Advancing the Kingdom

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Chapter Four: ‘You S hall H ave the Poor With You Always’ (1978 – 2002)
[Saturday]
the press
were notified
and Eileen
[Immken,
Daycare
Director]
was
interviewed
by one of the
TV stations.
The Post-
Dispatch ran
a picture (I
believe in
the Sunday
“The Grinch
that stole Christmas” as a caption and
Eileen’s picture with tears in her eyes.)
This gave Board President Charles
McEowen time to contact churches
on Saturday so that special appeals
could be made on Sunday. Then
when Monday came, the toys and
the checks started pouring in. I
actually missed the whole thing.
I was away in Texas visiting my
dad. [It was] one of the few times I
took a vacation over Christmas.”
The remaining funds from the
break-in, some $11,000, were
directed toward the construction
of a new infant/toddler center,
as another capital improvement
campaign was announced in early
summer:
As members of the Kingdom
House Capital Funds Campaign
Committee met on July 2, Chairman Charles
A. McEowen reported that approximately
one-third of the $60,000 building and
improvement goal had been achieved.
On the basis of pledges and gifts received
from board members, local churches,
corporate firms in St. Louis and individuals,
Everett Reynolds, chairperson of the
Kingdom House finance committee, said that
it appears that the south St. Louis agency
will experience no difficulty in matching the
challenge of the Missouri United Methodist
Foundation, Inc., matching-gift commitment
to the facility’s expansion and improvement
appeal, up to $10,000. Dr. Reynolds
indicated that at least 85 percent of the
board members, including neighborhood
residents, had made pledges…
…Kingdom House authorized the
improvements to its building facilities
because of growing needs in the area of
St. Louis immediately south of downtown.
The first priority was a new infant day care
center as part of an expanded program
for the care of young children. Other
items included a safer and more attractive
entrance to the building, installation of
a wheelchair lift to provide improved
accessibility for the growing number of
handicapped persons served by the agency,
and renovation of the existing chapel…19
Just a little over a year later, at the
November Annual Dinner, Bishop
W.T. Handy, Jr. presided over the
dedication celebration that marked the
accomplishment of campaign goals.
To heighten the celebration of its eighty-
five years of service to the community,
Kingdom House used the occasion of its
annual dinner to mark another milestone,
the dedication of its newly-improved
facilities. Bishop W.T. Handy, Jr. did the
dedicatory honors at the Nov. 5 affair.
P hotos:
B: Renovation of the Chapel
for an infant day care center
C: Women’s Board
Memorial Service in the
Chapel
B
C
The first priority was
a new infant day care
center as part of an
expanded program
for the care of young
children.