Muncie Times, Muncie, Delaware County, 7 February 2002 — Page 32

The Muncie Times, February 7, 2002, page 32

Reward for Allen is in volunteering

by Amy Genova The title, Marketing Director for The Star Press, hardly sounds like the seat of a charitable, compassionate person; but Munde’s energetic Andrea Allan more than fits the bill for Muncie Times’ Citizens of the Month Allan, a Muncie native, humbly explains that when a person grows up in a community it is just natural to care about its people. Allan graduated from Munde Central in 1970, and received a degree in Secondary Education from Ball State University. She initially taught school at Heritage Hall Elementary School. She has four children. The eldest attends BSU, and the younger children go to school in Yorktown. One of Andrea Allan’s most rewarding positions was being the director of the Muncie Endurathon and Endurafest in 1996. The

Endurathon, a triathlon, composed of swimming for one mile, bicycling for fifty-six miles and running an additional thirteen miles drew athletes from all over the world to Munde. Athletes housed with Muncie, host families. Additionally, wellness activities occurred throughout the year in connection with the event. Schools participated by adopting a set of contestants. Students wore T-shirts with their athletes’ flag and decorated a block of the marathon with chalk drawings for their athlete’s country. Allan recalled fondly that the Endurathon and Endurafest charged the community with exdtement and provided all kinds of educational benefits for the people of Munde, from health awareness to international relationships. Currently, as Marketing Director, Allan works with many organizations and schools. The Star Press

Andrea Allen

donates newspapers to some two hundred schools. International Connections, a program sponsored by the paper, connects classrooms with local businesses that have international dealings. For example, St. Mary’s has business dealings with Germany. The students visit the corporation and learn about the international relationships. International Connections culminates in the

East Central Indiana Expo. Students create booths, which represent the countries they have learned about. The students teach what they have learned to the partidpants at the expo. Allan’s current project is The Star Press Children’s Charity, which she describes as, “my love.” The Charity fills in the gaps for charitable programs servicing children, whose needs are not otherwise funded by grants or private donations. The Charity provides for basic ne^ds such as food and clothing. Allan describes one memorable service the charity provided for children who were separated from families because of abuse or neglect. Some of the children experienced difficulties sleeping in unfamiliar settings. The Star Press Children’s Charity provided comforting gifts such as pajamas and slippers, bears and gift packages. “Every

penny stays here locally,” said Allan proudly. Organization that have previously been subsidized from the charity include such groups as the I CAN Work Program, the Muncie Boys and Girls Club, 401(K)ids Arts Scholarship Program and many more. Allan stressed the rewards of working with different organizations. She especially wanted to mention the development programs of Downtown and South Madison. She said, “These programs are changing lives, changing the face of the community.” She believes these programs will draw more people to Muncie and make the community a better place to live. Allan volunteers personally every year from Minnetrista to the Children’s Museum, whenever she can outside of the services she provides as Marketing Director for The Star Press.

Changing lives is Ball’s mission

by Amy Genova Bob Ball, pastor of Blood N Fire Church, grew up in Muncie. He graduated from Delta High School and attended Ball State University. Before becoming a pastor, he taught in both Muncie and Delta School Districts. He began his ministry by becoming Youth Pastor in 1986 at Union Chapel Mission. He has four children with his wife, Stacy Ball. The two eldest children are at Ivy Tech, and the youngest are still being home schooled. As the children grow up, Stacy Ball’s involvement in the ministry grows. Bob Ball sees his community contribution as primarily through the ministries of his church.

The church, Ball savs, is dedicated to “rebuilding cities by seeing people come together across boundaries.” The mission statement is a rallying cry, “Revolution: the youth, the poor, the nations.” Ball explains it takes “radical changes” to provide citywide outreach through campus involvement and the participation of several different area churches. One form this outreach manifested itself is in the form of groceries. Since December of 1995, church members and community participants have delivered small bags of goods to accepting residents of the Munsyanna Homes. Each Saturday at 9 A.M. anyone who wants to participate in community

service gathers at the Blood N Fire Church for a prayer session over the city and its outreach projects. The prayer session is followed by an orientation for newcomers and a briefing to prepare to go out into the community. At noon there is a free meal and ministry at the church for everyone who would like to partake of it. The grocery bags contain items such as canned food and cereal. Volunteers go door to door and give the supphes to anyone in need and talk with the residents) if desired. “The whole point is to build relationships,” says Pastor BaH. A major outreach for the community is through the. Blood N Fire

Warehouse and Food Pantry. Once a month the warehouse becomes a “choice pantry.” Those in need are able to come in and order a variety of goods. Patrons sit at tables and enjoy a snack and talk while their orders are being filled. Donations come through the partner churches, local businesses and the community at large. What is on the horizon for Blood N Fire Church? The church is in the process of buying a house for ministry interns. The idea is to mentor and train the interns, provide them with housing and equip them to minister to others or join the business community. Eventually, according to Ball, the church would like to see new Blood N Fire

churches created from this endeavor. Another project Ball would like to see is the renovation of the warehouse to include recreational facilities such as volleyball and four square courts to further service the community Pastor Ball says the reward in ministry “is knowing what the Lord has called me to do. . .lives are changed. There are folks that were in the front page in the negative way, now they are in the news in a positive way.” Blood N Fire is located at 300 N. Madison. Free breakfast is offered at 9 Am; Services begin at 10 AM. Note: There was no photo available of Mr. Ball.