Newsletter
MOUNTAIN MEMOS
St. Vincent Mission Inc.
Founded in 1968 by the Brothers of Charity to assist Rural Kentuckians.
Please remember St. Vincent Mission in your will.
Summer 2011
THOUGHTS FROM OUR DIRECTOR
This has been a hard winter for most of us and an equally hard spring with all of the rain, flooding and tornado's throughout the south. Although we here at St. Vincent Mission were spared flooding this spring, I am sure that we all know families that have been affected by this year's weather. Some of our volunteers have been helping in Alabama and Mississippi. Family and friends always seem to respond when there is a need.
We would like to take this time to thank some very special people who have been helping the mission through the first few months of the year. First we would like to thank Joanne Hoffart who came at the end of January and was with us until the end of April. She was very instrumental in getting our garden support program, "Grow Appalachia", off and running. We now have 30 plus families that we are partnering with to help grow healthy gardens. She was likewise very helpful in working with the staff in developing a marketing plan for our David Appalachian Craft Center. We so enjoyed her company and her expertise with gardening. We all benefited from her presence with us.
Then came Alley Sarvey, her mom Barb and Barb's mom Sheila from Pennsylvania. They worked with Elmer by doing some finishing work on one of the trailers that had been started by one of our volunteer groups.
We would like to thank Keith Deck, one of our friends and volunteers from Illinois who spent part of Holy Week with us. Keith and I had been corresponding and preparing for his visit. Besides replacing our Stations of the Cross at the monastery, Keith also made new window boxes to hold the beautiful flowers here at
the mission. Keith purchased the wood, built the boxes and painted before he came.
Then came Steve and Elizabeth Bradbury. They were a tremendous help at St. Vincent Mission after the robbery that took place here at the mission on Holy Thursday. Besides having some money taken and other items, our 1999 F150 was stolen. It was found by the State Police and had been totally stripped. One of the items that Steve and Elizabeth brought with them was a 2004 Dodge 4X4 that they had planned to donate to the mission. What a blessing! They also made a very nice donation of money and other items that will greatly help the mission on its road to recovery.
Before Steve and Elizabeth left, our dear friends Jim and Sonny Schultz arrived. They too, along with Elmer, worked at the monastery to take care of some drainage problems and worked on one of the low-income homes that needed to be repaired. We always have good conversations when the "Schultz boys" are in town and Elmer enjoys their company as well.
We have had various groups of volunteers whose pictures you will see among the individuals. When the group from Jacob-Outwood Lutheran church came I was able to join them for their Sunday worship service in our chapel at the monastery. The sending forth prayer that was used by Rev. Barry Spatz went like this: Go into the world: dance, laugh, sing and create. We go with the assurance of God's blessing. Go into the world: risk, explore, discover and love. We go with the assurance of God's grace. Go into the world: believe, hope, struggle and remember. We go with the assurance of God's love. Thanks be to God. We are grateful to all of our volunteers, families and friends for your sharing of your time, treasure and talent with us and the people we serve. Thanks for being a blessing to all of us.
Summer Internship
Please join us in welcoming our summer intern. Jessica Lasseter. Jessica is pursuing degrees in social work and agriculture at Morehead State University here in Kentucky. She is from Georgia and loves working with horses. Jessica will be assisting with our seasonal programs, Home Repair and "Grow Appalachia", as well as our on-going ministry with the poor of Eastern Kentucky.
DAVID APPALACHIAN CRAFTS
We've been busy at the craft center this spring packing for shows, packing wholesale orders, teaching craft classes, sorting donations, upgrading computers, encouraging new crafters and reorganizing the shop. That is... we continue to do all of those things that need to be done to keep the craft center running.
We have gotten an order from the Christian Appalachian Craft Catalogue which we hope will boost our sales.
We've developed a new horse tooth fairy pillow and a horse bib. The pillow has a mane made of colored fringe. We've been using remnants that we had but if anyone has small pieces of fringe to donate, (6 inches or longer) we will recycle them.
We are grateful to the volunteers who helped at church shows this spring! Craft shows scheduled for the rest of 2011 are listed below. Please come and visit us if we’re in your area.
Dates Place City/State
June 26/27 From Our Hands to Yours Somerset, KY
July 20 - 24 Southern Highlands Craft Show Ashville, NC
Oct. ? Sebastian Catholic Church Pittsburgh, PA
Nov. 5/ 6 St. Paul Catholic Church Lexington, KY
Nov. 12/13 St. Cornelius Catholic Church Chadds Ford, PA
Nov. 19/20 Holy Name Catholic Church Birmingham, MI
Nov. 26/27 Pax Christi Catholic Church Lexington, KY
Dec. 3/4 St. Wendelin Catholic Church Fostoria, OH
We appreciate your prayers and support as we continue to represent about 70 artist/crafters. We will have been identifying, training, mentoring and marketing for artist/crafters for 40 years in 2012. St. Vincent Mission was begun in 1968 and will be 45 years old in 2013 so we intend to celebrate the craft center's 40th along with the mission's 45th in 2013.
The founder of David Appalachian Crafts, Mary Pineau, made a visit to us this spring. We were pleased to find that she was invited by the national StoryCorps to share the story of David Appalachian Crafts. So Mary, Sr. Kathleen and Joyce Everly (our Board Chairperson) traveled to Whitesburg, Kentucky for Mary's interview. The story Corps has been preserving some of our nation's most important conversations in sound since 2003. Thousands of everyday people have interviewed family and friends, recording a growing portrait of America that is being archived at the Library of Congress and the craft center's story will be included!
HOME REPAIR VOLUNTEERS
So far this spring we have hosted volunteers for our Home Program who have repaired roofs, windows, doors, walls, floors and much more. You'll find pictures of these volunteers later in this newsletter.
Some of the recipients have sent thank you notes that we'd like to share:
I would like to thank the people that worked on my house. You did a very nice job. You were really nice to me and my daughter. I don't know what we would have done if it weren't for nice people like you. I appreciate everything that you did for us. I thank you from the bottom of my heart and maybe one day I will be able to do for someone else, what you did for us.
Thank you,
Billie
Dear People who worked on my house:
I would like to thank the ladies and gentlemen who worked on my house. They were extremely nice to me and my mom. I think it is amazing that there are still some people who help people out for NO money! When I get older I hope I will be as kind and good hearted as these people are. I wish there was some way I could help them out in any way to make their lives easier.
Once again, I want them to know I really am thankful what they have done!
Love,
Alyssa
Gifts Given
In memory/honor of... given by…
Vincent Fister Mike Fister
Gisella Wood Linda Romano
Sr. Dominic & Sr. Debrah Jerry Krippel
Ruth Sanders Joan Hoffman
Ed & Marie Hawk Steve & Elizabeth Bradbury
Sr. Carolyn Lambert Carol Schubert
CHRISTMAS PREPARATIONS
Our Christmas Store donors have asked that the dates for the annual Christmas Store be published in our summer newsletter so that they can begin collecting items early.
The 2011 Christmas Store will be held December 12 and 13, 2011. New clothing, household items and toys should be sent to the mission by November 21 so that they can be sorted, given points and stocked.
Items sent by the U.S. postal service should be addressed to: St. Vincent Mission
PO Box 232
David, KY 41616
Items sent by Fedex or UPS should be addressed to: St. Vincent Mission
6369 Highway 404
David, KY 41616
TOO MUCH EXCITEMENT!
Life was just a little too exciting here in late April. On Saturday, April 23rd Charlotte, one of our David Appalachian Crafts employees, opened the center for business at 9:00 a.m. and quickly realized there had been a break in. She called for help so Sr. Kathleen and other staff members hurried to the mission. We found that four windows had been broken in three of our buildings to gain entrance. Two cash boxes with $100 each in them had been taken from the craft center. One cash box from the "David Boutique" (our used store) with $50 in it had been taken. One of our pickup trucks used for transporting food, craft items, clothing and household items was gone. Checking account deposit slips were gone and we knew the account could be misused with the information of those slips. Some hand tools, a credit card, keys to building and vehicles were missing. "We canceled the credit card and notified banks immediately!) Odd items like candy and soda were also missing but no commodities or other foods.
Phone calls were made to the police, insurance companies, a window installer, a security service, and a locksmith. Family and friends were notified and asked to pray. This is only the second robbery in over 40 years of service in a poverty stricken region. Our prayers are for justice - restorative justice - for the thief or thieves.
Generous donors as well as our insurers are already restoring the property as God restores our peace of mind.
ST. VINCENT MISSION’S BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Sr. Kathleen Weigand, Executive Director
Joyce Everly, President
Steve Sanders, Secretary
Br. Mike Lonsway, Finance Chairperson
Jacquie Slone
Pauline Allen
Tess Rivera
Sr. Eileen Schepers
Bob Lewandowski
Billie Turner
Anna Cambron
"Food For Thought " and Prayer
God's timing is always breath-taking! As reported in our Spring, 2011 newsletter, we were given the opportunity to offer gardening support through "Grow Appalachia" this season and since have been alerted to a critical issue involving The emergency Food Assistance program (TEFAP). TEFAP is the backbone that supports the emergency food relief work that St. Vincent Mission's food pantry provides along with similar pantries throughout the United States. Even as the cost of food continues to increase, commodities provided by the government are project to decrease by as much as 50% beginning this month. Up to half of the foods that are provided by the mission to the poor each month are commodities. This means that the total amount of food we are able to give could be reduced by 25%. Children in our rural area are home for the summer and will not be receiving free or reduced breakfasts and lunches as they do during the school year.
In addition to this difficult news FEMA did not make grant awards to grassroots agencies for purchasing foods the first half of 2011. Last year we received $1,800. We have received an announcement, though. that there may be FEMA funds the second half of 2011.
While the average cost of a meal in Kentucky ($2.34) is below the national average ($2.54), food insecurity rates in our area are among the highest in the nation. In fact, in Magoffin County (St. Vincent Mission serves about 1/3rd of Magoffin County food pantry applicants), 27.7% of residents are considered food
insecure, the most of any Kentucky county. Folks in Martin County are dealing with higher food costs than most Americans ($2.91 per meal) and a food insecurity rate of 23.1%.
Please keep this matter in your thoughts and prayers.
WISH LIST
- $30 - school supplies for one child at the beginning of the school year
- $200 toward the publishing and mailing of our Spring, Summer and Christmas mailings
- $500 toward salaries and other expenses to keep our Center open and staffed to minister with the people of Eastern Kentucky