2018 Education Foundation Annual Dinner

On November 8th more than 320 members of the Ada Christian Community came together to appreciate the past, celebrate the present, and raise money for the future. It was a wonderful and inspirational evening to give many thanks for the blessings in our community given to us by God.

During the evening we had the honor of presenting Ray and Jeannine Lanning with the Distinguished Service Award for their 20+ years of dedicated service and support of Ada Christian School.

As this year’s guest speaker we welcomed Christian Illusionist, John Michael Hinton who used captivating illusions, storytelling, and humor to inspire everyone in the room. He left us with the challenge to be a friend to others as God as friend to us.

With a record amount of funds raise, this truly was a night of wonder and inspiration for our kids.

Each year, since 1996, the Foundation has presented a Distinguished Service Award to a person or persons who have shared their time, talents, and treasures in service to and in support of our school.

For over 20 years, Ray and Jeannine Lanning have supported Ada Christian School. In fact, they have not missed an annual dinner dating back to 1999. Ray and Jeannine were joined by their daughter Jacqueline, son James and daughter-in-law Katie. Ray invited the audience to invest in Ada Christian whether through volunteering or financial support. Jeannine reflected on how blessed we are to have a caring and collaborative Christian community. She challenged the audience to get out and continue the legacy of service in God’s world.

Ray and Jeannine Lanning have been an incredible blessing and embody what it means to serve God with mind, body and soul in Christian community. What a God-honoring legacy!

The legacy began back in 1989 when a group of parents came together to ensure a strong future for Ada Christian School by forming the Ada Christian School Education Foundation. The purpose of this was to build an endowment fund from which earnings could be used to support the school. After years of commitment and generosity from parents and the community then and now, the endowment is thriving. At this year’s event the Ada Christian School Education Foundation presented a gift of $494,462!

Back by popular demand we conducted a paddle raise. Maranda emceed the paddle raise, making it fun and engaging. The response was overwhelming! Thanks to The Stephen Klotz Family Foundation, The Van Andel Family Foundation, and Tom and Laurie Welch for providing a $50,000 matching challenge we were able to raise over $135,000!