more money than I ever thought I’d be able to afford to give or would give to anything, maybe other than church. But that’s how important I think LSA is.

• Everyone can’t make a major gift, but I hope you will use the same prayer and decide what’s right for you. Almost everyone can give something. Just $1 per pay period probably wouldn’t be missed, but if 1200 employees did that, imagine what that would say to the people of NC. This is a very soft sell. If you can’t or don’t want to give, that is perfectly fine.

• Thank you for your hard work, and for letting me come and share this campaign. With your help, we will have a successful campaign and we will lay the foundation for LSA’s next 50 years.