The National Fraternal Congress of America (NFCA) is proud to recognize the following individuals as Fraternal MVPs (Most Valuable Participants) for the week of August 21, 2006. Fraternal MVPs are "Fraternalists-in-Action" who volunteer their time, energy and compassion to strengthen their communities through participation in local lodge activities and other charitable endeavors.

Ron Hanson
Thrivent Financial for Lutherans
Johnson County Iowa Chapter
Coralville, IA
If you want to keep up with Ron Hanson, you’ll need a good pair of running shoes. Described as the human version of the Energizer® bunny, this president of the Johnson County Iowa Chapter of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans has unending enthusiasm to help others. And, he has a proven track record of success. While he sees many needs in the community, Ron also sees opportunities to use Thrivent Financial as a valuable resource to help meet them. When the Old Brick Community Center’s meeting hall needed new flooring, Ron organized chapter volunteers to make it happen. More than 3,200 square feet of wood flooring were laid and 1,000 member volunteer hours were donated.

His work with the chapter has helped connect resources to community needs. An example is Table to Table Food Rescue, an organization that rescues eight tons of food each week and delivers it to organizations that help the hungry and homeless. Ron not only volunteers as a delivery driver, he also uses opportunities to help through Thrivent Financial Care programs, and offers to help with program requests.

Ron’s help extends across the generations. He organized the chapter’s largest-ever JOIN HANDS DAY event. Youth from six local congregations collected and purchased more than a ton of food for the Crisis Center and Table to Table Food Rescue. It was the first time youth groups from all six congregations worked together on a single activity, and the interaction between the groups continues.

Ron also volunteers as a driver for the Emergency Housing Project and prepares and serves food to the needy through the Wesley House Free Lunch program and the Agape Breakfast program. An active volunteer at his church, Zion Lutheran, Ron is well-known for serving pancakes from a family recipe handed down through the generations. He also is a strong supporter of the Lutheran Campus Ministry and serves on its Campus Council.

Robb Rasmussen
Sons of Norway
Fjordland #1-508
Brookings, South Dakota
At the age of 23, Robb met Jim Carlson, a young man who had been blinded in a hunting accident. That meeting would change Robb’s life forever. Both men were sports enthusiasts, so when Carlson heard about Ski for Light (SFL), a weeklong annual event in which a sighted guide skis with a blind partner, the two signed up to ski together. That was in 1978, and Robb has been hooked ever since.

Since he first participated in 1978, Robb, a member of Sons of Norway, Fjordland #1-508 in Brookings, SD, has missed only three international SFL events. And on January 31, 2006, he was honored for that dedication by SFL President Larry Showalter, who presented him with an award for 25 years of service.

Robb’s involvement has taken him many places, including Norway, where he has skied in the Ridderrennet, Norway’s version of SFL, 11 times. But Ski for Light is not the only organization that benefits from Robb’s dedication. He has been a member of Sons of Norway since 1986 and has served as lodge president, vice president and sports director. He also started the Barneløpet, a children’s ski event, at his lodge in 1988—thereby spreading the joy of skiing to even more people.

(Mary) Jo Hoger
Woman’s Life Insurance Society
Club #C-741
New Salem, North Dakota
Jo Hoger is an active member of Woman’s Life Club #C-741 in New Salem, ND. As a charter member of the New Salem club in 1995, she held the office of treasurer and continued to hold that position until 2003. In her own words, she’s “a jack of all trades, a master of none” and is always there to lend a helping hand to whatever needs to be done. Some of the many projects she works on include raising money for those in need and annual projects that support the local school, nursing home and historical society. Her most recent contribution was putting together her club’s basket to be raffled at last week’s Woman’s Life National Convention in St. Louis. She also helps make signs and posters for their various club activities. She “enjoys helping others and spreading the word of how Woman’s Life can help so many in a fraternal way.”

Jo is actively involved in her community as a Senior Health Insurance Counselor, a volunteer for St. Alexius Hospice, has been a volunteer EMT since 1979 and teaches CPR and First Responders classes. She also is involved in her church as a Eucharistic Minister, song leader, choir member and Christian-education teacher. She serves on the financial committee and has worked as a bookkeeper in the past as well. She decorates the church for the fall festival and various Holy Days. And, she also finds time to sing with the Centennial Singers, a group of 16 singers that perform for various functions within the community.

Jo has been married to her best friend and traveling companion, Orville, for 35 years. Jo has worked at Elm Crest Manor, a 61-bed skilled nursing home, as a Social Worker Designee for 17 years.

Rosalie Bohuslav
Catholic Union of Texas, The KJT
Corpus Christi Society #72
Corpus Christi, Texas
Rosalie is Corpus Christi Society #72 vice president, photo-album coordinator and meal coordinator. She received the 100% Family Membership Certificate from the KJT home office in recognition of her efforts to have her entire family of 33 belong to KJT. Rosalie and her husband, Herman, their son, daughters, in-laws, grandchildren and great-grandchildren just might be the only KJT family to have four generations 100% members, plus three generations serving as officers in the same society in 2005.

For more than 40 years, Rosalie has participated in Our Lady of Perpetual Help Altar Society, especially in the bake sales. She also baked pastries for the Parish School bake sale, as she has done for 20 years. Rosalie chaired the 2005 KJT Matching Grant Bake Sale for St. Thomas More Parish, where her hard work contributed to her society reaching the maximum matching grant of $250 from the KJT home office. Through her efforts and the matching grant, more than $1,000 was given to St. Thomas More.

Rosalie regularly visits two local nursing homes, Sunny Brook and Woodhaven. She pays close attention to the residents and bakes for them periodically throughout the year.

Marshall Carr, Jr.
The Travelers Protection Association of America (TPA)
Wilson, Post T
Wilson, North Carolina
Marshall is the secretary-treasurer of Post T in Wilson, NC. To help increase public recognition of TPA in Wilson, he initiated media coverage in the local newspaper with a listing in the “club Directory” every other week and participation in the free club ad annually provided by the newspaper. He also worked with the local TV station to show a public service announcement (PSA) about meetings and activities.

Marshall’s post participates each year at the local county fair, working a booth to raise funds for the TPA’s Scholarship Trust for the Deaf and Near Deaf, which provides scholarships to deaf and hearing-impaired persons for mechanical devices, education and medical treatment. The annual donation from Post T is $2,000-$2,500, in addition to the personal donation made by Marshall and his wife.

Marshall’s volunteer service to the community is boundless in that he has given his time to the TPA, his church, a local museum, a home for battered women and a quilter’s guild. In addition, he organized five bike rodeos in Wilson, and the surrounding area, to teach children how to ride their bikes safely and provided a team of adults to inspect each bike to ensure it is in safe riding condition. He also developed a rodeo kit with 11 events to use during the rodeo; organized a group of members to place “Watch That Child” bumper stickers on 160 area school buses; visited a local science museum and community college to show a bike-safety video; and during his visits, distributed bike-safety literature to children and adults.