2010 STAR Awards Adult Group: Kalamazoo Deacons Conference Direct Response Servants

When the Kalamazoo Deacons Conference Direct Response Servants was formed in 1968, its mission was to help people in need of furniture, clothing, food or paying a utility bill.

More than 40 years later, the goal of the agency based on Kalamazoo’s north side has not changed. Demand for its assistance, in fact, remains especially strong, said Teresa Johnson, volunteer coordinator.

That demand is met in large part by a core group of about 16 Direct Response Servants, a team of volunteers who show up regularly at the Deacons Conference and lend a hand with everything from folding clothes and organizing items to greeting guests in the entrance area.

“There’s no shortage of things to do here, but we depend on our volunteers for so many things…we’re blessed to have their help,” Johnson said.

For their volunteers’ devotion and the agency’s positive impact on the community, this year’s STAR award for an adult group was awarded to the Kalamazoo Deacons Conference Direct Response Servants.

Some of the core volunteers have been a part of the group for up to eight years, according to Johnson.

“We have all ages of people volunteer here, but most are retired and they’re just everyday people who have the time and – like volunteers elsewhere – they’ve decided they want to give back to the community,” said Johnson, who has spent her professional career in banking before joining the agency last year.

The Direct Response Servant team in 2009 met with 4,666 guests. The Deacons Conference provided free clothing to 2,209 adults and 2,077 children last year and aided 673 people with more than $42,000 in financial assistance. Also, 824 people received free furniture and appliances, while about 500 people were given basic household items such as bedding, dishes and personal-care items.

But beyond such tangible things, the Direct Response Servants provide something that can be just as important to those they serve, Terri Thomas, the agency’s administrative assistant, said in nominating the for the STAR Award.

“They have distributed more smiles, hugs and cheer than can be counted,” Thomas stated. “This team has also served as ambassadors of the poor to their social circles, their churches and the Kalamazoo community.”

The Kalamazoo Deacons Conference and its volunteers have provided rides to doctor appointments, assembled and distributed back-to-school backpacks, collected and passed out Christmas gifts. They have given a bed to a mother regaining custody of her children, provided furniture to create a home for parents securing housing and paid funeral expenses for a family unable to cover the cost.

The compassion the demonstrate daily can only be described as huge,” Thomas said.

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