River of Refuge newsletter, October 2024
Windows, Caulk, Elbow Grease Benefit River of Refuge Chickens
With winter around the corner, the River of Refuge ladies are moving up.
River of Refuge was happy to receive five donated hens in the summer, but the coup that came with them is drafty. The bump on Executive Director Pam Seymour’s forehead also illustrates the difficulty of crouching down to get in and out of the coup to clean and gather eggs.
Thanks to about 20 hours of volunteer work by Seymour’s husband, Jayson, and Wyvon Poston, husband of Senior Case Manager Dianna Poston, the hens (Gertie, Hazel, Mabel, Lucy, and Ethel) now have a new caulked coup with storm windows. Wyvon’s brother, Ryan, also helped with the project.
A donor who knows the women who donated the chickens paid for some of the materials, and the Postons donated some of the building supplies as well. Along with a separate storage area, the new coup has an automatic door that allows the hens to come and go with the daylight.
The coup is also large enough to accommodate five additional chickens, which will mean additional eggs for River of Refuge families. We will look for some chicks in the spring.
The new coup, which will be attached to the 15-foot-by-15-foot run, will also keep the hens safe from predators like the possum lurking around the pen.
Seymour knew caring for the chickens would be a stretch of time and expense, but it was worth it for the eggs they provide and the experience they give to River of Refuge families.
The new coup, she said, “shows that that the community supports whatever crazy idea we have.”
River of Refuge Has A Lot to Celebrate
It was a proud day on Oct. 7 as we celebrated the graduation of seven families from the River of Refuge program. That makes 10 graduating families so far this year, and with more scheduled in the coming weeks, River of Refuge is on a record pace for annual graduations.
Events like the graduation, and our upcoming Halloween celebration, are so much easier now that our new kitchen is complete. The final touches were finished about a month ago.
We no longer have to bring Crock Pot meals for gatherings and take dirty dishes home because we have stoves and large sinks on site. The kitchen will also be helpful for our upcoming celebrations for the holidays.
The primary use of the kitchen will be to teach our families how to cook for themselves, and we are thrilled that volunteers have answered our call to teach cooking classes starting next year.
Speaking of helping out, River of Refuge extends a huge thank you to the donors providing holiday presents to River of Refuge children. With current families and returning graduates, River of Refuge expects to assist 23 families through its adopt-a-family program.
We anticipate the need for more donors as more families are scheduled to move in in the next few weeks. If you are interested, please contact Cathy DeCamp at 816-737-5100 or via email at cathy@riverofrefuge.com.
FROM THE DIRECTOR
The powers that be have declared April as National Volunteer Month.
But at River of Refuge, we celebrate our volunteers every day (or every hour, to be honest with you). With a team of just four full-time and two part-time staff members, we can never have too many volunteers to help.
Last year alone, River of Refuge benefitted from more than 2,130 volunteer hours, including the equivalent of nearly a full workweek donated by a mental health professional who assesses adults as they move into the ROR program. The volunteer hours equated to an in-kind contribution of approximately $37,000 based on the average Missouri volunteer hourly rate.
The work of our volunteers has been even more on my mind lately, perhaps because the Junior League and St. Teresa’s Academy helped out so much at our annual gala last week. It was a great evening, and I will tell you more about that soon!
We were delighted that we could host one of our dedicated volunteers, Hunter Shoptaw, at the gala. It was a great way for us to show our appreciation for all that Hunter has done to make our campus more secure.
I can’t talk about the gala and volunteerism without also mentioning the dedication of our unpaid board of directors, which provided critical manpower to planning the event and helping out that evening. I also can’t thank enough the nonboard members who served on the gala committee.
Volunteers have also been top of mind because of the recent campus clean-up night, which we host on the third Thursday of every month. We are grateful for the support of Volunteer KC to help make this happen.
The work I have highlighted is just the tip of the iceberg.
Organizations like Cristo Rey High School and L.I.F.E University have sent volunteers for a while now during the school year. I am also very excited that one of our recent graduates will be joining our regular volunteers who corral our families’ children on Wednesday evenings while their parents work on life skills.
In the past, we have also introduced you to volunteer Marian Hogins. We are also still mourning the loss of David Showalter, who passed away unexpectedly in August after volunteering for the past four years in various capacities.
As the holiday season approaches, I know that we can once more depend upon the help of our volunteers and the generosity of the community.
Until Next Time,
Pamela Seymour, Executive Director