Last winter I was wrapping up my MBA and realized that I would soon have some free time on hands. It was then that I decided I wanted to get involved with an impactful organization within the community where I live. Heather had approached me with questions regarding the financial reporting for Love the Children Ministries and I believed that my career experience would be relevant and helpful to the organization’s growth and development. After discussing the mission and vision of LTCM with Heather, I concluded that I could have a positive influence by primarily serving as an accounting subject matter expert to LTCM.
Although I have not been involved with LTCM for long, I look forward to making many fond memories with LTCM. I am currently a Senior Auditor at the Timken Company in North Canton, Ohio and have worked for Timken for over three. I am an active CPA in the state of Ohio, and I recently earned my MBA from Kent State University.
John and I moved to Canton in 2007 from Mechanicsburg PA, gleefully digging in some roots after moving around the country for many years. John is the President and CEO of a company in Kent, Ohio named AWP, Inc. We have four children. Kirby is a third grade teacher in Alexandria, VA. Her twin sister Lexi works for Blue Ridge Labs at the Robin Hood Foundation in New York City. Our third daughter Elle is working on a Masters Degree in Social Work at Loyola University in Chicago, and our son Jack just graduated from Wake Forest University this spring.
I came to hear about Love the Children in association with a group called CAST (Caring And Serving Together) that was initially formed in our neighborhood. The more I heard, the more I was intrigued. And the more I was intrigued, the more I loved everything I learned about Heather and all the ways LTCM was blessing underserved children of Canton.
Our CAST students at Early College Academy and Timken Early College High School began helping with basket raffles and wrapping parties and came together last year on a service project to raise monies for the LTCM Christmas Dinner.
I have been able to hear Heather speak passionately about her vision and her prayers for tangible relationship with these local children. The proof is in the smiles of all the kiddos, who for the last 10 years have entered the Timken Commons on the Saturday before Christmas excited not just to share a holiday meal and see Santa, but to be filled with joy and great love from a community coming together just for them. It is a beautiful thing and I am thrilled to be a part of the LTCM board and looking forward to seeing what God has in store for this very special ministry.
Pete Carpico has been active in LTCM for several years. His participation began with attending wrapping parties with his family. His connection to LTCM began prior to its inception as he was Heather’s chemistry teacher in high school. He is married to Stephanie and they have two teenage children; a daughter, Elisabeth, a sophomore at Malone and secretary of LTCM, and a son, Anthony, a sophomore at Louisville High School. He has been a teacher for 16 years and currently teaches chemistry at Louisville High School and at Stark State College. At LHS, he is also the adviser for National Honor Society. For the last four years, the students in NHS have been involved with several activities of LTCM as part of their community service projects. He shared, “As a board member, I love that I get to participate in the planning and implementation of LTCM activities on a deeper level.”
Stacy McMaster has been involved with LTCM since 2004 when she began wrapping gifts through Girl Scouts. Stacy’s involvement has grown from coordinating Girl Scout volunteers to becoming a board member in 2013. She works full time in payroll at the W. W. Schaub Electric Co. and with her husband, Bob, has raised a son and twin daughters. Stacy is excited for the future of LTCM and said, “I became involved with the organization through Girl Scouts and was just amazed at how Heather has touched so many lives with her strong faith and compassion.”