Arlington Heights church receives volunteer award

Helping others is a fundamental tenet of most churches, but St. Peter Lutheran Church in Arlington Heights has taken service hours and making a difference in the community to a new level.

St. Peter was recently awarded Service Enterprise Certification by the prestigious Points of Light organization. As part of the certification, the church staff, including Julie Klopke, early childhood director; Isabel Peterson, administrative assistant for equipping; Karen Kogler, director of equipping; and Micah Greiner, lead pastor, completed an extensive assessment, more than 20 hours of training and consulting and rigorous internal planning to integrate volunteers into day-to-day operations.

"By achieving this level of excellence and certification, St. Peter is equipped to leverage the time and talents of volunteers and better meet our mission of serving others in the community and beyond," said Kogler.

Church, school and community members continue to exceed goals of 50,000 service hours. Volunteers help out in a variety of ways, both within and beyond the church. Community service includes:

• Comfort dog ministry

• PADS

• Caris Pregnancy Counseling

• Community Paint-a-thon

• Habitat for Humanity

• Meadows and Clearbrook (service to people with disabilities in residential care facilities)

• Wheeling Township Meals on Wheels

• Spring and fall Big Days of Serving weekends, offering serving projects with a variety of community organizations

For details on St. Peter Lutheran Church Points of Light certification, visit http://fulllifeinchrist.org/certified-in-volunteer-engagement.

For information on the Service Enterprise Initiative, contact HandsOn Suburban Chicago at (847) 228-1320.