Praise and blame for MUNCH board

Dear Editor,

This letter concerns the Board at MUNCH in Willow Springs, Mo. We, the volunteers, would like it known that the men on the board did almost nothing to tear down and fix the floor leaking through the back wall at MUNCH. Rose Marcum and the women volunteers had to contend with the water coming all last spring. Ruth Ann Dekrey and her husband Charles had the same problem at their Methodist Church and home and had hired Foundation Recovery Systems to fix it. When we asked the board to listen to a presentation from the representative, who came to explain that it was coming off the hill behind MUNCH, the two board members walked out of the presentation before it was over.

But Rose would not give up.

We had to mop a lot of water up and hang rugs out every time it flooded in. When we asked for help from the men on the board, we were told that wasn’t their job. Finally, we got their approval, so the recovery people asked us to move everything six feet away from the walls and cover all the food and clothing. Again, we got little help from the board. The FFA helped empty MUNCH and then the women and men volunteers got some of it done. But the cooler did not get the food moved or covered. So, Marcus King came in with his mother, grandparents, and Rose. We moved the food and got plastic sheeting and finished the job.

Well, three weeks after that, the recovery people were finished. The school had come and moved the kitchen cabinet, but the rest was moved and discarded by volunteers. Again, we had no help from the men. Women from the board came in and brought their husbands, who cleaned and uncovered all the clothes and shelves. The new racks were put together from men who literally came off the street because they heard we needed help. I wouldn’t be surprised if they weren’t sent by Father Wall, who started MUNCH over 30 years ago.

I’m writing this letter not only for a Thank You to all the wonderful volunteers, but also, to let people know that we have to vote in our local elections. I believe the paper said only 6% voted in the last school board elections. I, for one, feel we need to get more involved and not just let anyone be a board member. Know them. Try to discern if they are qualified or just good old boys and will run things into debt without looking at what is really important.

If Rose Marcum had not kept at it, we would still have black mold in the laundry room hidden behind the walls.  And after a dry summer, water under floor in the cooler. We couldn’t see it, but it was there. 

Again, thank you to the community that has stepped up and helped us get through this difficult time.  We couldn’t have done it without you.

 

Sincerely and with a grateful heart,

Vicki Kargel,

Volunteer Coordinator