Three join Catholic Charities board A ndy Buessing, Deborah Gladney and
Brian Kaiser have recently joined the board of directors for Catholic Charities Wichita. Each began a three-year term on the board in August. Andy, a licensed civil engineer, is president of Hutton, and a member of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Colwich. Deborah is chief executive officer and co-founder of QuickHire. She is a member of NewSpring Church. Brian is director of refined products trading for Flint Hills Resources. He is a member of St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church.
Volunteer meal trains help feed those in shelters F or many people, a home-cooked meal is much more than nourishment for Andy Buessing
the body; a home-cooked meal also can bring comfort, love and a sense of security, regardless of whether it was enjoyed at home or eaten at a shelter.
Countless volunteers have for years been delivering home-cooked meals on the weekends to St. Anthony Family Shelter. Now, a similar “meal train” is doing the same for Harbor House Domestic Violence Shelter. Neither shelter has a weekend cook, leaving the responsibility for preparing meals to the part-time employees who staff the shelters on the weekends.
Deborah Gladney
Catholic Charities is guided by a board of directors that represents donors and the community, and actively supports the agency’s mission. Each is formally invited by Brian Kaiser The Most Reverend Carl A. Kemme, Bishop of Wichita, to serve on the Catholic Charities’ board. Directors share their areas of expertise with Catholic Charities and take the lead in setting strategic priorities for the organization.
“Taking a meal can really impact someone’s day. Maybe a resident or their children had a rough day, and they’re able to come back to the shelter and enjoy a wonderful, home cooked meal,” says Shauna Long, volunteer meal train coordinator for Harbor House. “Linda (Lauer, meal train coordinator) has done a great job at St. Anthony Family Shelter, and I think the Harbor House meal train opens up another opportunity for people to volunteer in a simple, economical way as an outreach to the community.” The two shelter meal trains are formed by volunteer teams from churches and organizations that sign up to make food for about 30-40 people; most groups volunteer on a quarterly basis.
Interested in joining the meal train? Contact our Volunteer Coordinator, Tiffany Oltjenbruns at (316) 264-8344, ext. 1261. Or, visit CatholicCharitiesWichita.org/volunteer, for more information.
Shauna says everyone in shelter needs love and nutrition, and she wants to help provide it by assuring they have home-cooked meals on Saturdays and Sundays.
“I've served meals at Harbor House in the past and know the need is great,” she says. “It also gives the staff a break from preparing one to two meals per week, so they can stay focused on other resident needs. The residents, from what I hear, have expressed gratitude that they have a hot, nourishing meal and variety.”
Thank you for the van! Thank you to Lisa Hambelton and all our friends at Mel Hambelton Ford for donating a wheelchair-accessible van to Adult Day Services at Catholic Charities. The reconditioned van will make it easier for staff to transport program participants to and from the ADS campus.
