2014 Cardinal Classic Results

MLS Alumni enjoying time at the Cardinal Classic

To all:

Thank you to those who attended the 2014 MLS Foundation Cardinal Classic Golf Outing and those thinking of us that day.  It was a beautiful day filled with fun and fellowship! Your support and participation helped to make this event a big success.

There were 116 golfers, 18 volunteers, and many generous sponsors. The golf outing raised $16,000.00.  This support is crucial in helping the foundation fulfill its mission of supporting Michigan Lutheran Seminary.

If you were at the golf outing, volunteers included, your name was in the hat for two tickets to watch the Detroit Tigers take on the Kansas City Royals on September 8. Craig Rau won the tickets, which were donated by Donnie Krzysiak of Krzysiak’s House Restaurant in Bay City. Have fun at the ballpark, Craig!

Here is a breakdown of the day’s winners:

First Flight Champions – 2nd year in a row – with a score of 58 (-14):

George Hausmann, Ned Kleinke, Mark Ostermann, and Raine Vrabel

Second Flight Champions with a score of 68 (-4):

Kyle Hilborn, Lee Williamson, Rick Richter, and Josh Richter

Closest to Pin, Men (hole #17):………………… Joe Schwartz

Closest to Pin, Women (hole #4):……………… Kathy Packard

Longest Drive, Men (hole #3):………………….. Hal Seibert, winning four years in a row!

Longest Drive, Women (hole #14):……………. Becky Trommer

Closest in Two, Men (hole #15):……………….. Paul Davila

Closest in Two, Women (hole #5):…………….. Arlene Mossner

Putting Contest Champion:……………………… Josh Wakefield

“Don’t Lose the Yellow Ball” Winners:

Mike Baeckl, Ryan Abel, David Lecker, and Jeremy Schultz

Please mark your calendars for next year’s event, which will be held at Beech Hollow Golf Course on Saturday, July 18, 2015. Registration will begin at 8:00 a.m. with a shotgun start 9:30 a.m. Check out our Facebook page (http://goo.gl/YYvO4P) and the MLS Foundation website (www.mls-foundation.org) for details. While you’re on our website, be sure to sign up for our Cardinal Classic e-mail updates.

Sincerely,

Your 2014 Golf Committee:

Bruce Finkbeiner    Diana Finkbeiner

Thom Cereske       Mike Baeckl

Chris Kestner         David Lecker

Ned Kleinke          Terianne Carey

Joyce Schultz        Erin Smith     Josh Wakefield

Dormitory Progress Report

Dear MLS Foundation Friend:

The MLS Foundation has some exciting news to share! We are having a great year, thanks to our many supportive donors. The generosity of our donors never ceases to amaze me! The support we receive is a wonderful blessing, and it continues to grow each year. We could not fulfill our mission of supporting Michigan Lutheran Seminary if we didn’t have you helping us. By God’s grace we are able to play a small role in helping Michigan Lutheran Seminary with capital projects, student tuition assistance, scholarships to Martin Luther College, operating expenses, and events that bring the MLS family closer together.

DORM UPDATE- It’s Moving Along and We Need Your Help!

The furniture is done and ready for delivery! A delivery date has been tentatively set for July 7, 2014. The foundation has received $364,000.00 toward the project. Our goal to complete the project is $650,000.00. You might be wondering how we can have a delivery date without having all the funds to complete the project. That is where the planning comes in. The MLS Foundation board agreed to support this project. At the last quarterly meeting, they approved the financing of the project and will secure a low-interest loan through Lutheran Association for Church Extension (LACE) for any funds needed to complete the project. This funding will allow MLS to complete the project this summer, eliminate the cost of waiting ($45,000 +/year), accommodate donors who want to support the project but have annual limitations, be ready for synod convention in 2015, support the ministry of LACE, get the students excited about coming back from summer vacation, and the list could go on and on. Now is the right time to do this. Every student that resides in the dormitory will move into a new room next year. The students are excited about that! The completion of this project will enhance the student experience at MLS, and the Foundation is excited about that! There will be new furniture, paint, flooring, window treatments, heating units, door locks, and controlled WiFi installed throughout the dormitory.

The MLS Foundation has been blessed with an endowment fund that will cover monthly obligations of the loan. As gifts continue to come in for the project, they will be used to pay down the loan. That is where you can help. Every dollar that is given towards the project above the monthly payment will go directly to the principal of the loan. Any gift you provide will help us complete the funding of this project. Please consider a gift today.

We are very grateful that we are able to help Michigan Lutheran Seminary move this project along. The students are very excited about this project and are thankful for the support! Between this upgrade to the dormitories and the Chapel renovation back in 2011, there will have been over $1.1 million in gifts given for these campus improvements. To God be the glory!

There will be much more information to come as the project draws nearer. There will also be volunteer opportunities with this project. If you are interested in volunteering, please call Laurie Starr at 989-793-1010, or email las@mlsem.org to sign up. You can get updates and follow the progress at www.mls-foundation.org.

We have many ways for you to donate:

• Online by EFT or credit card
• Mail-in form
• PayPal

In Christian service,

Josh Wakefield
Donor Relations Director

Year End Reminder

Greetings from the MLS Foundation! I just want to give a quick update on the dormitory project and a reminder that IRA charitable rollovers are scheduled to sunset on December 31, 2013.

The dormitory project includes new furniture, flooring, paint, and window treatments. I am excited to report that we are almost half way to goal! Currently we have enough funds to renovate 51 rooms with 67 to go. That is over $280,000 in gifts! What a tremendous blessing.  (Check out our progress here)

The students are really excited about the project and anxiously await the new look!

EXTENSION ON 2010 TAX RELIEF ACT

In conversations with donors this past week, the topic of individual retirement accounts (IRA) and required minimum distributions (RMD) came up frequently. A required minimum distribution is  a minimum amount that a retirement plan account owner must withdraw annually starting in the year they reach 70½ years of age. Many donors in this demographic will consider gifting their RMD or a greater amount if they don’t need it for living expenses. This may allow them to avoid paying federal taxes on the distribution and help a charity they care about.

There is a law (2010 Tax Relief Act) that passed and was extended that allows an IRA account holder over 70½ years old a $100,000 lifetime gift exclusion limit from their IRA account to a charity or charities of their choice. Unless congress acts, the IRA account holder has until the end of December 2013 to take advantage of this giving strategy.

This could be a great opportunity for you or someone you know to make a gift this way and support the MLS Foundation in making the dorm project a reality!

Here are two links that provide additional  information about this topic:

IRA rollover gift

Qualified Charitable Distributions

As always, please seek professional advice from your attorney, tax consultant, and investment adviser before making a gift.

Thanks for your support!

Josh Wakefield

MLS Foundation

Light Up a Student’s Life

During the holiday season, the Michigan Lutheran Seminary Foundation sponsors a special giving program to benefit MLS and its students.
Contributions will support the Foundation’s ongoing financial assistance to the students who attend MLS now and in the future.
Donors to the “Light Up A Student’s Life” have an opportunity to make a gift in memory of a loved one or in honor of a special person. Such gifts will be recognized by the lighting of a large Christmas tree that will be located in the commons.

• Are you, or a family member, an alum of MLS?
•  Do you have a child or relative who attends or will attend MLS in the future? 
• Is there someone special who encouraged you to make the decision to attend MLS and kept you in their prayers during your time at school? 
• Do you want to show your encouragement to current or future students to continue to prepare for work in the Lord’s service?

For a $10.00 contribution, a white light will be illuminated on the Christmas tree in the name of the individual being remembered or honored.
A special Christmas card will be sent to the family or honoree recognizing your caring gift to MLS and its students.
Please consider this funding opportunity to light up a student’s life through Christ-centered education.
Your generosity is the heart and spirit of the MLS Foundation . Your gifts will allow us to assist another generation of students to follow our Savior’s directive to “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.”

Light Up A Student’s Life Form

or Donate Online or by SmartPhone

Dormitory Slide Presentation

To all:

I have been getting many questions about the dorm project while attending graduation parties. Some of you maybe getting asked questions as well, so I wanted to share this presentation with you.

http://prezi.com/f5tkfslgc3fy/dormitory-renovation-project-overview/?auth_key=0722da58aabb02d46a5cdc92286083620e169cf4

• If there are people you know who want to help with this project please let me know.
• If there are opportunities to present this information at your congregation or church group please let me know.
• If you are moved to donate to this project you can do so through this link. Donate Now

Have a great summer!

Josh Wakefield
MLS Foundation
Donor Relations Director
www.mls-foundation.org
989-793-7511

Extension on 2010 Tax Relief Act

Progress as of April 26, 2013

As many of you know, the MLS Foundation is just getting started raising funds to refurbish the dormitory. The project includes new furniture, flooring, paint, and window treatments. I am excited to report that we are over ¼ of the way to goal! Currently we have enough funds to renovate 30 rooms with 88 to go. (Check out our progress here)

This project will require a lot of work and support to get completed, but it will be well worth it when the students move into their new living space!

EXTENSION ON 2010 TAX RELIEF ACT

In conversations with donors this past week, the topic of individual retirement accounts (IRA) and required minimum distributions (RMD) came up frequently. A required minimum distribution is  a minimum amount that a retirement plan account owner must withdraw annually starting in the year they reach 70½ years of age. Many donors in this demographic will consider gifting their RMD or a greater amount if they don’t need it for living expenses. This may allow them to avoid paying federal taxes on the distribution and help a charity they care about.

There is a law (2010 Tax Relief Act) that passed and was extended that allows an IRA account holder over 70½ years old a $100,000 lifetime gift exclusion limit from their IRA account to a charity or charities of their choice. IRA account holders have until the end of December 2013 to take advantage of this giving strategy.

This could be a great opportunity for you or someone you know to make a gift this way and support the MLS Foundation in making the dorm project a reality!

Here are two links that provide additional  information about this topic:

IRA rollover gift

Qualified Charitable Distributions

As always, please seek professional advice from your attorney, tax consultant, and investment adviser before making a gift.

Thanks for your support!

Josh Wakefield

MLS Foundation

MLS Foundation Dormitory Project

Dear Friend of MLS,

I have some exciting news to share with you about a project that has been over thirty years in the making!

In 1976, Michigan Lutheran Seminary completed construction of new dormitory facilities that would accommodate all of its boarding students. This much-needed improvement was met with great enthusiasm by both parents and students. The lack of on campus dormitory space had necessitated students being placed in off campus dormitories and in the homes of Saginaw families around the MLS campus. Today, those same dormitories continue to keep our students on our own campus.

Unfortunately, after those same thirty-seven years the dormitory furnishings have more than reached the end of their life on campus! Thousands of students have used the beds, dressers, desks and chairs that were purchased through donations in 1976.

To complete the enormous project of refurbishing the dormitories, the Michigan Lutheran Seminary Foundation has offered to assist MLS by making this our priority project. With the help of the MLS administration we have undertaken an inventory of needs and have completed a great deal of research on the project. The dormitory is the students’ “home away from home,” and we want it to be a place that will function well for current students and a space that future students will look forward to living in while at MLS.

The scope of this project includes new furniture for all of the 118 rooms along with paint, window treatments and flooring. The furniture company has set up a “typical” two-person room in the dormitory for students, parents and donors to view and it has met with very favorable reviews. You can imagine the students’ excitement when they see the remodeled room. Some of their comments included, “This would be awesome!” “I wish we could stay to enjoy the remodel!”

Following is a breakdown of the project.

●    Total project cost: $650,000* (Per student cost: approximately $2,200)

By Materials
●    Dorm furniture for 118 rooms-$465,000 (this includes delivery and installation)
●    Flooring for 118 rooms-$110,000
●    Paint for 118 rooms-$75,000

As was done in 1976, we have broken down the project into room sizes and further down into furniture pieces to make the costs more understandable.

By Rooms
●    2 person dorm room-$4,400
●    3 person dorm room-$6,600
●    4 person dorm room-$8,800

By Furniture
●    293-Beds @ $322
●    293-Mattresses @ $122
●    293-Desks @ $344
●    293-Dressers @ $327
●    293-Organizers @ $157
●    293-Chairs @ $160
●    1172-Dresser Drawers @ $25
(Yes, the dressers have drawers, but this is our way of saying that any size gift will help build toward a furniture purchase!)

This is the largest project that the MLS Foundation has undertaken to date and yet we remain encouraged about reaching our goal as we have already received more than $58,000 towards the refurbishing. This has allowed us to begin a dorm room countdown! 118,117,116,115,114,113,112,111,110,109,108,107,106… See more here Dorm Progress

To help us continue the countdown, please consider “purchasing” a bed, a mattress or even a dresser “drawer” to help us reach the goal of refurbishing the MLS dormitories. Another way to help? Bring the details of the project to your congregational leadership and see if your congregation as a whole can help with pieces of furniture or even an entire room. You and/or your congregation’s gift can help make this project become a reality for the students.

Please visit http://www.mls-foundation.org to tour the “typical” dorm room or make a donation to the project.

Thanks for your continued prayers and support of the MLS Foundation as it works to assist MLS with its mission of training students for the public ministry.

Josh Wakefield
MLS Foundation
989-793-7511

*all quotes subject to change after June 1, 2013 (increases of  5-8% per year)
The furniture manufacturer has told us that furniture can be purchased and stored for up to 18 months. That’s our incentive to work towards the goal as quickly as we can!

P.S. Just after I finished my letter (which you should receive in the mail this week) and was getting it ready to send to you, a donor came forward and offered to the MLS Foundation up to $100,000.00 in matching funds for the dormitory project!
Please consider taking advantage of this opportunity by making a gift toward the dorm project. This gift when matched could furnish 46 additional rooms!