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 Dear Friends,
Just a few days ago I learned of a death of a former colleague of mine. The lady’s name was Kathy Spearman and she was the President/CEO of Volunteers of America of Florida for over 25 years. Kathy just retired in the last two years. Not long after retirement she was diagnosed with cancer. It was fast spreading and lethal and as I said, she passed away a few days ago. It reminded me so much of my dad’s retirement. My father was a real hardworking man who didn’t sit at a desk but was doing all kinds of hard work. When he finally had the chance to retire, he too took sick with problematic kidneys and he went on to kidney dialysis for years. His retirement years were not necessarily the golden years, just as Kathy Spearman’s weren’t.
All of this has made me realize once again the need for me – and I hope for all of you – to enjoy the life we have. To be thankful for the blessings that have been bestowed upon us. I know it is a terrible cliché, but life really is short and I just want to suggest that we all live a good life. Live it fully and live each day with the hope of another day to come, but knowing that life can end at any time.
So in this upcoming season of Thanksgiving, let’s also remember to thank the good Lord for the blessings that all of us have. I know for me it has just been a load of things…my family, my wife, my children, my grandchildren, my friends, my ministry at Volunteers of America with each and every one of you. I thank God every day for allowing me this unbelievable opportunity. Thank you all for what you do. Thank you for helping the people we are called to serve. May you enjoy each and every day for the rest of your life and may you give thanks to the good Lord for the blessings that you have.
Until next time, take care and God bless.
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Announcements
1) Interested in joining the Volunteers of America Christmas Choir? Contact Bernella Haisley at bhaisley@voagno.org or call extension 3558 to sign up! Practice days/times TBA.
2) You're invited to join us in supporting Volunteers of America and other social service initiatives during this year’s UNITED WAY CAMPAIGN, happening November 16 – 20, 2015! More details coming soon via email.
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Employee of the Year Awarded
Congratulations to Carl Payton, Supported Living Services Facilitator, our 2015 Employee of the Year! With great dedication, Carl has served others for many years as an employee of Volunteers of America. His committment and devotion to the people we serve is evident through the ways he has gone above and beyond the requirments of his job time and again to help consumers in need.
In case you missed it last month, Carl was recently featured in the national publication, Guideposts. You can read the heart-warming story here.
Carl, from all of us here at Volunteers of America, we thank you for your great example of what it means to make a difference for so many people in our community through your hard work and dedication. Thank you for all you do!
**See photos of our recent Employee Appreciation Party here.**
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Minister's Message by Minister Al Kohorst
What Does John 3:16 Mean?
The Gospel of John 3:16 is one of the most widely quoted verses from the Christian Bible, and has been called the most famous Bible verse. It has also been called the “Gospel in a nutshell,” because it is considered a summary of the central theme of traditional Christianity: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
The verse is part of the New Testament narrative discussion between Jesus and Nicodemus. Their discussion centered on the necessity of man being born again before he could “see the kingdom of God”, (v.3) Jesus spoke also of “heavenly things” (v. 11-13) and of salvation (v.14-17) and the condemnation (v.18,19) of those that do not believe in Jesus.
God wants you to know for certain that you have eternal life. The Bible assures us that we can know God and have eternal life. John 3:16 tells us that: God gave His only begotten Son, Jesus, to live for us and die for our sins on the Cross (Romans 5:8). We must believe in Jesus in order to have eternal life. The word “believe” means that we must commit our life to Him and follow Him as our Lord and our God. Believing in Jesus means we will not “perish,” meaning we won’t spend all of our life and all eternity separated from the presence of God in hell. When we turn our life over to Jesus by believing in Him, He gives us “everlasting life.”
Everlasting life begins the moment you believe in Jesus and begin to follow Him, and continues into heaven. Would you like to believe in Jesus and turn your life over to Him?
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Saying Goodbye to our VISTAs
For the past year, our organization has been fortunate to have Erin Duffy and Gabby Newman serving with us through the Americorps VISTA program. Erin has served as our Marketing VISTA, while Gabby has served as our Development VISTA. Their year of service has helped our organization build capacity, expand our consumer reach, and create systems and structures that help our efficiency. Among their many contributions, Erin has done an amazing job of tracking and collecting success stories from our programs and their consumers, and Gabby has made a significant impact on our annual GolfStar auction.
We'll be sad to say goodbye to these two on Friday, November 6th, but we wish them all the best for their future endeavors. Many thanks to these ladies for their dedicated service to Volunteers of America Greater New Orleans!
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Mercedes Raffle Kicks Off | CWP Donors Needed
Tickets are now available for our annual Mercedes raffle! Show your thanks for your loved ones by giving them a raffle ticket as a Thanksgiving goodie! Raffle proceeds benefit Volunteers of America's Adoption Program. Tickets are only $50 and only 1500 tickets will be sold! Buy your tickets here or contact Vickie Laurato at (504) 486-8662 to purchase by phone.
Another wonderful giving opportunity is our annual Christmas Wish Project! You can help by providing a gift for one of our consumers, by telling others about this opportunity to give (i.e. forwarding emails or sharing our social media posts), or both! The project provides gifts for many of our consumers who might otherwise go without a gift at Christmastime. To sign up, contact Caitlin Scanlan at cscanlan@voagno.org.
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Corporate Compliance Hotline | Our corporate compliance hotline is available to employees, or interested parties, to report suspected criminal, illegal, or unethical conduct occurring within the corporation in the event other resolution channels have been ineffective or if the caller wishes to remain anonymous. Employees are encouraged to address issues through the proper chain of command, but it is understood that anonymity is sometimes important to an employee. | Hotline #: 1-800-862-8482
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100% OF YOUR DONATION
STAYS IN THE GREATER NEW ORLEANS AREA
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©2015 by Volunteers of America Greater New Orleans, 4152 Canal Street, New Orleans LA 70119
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