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MARIETTA--Using a $32,000 grant given to them by the United Parcel Service
Foundation, the National Life Teen program has hired a special projects
coordinator who will work out of its Marietta office located at the Church of
St. Ann.
Jennifer Garrard, 27, has been hired to focus on resource development,
including a ministry start-up kit, database management and an information
packet to distribute to parishes in response to the many inquiries received
daily about the program.
Randy Raus, national director of Life Teen, said that Garrard's position
will allow for an increase in parish support.
"The special projects coordinator is not something we've invented, but
it's something we have to do and, through the basic day-to-day operations, we
don't always get to," he said. "We're just trying the best way we can
to provide support for parish youth ministers. This position is to really
continue what we're doing with the parishes in a ministry sense, rather than in
a program sense."
Garrard, who has been a Life Teen core member at St. Ann's since 1995, said
she is excited about the opportunity to minister to teens in a new way.
"I believe in the Life Teen program and what it does," she said.
"I want to help the program grow, to be a voice for the teens and to help
fight for them and bring them closer to Christ through this ministry."
Raus said that Garrard was chosen for the position mainly because of her
passion for youth ministry.
"Jennifer is the perfect person for this because she has experience in
the business world, but more importantly because God is leading her to
it," he said. "God qualifies the called and it's much more important
that they have a heart to do this, though that doesn't take away from the
skills she has. It's just blending it and putting it together that make it a
real powerpack thing."
The UPS Foundation, founded in 1951, supports education and human welfare
issues, focusing on two major initiatives--adult literacy and prepared and
perishable food distribution. It has a unique philanthropic structure that
distributed approximately $19.5 million in 1997 throughout the United States
and Canada.
Evern Cooper, executive director of the UPS Foundation, said that the
support they give is more than financial.
"By support we mean...long-standing programs to ensure the safety and
well-being of our people and the communities we serve, as well as hands-on
community service through programs that reinforce our commitment to urgent
human welfare needs," he said. "We also invest in tomorrow's leaders
by sponsoring local and national education initiatives, including mentoring and
scholarship programs."
From its inception in 1985, Life Teen has provided a new vision for youth
ministry in the country, developing a program that strives to reach teens on an
emotional, intellectual, spiritual and relational level.
Currently there are over 500 active Life Teen programs in cities across
North America with over 50,000 teens involved.
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