INSIDE THIS ISSUE Business & Professional....................................B4 Community Calendar .......................................A14 Healthy Times......................................................B2 Youth...................................................................B10 Discover Roanoke...............................................B8 Worship.................................................................A3
A Serving Southwest Allen County & Roanoke
July 6, 2012
www.AboiteTimes.com
Aboite-area resident honored by Big Brothers Big Sisters
A new home Thrivent Financial for Lutherans sponsors Habitat build in Aboite area By Nichole Hacha-Thomas nthomas@kpcnews.net
By Nichole Hacha-Thomas nthomas@kpcnews.net
It happened 16 years ago — That’s when Aboite-area resident Tyler Lehman was asked to be a part of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeast Indiana. “Back then it was more of a working board,” Lehman explained. “They needed help with accounting and Courtesy photo someone asked me.” Tyler Lehman Prior to that time, Lehman said, he knew of the organization charged with pairing young children with a responsible, caring adult, but he hadn’t been involved past attending a spaghetti dinner or two. “I’d always had an interest in children’s organizations,” Lehman said. “I was raised to give back, and so I did.” Sixteen years later, at the Big Brothers Big Sisters’ 39th Annual Gourmet Dinner, Lehman was honored as the recipient of the 2012 Don Wolf Award, named after the founder of BBBS. The award is given to an individual or individuals in recognition of commitment and contribution to youth in our community. The award, Lehman said, was a complete surprise to him. “I had no idea I was getting the award,” he said. “Until See LEHMAN, page A7
When Nelly Othman, her husband and two small children moved to Fort Wayne four years ago from upstate New York, they never thought they’d need the assistance of Habitat for Humanity. Things change, though. In 2010, Othman and her husband divorced and she was left raising the children on her own. The family lived in an apartment and longed for a place to call their own, a place for the children to have their own rooms. It was then Fort Wayne Habitat for Humanity came to the rescue. “A friend told me about the program,” Othman said. “It was sort of ironic because she didn’t get accepted and I did.” The walls were raised on Othman’s home on Blake Drive, in the Aboite area, on June 9 by a team of volunteers from area Lutheran churches and the build’s primary supporter, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. Thrivent is a staunch supporter of Habitat for Humanity across the country, with the company pledging $9.2 million to build 142 homes in 32 states in 2012 alone. Four of the homes are in Indiana and one is Othman’s.
Plant gets ready for next-generation truck By Doug LeDuc dougl@fwbusiness.com
Courtesy photo
General Motors Co. is using scheduled shutdowns at its Fort Wayne Assembly Plant to retool the plant for production of the company’s next-generation full-size pickups. production of the redesigned pickup also was installed during a two-week shutdown in the spring and during an extended three-week shutdown during the winter holiday season. Work on the project has continued steadily between the shutdowns. “Instead of taking one
huge chunk of time off, we’re sprinkling it off through the year, so we’ve planned the project to flow with the calendar,” Jentgen said Very little information has been released about the next-generation pickup. That scarcity of See GM, page A6
3306 Independence Drive, Fort Wayne, IN 46808
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General Motors Co.’s Fort Wayne Assembly Plant is on schedule with the installation of tooling required to make the company’s next-generation pickups and will use an extended shutdown this summer to stay that way. Past summer shutdowns typically have had a two-week duration. But the plant will be shut down for three weeks this summer — the last two weeks of July and the first week of August — to prepare it to make the redesigned full-size pickup. “We’re doing some of the larger projects over July because it (the shutdown) is a little bit longer,” said Stephanie Jentgen, communications manager for the facility. A lot of tooling for
Courtesy photo
Volunteers from Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raise the walls on the future Aboite-area home of Nelly Othman. The Habitat for Humanity dedication is planned for late August. The non-profit fraternal benefit company actually has built more than 1,600 homes nationwide — and across the globe — since 2005. Because of its non-profit status, when people take advantage of the company’s financial products, instead of paying taxes on the investments, Thrivent is able to use the funds to better its community – primarily through its partnership with Habitat
for Humanity. Othman said she is forever indebted to Thrivent and Habitat for Humanity for their support. “This is such a great program and it really helps families have an anchor and stay together,” Othman said. “It helps me focus on other issues because the big issue – of where to See THRIVENT, page A6