Church moves woman to serve
CRANBERRY TWP — Being part of a community is important to Karen Johanknecht.
After moving to the township about a dozen years ago, Johanknecht and her family got help from the Hope Lutheran Church in building relationships in the church and the community.
Because of that, Johanknecht has been returning the favor ever since.
“Our family and friends lived far away but the members of Hope Lutheran Church instantly became our family,” she said.
The congregation is focused on relationship building, so after Johanknecht had a solid foundation she turned toward helping others in the community achieve the same.
“Volunteering is my work,” said Johanknecht, 43, who lives in Cranberry with her husband, Kurt. She is an Evans City Middle School PTO volunteer and room mom for her son Adam, 12, and daughter Sarah, 10.
The church has nine paid staff members, but all committees are staffed by volunteers, said the Rev. Ron Brown, pastor at Hope Lutheran.
About 85 volunteers run the committees, which are in charge of such matters as stewardship, evangelism and public relations, Brown said.
Additionally, about 25 volunteers teach Sunday school each week.
“It’s hard to even say how many volunteers we have that do so many things,” he said.
In addition to developing programming for the first to fifth grade Kidz Klub and sixth to eighth grade C.H.A.O.S. youth group, leading women’s Bible studies and co-captaining the church’s Relay for Life team, Johanknecht in September 2001 founded the Victim Outreach Intervention Center Movers.
Since then, more than 100 families have been moved from shelters into more permanent homes, said Johanknecht.
“I volunteer because I have grown so much closer to God since becoming a member of Hope,” she said.
“And that relationship has helped me realize that it is a huge blessing to be able to serve others.”
Brown praised Johanknecht’s success in soliciting volunteers to the various youth and Bible study groups.
“Karen is a wonderful disciple,” he said, who also is passionate about recruiting new volunteers.
As the head of VOICe Movers, Johanknecht collects wish lists of household items from VOICe clients as well as items donated by the community.Wish lists include bedroom, living room and kitchen furniture; TVs; stereos; DVD players; kitchen appliances and utensils; bathroom supplies; wall hangings or decorative items; cleaning supplies; and children’s toys.VOICe has a program to find new lodgings for clients in need, but the homes are always unfurnished, said Becky Rosenblum, shelter services coordinator.The organization cannot afford to buy furniture nor can it afford space to store it or find enough volunteers to move it, she added.“When women who experience domestic violence need to leave their homes because of safety, they can’t take much more than clothes on their backs most times,” Rosenblum said.Johanknecht volunteers on a daily basis, working about 25 total hours per week. Holidays are no exception as she has arranged for furniture donations to be made on Christmas Eve.“It’s awesome that people in our community are so excited about giving,” she said.On moving days Johanknecht recruits as many as 40 volunteers from the church, VOICe and surrounding communities who load furniture from donated storage trailers into donated moving trucks and into the woman’s new home.The VOICe Movers understand the situation the women are in, Rosenblum said. Johanknecht’s group will unload the furniture and also assemble any separate components.“They don’t just dump it off and say ‘Here, see you later, bye,’” Rosenblum said.Moving days occur once or twice each month, according to VOICe.“It looks very chaotic from an outsider’s perspective but it’s really very organized,” Johanknecht said.During a move over the summer, a former VOICe Movers recipient, who had since bought a house and was attending college, talked with Johanknecht.“What we had done was helped her move on with her life and get a fresh start,” she said.Typically VOICe Movers don’t see recipients again, so for the woman to share that information with her was “profound,” she said.Rosenblum said she couldn’t imagine a moving day without Johanknecht.“Karen and her group of volunteers have stuck with us since 2001 and that’s huge,” Rosenblum said.“We couldn’t possibly do what we do without them. They have been one of most beneficial things ever.”
<B>Hope Lutheran</b><B>ADDRESS: </b> 8070 Rowan Road, Cranberry Township, PA 16066<B>PHONE: </b> 724-776-3141<B>WEB SITE: </b> www.hopelutherancranberry.org<B>SERVICES: </b> Support Victim Outreach Intervention Center; provide services to the homeless and needy; fundraising for nonprofit groups; religious education and programs for students<B>WHO IS SERVED: </b> Anyone in need<B>HOW MANY ARE SERVED: </b> Church lists 881 members<B>AREA SERVED: </b> Greater Cranberry Township area<B>STARTED:</b> Founded in 1917; moved to current location in 1971<B>BUDGET: </b> $500,000 annually<B>NUMBER OF VOLUNTEERS: </b> About 85, including 25 Sunday school teachers<B>TO VOLUNTEER: </b> Contact the church office at 724-776-3141
