Jerry Haupt

I am campaign chairman of our Manitowoc Lutheran High Capital Appeal, Building Our Future on Christ.

 

We had a huge setback when our Lord called our Director of Mission Advancement, Scott Reinhard home to heaven on January 25th of this year.  Scott had already invested a great deal of time in preparation for our appeal, and was really looking to being a major part of the largest fundraising effort in our school’s history.

 

I am a firm believer that God has a plan for all of us as individuals, and he also has a plan for our high school, for our capital appeal.  When Scott passed away, it certainly caught all of us “off guard.”  This was not part of our plan.  And although it might be difficult for us to understand what our gracious Lord was thinking, calling Scott home was a part of God’s plan.

 

When Scott passed away, I had multiple questions and concerns regarding our appeal running rampant in my mind.  When I was able to kind of sort things out, and refocus on what we needed to do as we moved forward with our appeal, I went back in time to when we interviewed several companies that we were going to consider to assist us with our appeal.  As we discussed the pros and cons associated with each company we had interviewed, I can still remember some the points we discussed regarding James D. Klote and Associates:

 

• Your model would require a large number of volunteers
• Your model would require a lot of work and dedication on our part
• Your approach was different than anything we had ever done
• Your approach was new to our high school and would certainly be new to the members of our Lancer family
• You were the only company that would have someone on site as we carried out the first two phases of the appeal.

 

The last bullet point is the one that came to mind after Scott passed away.  I have no doubt that as we went through the process of selecting the company that would assist us with our appeal, God led us to select your company to be our consultant for a reason.  God knew that Scott would not be here this time around.  Scott’s work at our high school would be complete before our appeal ever really started.  With that in mind, God thought it would be wise for us to select the company that would provide a constant presence during our appeal; someone who would be in the building, always available to answer any question, and take an active role of leadership in our appeal.  God led us to select James Klote and Associates.

 

Having said that, I would like to offer a few words regarding the man you assigned to be our consultant.  He has been a true blessing.  He is very knowledgeable, he is dedicated, and under the circumstances with Scott passing, he has gone beyond what might be considered his normal campaign responsibilities.  He has been a great fit for our appeal.  We often refer to the members of our Federation as “Our Lancer Family.”  The consultant is one of us.  He has become a member of our Lancer Family, and that is so very important to his success as our consultant.  We trust him.  We respect his knowledge and experience in leading capital appeals.  He is always available and quick to respond to our needs, requests or questions.  We are truly pleased and thankful that he is with us to assist and lead us in our appeal.

 

Our Kick-Off event is this coming Saturday.  I sense some anxiety from the consultant regarding where we are financially at this point in our appeal.  We will find out Saturday evening where we are.  As far as I am concerned, I am not going to lose any sleep over what that number ends up being.  We have a dedicated group of volunteers who are taking advantage of the opportunity that we have to meet with fellow members of our Lancer Family and talk about our ministry and our high school.  That is a good thing and will reap benefits.  The fruits, the rewards or blessings that will result from our efforts are always not immediately visible.  Blessings are not necessarily in the form of a check or some type of financial gift.  Prayers, fellowship, sharing thoughts about our ministry and our high school and making new friends are true blessings that we share as being a part of Building Our Future on Christ.  Our appeal will be a blessing to our Federation.

 

In closing, I would like to express my sincere thanks to James Klote and Associates, the consultant in particular, for his leadership and assistance with our capital appeal.  As we complete Phase I and look forward to Phase II, we do so with confidence that our gracious Lord will bless our efforts just as he has done since day one of our high school’s existence.