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Getting people back on their feet at A Servant’s Heart · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  Speaker 1: Getting people back on their feet at a Servant's Heart.
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  Written by Matthias Werner. This article is being read by
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  an automated voice brought to you by Everlett. For more
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  than a decade, Karen Hall has been using her belief
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  to power her work at a Servant's Heart, a nonprofit
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  organization that helps the homeless and needy in LaSalle County.
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  With a background in accounting and an appreciation for small business,
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  Hall is the volunteer treasurer for a Servant's Heart, a
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  role she said suits her on several levels. Most importantly,
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  we're acting as the hands and the feet of Christ,
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  and we're showing people the love that He has for them,
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  Hall said. We are able to help a lot of
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  people out there who have just fallen upon some bad luck.
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  Hall thought she would end up in special education for
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  children with autism, but a twist of fate in college
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  led her to accounting and her husband. Once she worked
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  in small organizations and found she could pair her faith
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  with her affinity for helping those in need. As an accountant,
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  she knew A Servant's Heart was the place for her.
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  I like the fact that small businesses are trying to
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  make an impact on a community. She said, I thought
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  that it would be nice to be able to offer
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  that service and keep the cost low. Hall's responsibilities as
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  the Treasure of a Servant's Heart include not only managing
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  the internal funds, but also coordinating with outside groups to
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  obtain resources to further the mission of the organization. It's
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  nice to know that because we are an organization that's
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  there to accept donations from people in groups that want
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  to help, that we're able to provide an opportunity for
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  the people that are disadvantaged to come in and meet
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  with us and hopefully get funds. She said. A Servant's
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  Heart works with churches in the Ottawa area to centralize
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  efforts to help those in need with a great humanitarian effort.
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  Hall's colleagues appreciate the diligent work she don does to
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  streamline the organization's operations. Karen consistently demonstrates dedication, integrity, and
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  attention to detail in ensuring that our financial records are
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  accurate and transparent, and her commitment to responsible stewardship has
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  been essential to our organization's success, said Brenda O'Donnell, a
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  Servant's heartboard secretary. She always goes above and beyond by
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  volunteering countless hours helping with fundraisers, which in turn allows
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  us to give more back to the community. Hall manages
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  to fulfill her obligations as the treasurer of a Servant's
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  Heart in addition to being an accountant for her own
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  business and a bookkeeper for her husband's business, Draft Tech
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  in Ottawa. She is ready to lead in help whenever
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  she can. O'Donnell said her reliability and positive attitude have
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  made a lasting impact on our group and the community
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  we serve. She is not only extremely competent, but a wonderful,
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  kind and generous human being. Hall said her role has
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  ex over the course of her tenure at a Servant's
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  Heart in order to manage grants, organize donations, and correspond
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  with government entities to provide the nonprofit with as many
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  resources as possible. The uptick and workload has not gone
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  unnoticed by those in the organization. Karen does an incredible
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  job of keeping track of the funds going in and
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  out and has been instrumental in helping us maintain our
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  bookkeeping and ensuring that the paperwork is exactly how it's
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  supposed to be, said Terry Gustavson, associate pastor at Praise Center,
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  Assembly of God. Karen has been so good at making
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  sure that we are above board with our financial integrity.
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  I'm not a financial guru by any stretch, and she
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  makes it easy to understand, putting things in a way
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  to help us understand our financial situation. While Hall has
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  a full schedule, she said her work at a Servant's
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  Heart will remain a priority. I'll keep going as long
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  as God gives me the ability to, she said. There
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  are times and it's challenging because of the time commitment,
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  but I love the organization and I think it's a
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  wonderful way to share the talents I was given