HELP IS A CLICK AWAY

After a busy and somewhat tiring weekend, the Monday morning workday was one that, from the onset, was to be lackluster at best. With a staff meeting and paperwork on my mind and a cup of coffee that just wasn’t doing it, I turned on the computer wondering what else could be pending that I could cram into the first day of the week.
There were about five e-mails that I had received between the time I left the office on Friday evening to the Monday morning reboot. One was from a potential committee member, two were from folks who began following InterServ on Twitter and one was from the InterServ website – www.faithfullyserving.org – and its contact page, which has a general information field that allows those people interested in InterServ to ask questions and get directions from the right departments or programs.
Since InterServ has upgraded the website to include this option, there have been a number of inquiries, mostly about Summer Jam, employment opportunities and work camps, but this one I received on Monday, peeked my interest and put our organization and its various programs in motion.
This was a person who needed help. The information field read “Hello. I am looking for assistance with my rent this month and utility bills. I've never done this before and am not sure where to go. Can you please let me know what I need to do? Thank you so much.”
Within two e-mails and a phone call, InterServ staff made the connection and got the people what they needed for before the day was over. It happened quickly, but sometimes that is exactly what those who are in need of assistance need the most – quick action for some peace of mind. InterServ provided them with the aid they were looking for and, even though they won’t ever know it, they provided me with a great Monday morning pick-up and my own peace of mind.

SOUPer Bowl is Coming! Are You Ready?

This just in:

Wyatt Park "Stadium" is starting to fill up in advance of the SOUPer Bowl.

I have heard from a few churches that are planning to participate in this year’s SOUPer Bowl Food Drive to benefit InterServ’s Calvin Center Food Pantry. So far I know that Wyatt Park Christian, Huffman Memorial United Methodist and Ashland United Methodist churches are planning to have food drives for us in January and February. Has your church made plans to hold a food drive for InterServ yet? If you have, please let me know so I can add your name to the list and if you need help getting the food to Calvin Center, let me know so we can try to line up some volunteers to help…. Thank you to everyone for all you do all year long to feed hungry people right here in St. Joseph. InterServ appreciates you!!!

Call (816-238-4511 Ext. 29) or E-mail (lpiper@inter-serv.org) me for more information!

The collection continues throughout the month of February.

Meaning of Christmas Tree at the Living Community

For the second straight year the Living Community of St. Joseph put together a fundraiser for the InterServ Mobile Meals Program and Senior Supply Closet. Those entering the lobby of the Living Community immediately saw a Christmas tree called the “Meaning of Christmas Tree”. This tree allowed residents and visitors alike to purchase a number of hanging ornaments off of the tree, including different styles of cross ornaments, for their own Christmas trees. The funds raised through the purchases were then donated to InterServ for the Mobile Meals Program.
This past Christmas the Living Community’s “Meaning of Christmas Tree” raised $1,203 along with a full truckload of other items for the Mobile Meals Program and the Senior Supply Closet at the Calvin Center.
InterServ is thankful to the residents and staff of the Living Community of St. Joseph and their “Meaning of Christmas Tree.” The Living Community and InterServ both were impacted by the true meaning of Christmas this holiday season.

Special Guests at Mitchell Woods Christmas

InterServ Early Care and Education Center at Mitchell Woods held its annual Christmas party for the young children Tuesday morning. It was much like any other Christmas, kids got together with their teachers, some in costume, and they all sang, or tried to, the songs that they learned earlier in the month.

The program began as scheduled with all toddlers and children getting in on the action, some more than others, and was performed virtually without a hitch. There were cookies, donuts and coffee for everyone to partake. The Christmas tree was full of gifts donated to the children by Ashland United Methodist Church and it was hinted that Santa was to arrive after the program was over to hand out gifts.

Now everyone in the room that morning, parents and children alike, knew Santa was the one special guest they were anxiously awaiting. To Charlotte—“Charlie,” to the rest of the group—Benner, though, Santa was OK and all, but not at the top of her list. You see, Charlie had a special guest all her own and he had appeared at the start of the program - from halfway around the world- to watch her sing.

Her father, Brenton Benner, is stationed in Afghanistan and was her special guest, via the internet, at the Mitchell Woods Christmas Party. Brenton, through a laptop computer propped on a chair, was able to watch Charlie perform her portion of the program. He was also able to see her receive her gift from Santa and open it. Charlie proudly displayed her present for her father, sharing the Christmas spirit with him despite his distance.

It is a yearly tradition at Mitchell Woods to gather together in this time of festivities and sharing, to catch a glimpse of that special guest in the red suit, with the long flowing white beard at which the kids marvel at. But to Charlie, Santa was just “OK.” Charlie knows that her “special guest” will always be with her, not just on one holiday of the year, but every day, in some way. In this case, it just happened to be through a laptop computer.

InterServ's New BFF's

As young people go through their school day, most of them are thinking about what they are going to do when they get home, what their parents are going to have for them to eat, or when their favorite television shows are on.


Some of them daydream about what they are going to do when they get out of high school, what they are going to study in college, or what kind of job are they going to have.


So when InterServ was the recipient of a number of items for its Calvin Center Food Pantry, the guess was that it was from a church or local organization that does food drives on a regular basis. But that was not to be the case, receiving those food items from some young minds thinking not of sports, television or parents, but how they can help others.


In one instance, a former InterServ employees' granddaughter conducted her own food drive and donated the items to the Calvin Center Food Pantry, while Pershing, Skaith and Parkway elementary schools in St. Joseph helped as well, all recently conducting school wide food drives for InterServ, providing much needed non-perishable items to aid those in need.


InterServ is thankful for every item of food that it receives through various food drives, and some drives are bigger than others, but as we see with these young minds in action, it's not the size of the truck or boxes, it's the size of the people who organize, donate and think of others that matters.


So to InterServ's new BFF's, we say THX and SC.

One of those calls

While attending a short seminar earlier this month, I heard an assistant principle at a local school district explain to those in attendance that he instructs his staff to treat each phone call that is considered a "complaint" to be an opportunity for his organization to get better.

We receive some of those calls at InterServ, but the call that the Southside Youth Program received last week was disguised as something much different.

Dennis Snethen, the Director of the SSY and head coach of the Wesley Weightlifters, fielded that call after three of our lifters were pictured in the St. Joseph News-Press. The three ladies were pictured as part of the News-Press' SportsZone section, a section that focuses on youth and children sports and appears every Monday.

The person who called Dennis after seeing the pictures started the conversation with - "Are you the one who runs the weightlifting program?" Immediately, Dennis thought the worst. The caller referenced the News-Press photos and followed up with - "How come that little girl does not have a uniform?"

You see, one of the three girls pictured in the News-Press wasn't dressed in a weightlifting singlet while the other two were, thus triggering a reaction from the caller that, at first thought, might seem as a complaint or a phone call that might not be well received.

Not so.

"I want to donate some money to buy that girl a uniform," the caller said humbly.

After a short explanation by Dennis to the caller that the girl without the uniform owns more than one, but doesn’t like to wear them, and that particular weightlifting meet did not require lifters to wear singlets, so she decided not to, the phone call turned out to be a blessing, not a complaint.

You see, even though nothing physically or structurally changed on either end of the phone, the blessing is that there are people out there who are willing to pick up the phone for the betterment of their fellow person.

After taking the call, Dennis felt better the rest of the day. And after hearing his story, so did I.

A Great Week for a Food Drive!

This was a great day for our food pantry. Skaith school finished up their week long drive, bringing in over 600 items. The youth who coordinated this event deserve a big THANK YOU!

In addition, Heartland Comprehensive Family Care Center held a 3-day drive and filled a truck and an SUV with approximately 3,000 items! Thank you to everyone who helped make this event a success, and congratulations to Dr. Wiederholt's team for winning the friendly competition!

The generosity of our community never ceases to amaze me. The thing that sets InterServ apart is its partnership with the faith community. People meet God in their interaction with the poor and vulnerable. Seek justice, love mercy, walk humbly with your God!