On Friday, August 26, the Fuller Center for Housing of Greater Kansas City hosted its seventh annual Barbecue, Benefit, and Celebration.
Over 115 attendees came to enjoy great food and fellowship, all to raise funds for the cause of building and rehabilitating homes for people in need. 25 volunteers helped prepare the room and dinner, register guests, serve food, and clean up after the event. Attendees bid on live auction items, centerpiece baskets, gift cards provided by 28 donors, including our Faith Builder churches, to raise a total of $13,970!
Each table featured a centerpiece donated by members of our Faith Builder churches. In all, 19 baskets were donated and auctioned off.
The Celebration
To kick the event off, a welcome was provided by Graham Houston, board president of FCHGKC. Graham recognized the board members in attendance and gave an overview of the evening’s activities. Prayer for dinner was provided by Pastor Robert Fugarino, from Park Hill Christian Church.
After dinner, the celebration really began. Graham shared how far the Fuller Center has come over the past seven years and we looked toward the future of making a safe, affordable place to live possible for even more people in need. Graham shared testimonies from the University of Cincinnati’s Serve Beyond students, who recently came to Kansas City this summer and helped the Fuller Center make major headway on the Olive Street Project. We also heard from board member Charley Lamb, St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, and Linda Meyers, Parkville Presbyterian Church, who shared the story of Tara Hensley, our latest partner family, a single mom who will be moving into the Olive Street house with her two daughters once the project is complete.
Live Auction
Among the items auctioned off during the live auction were a autographed Kansas City Royals and Chiefs memorabilia, BBQ Tailgate Part for 20, a one-week Tropical Oasis II Vacation Rental, Chipotle Mexican Grill Catering for 20, Day at Missouri Capitol.
Over 20 gift cards, donated by local businesses, generous donors, and board members, were auctioned off in the Gift Card Frenzy and Heads or Tails.
22 bidders supported our Fund-A-Need items during the live auction.
We couldn’t have done this without Trisha Brauer, Taking Bids Benefit Auctions, our delightful, breezy auctioneer. This was her third year supporting us to host our annual celebration.
Awards and Recognition
Each year, the Fuller Center for Housing recognizes community members, organizations, volunteers, board members and partner churches that show a commitment to supporting the mission of helping provide homes to families in need.
2016 Matthew 25 Award
The Matthew 25 Award is given annually to a person or organization who has faithfully lived out the Gospel of Matthew through invaluable contributions to the Fuller Center for Housing of Greater Kansas City. This year, the Matthew 25 award was given to two individuals and one company: Barsco Plumbing for their years of donating labor and materials; Steve Gosoroski, St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, for his dedicated service on the “Wednesday Crew,” and to John Kerry, who has arranged for the donation of food and then cooks/smokes the ribs, pulled pork and chicken patrons have enjoyed all seven years the Fuller Center has held this event.
The board of the Fuller Center also surprised Graham with a special Matthew 25 Award for his dedication and tireless energy to FCHGKC and the cause of providing homes to individuals and families in need.
Recognitions
Emcee and board member Carl Kimbrell recognized individuals and church groups who helped make the event successful once again.
Pastor Rob Carr from North Oak Christian Church was kind enough to offer the closing prayer.
A special thanks goes out to the Gladstone Community Center for hosting our event. The space was beautiful and suited our needs perfectly.
From the bottom of all of our hearts here at the Fuller Center for Housing of Greater Kansas City,
we want to say “Thank You” to
- the guests who joined us for our celebration,
- all of our board members and partners who put in tireless energy the last few months preparing for our event and securing items for the auction,
- the wonderful volunteers who helped us prepare and host all of our guests,
- and all of the gracious donors who supported our cause.
We couldn’t have done it without you!
