by John Sorce
john.sorce@theleaven.org
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Bobbi McBride couldn’t believe all the projects that were — at long last — being tackled at her home here.
But McBride’s house was just one of several that parishioners of the Church of the Nativity in Leawood worked at on Oct. 4 — on both sides of the state line.
The program that brought them out?
Christmas in October, an area-wide program that puts volunteers across the city to work, rehabilitating the homes of the less fortunate at no cost.
“It’s been a blessing,” McBride said. “There’s a lot of projects to do and I was referred by Pat Godding, who did some work for the last couple of years.
“I just couldn’t believe all the stuff they would do and it’s great to see it all coming together.”
Among the projects at McBride’s house were the replacement of the steps and railing on her back porch, new inside doors to take the place of those her dog had scratched up, and the cleaning and caulking of the drainage in her driveway to prevent her garage from flooding.
Community effort
Volunteers met bright and early at 7 a.m. at Nativity, where organizers made sure everyone had their assignments. The groups then prayed together and were blessed by associate pastor Father Andrew Strobl before departing for their workstations.
One of those volunteers was Kevin Colwell, who was helping this year for the first time. He’d learned of the project through the parish, and was replacing the doors inside McBride’s home.
“I’m retired and am involved with the church, so this is a great way to give back to the community,” Colwell said. “I feel like we are called to do that.”
Another project team member was contractor Robert Massey, who has been involved with Christmas in October for three years.
“It seems like this is my calling,” Massey said. “Doing work like this, I figured God gave me a talent and I might as well use it.
“People want to help in every walk of life. But when you get a bunch of people who have the time, effort and means to do it, that’s when we come together and get some things done to help people in the community that are in need.”
John Brown, who serves as one of the parish organizers of the project, has an email list of volunteers that he has gathered over the years. Announcements are also made from the pulpit about six weeks in advance to raise interest.
Christmas in October posts a list of each home and the work it needs on its website. Brown then selects the ones that he feels have projects his volunteers can handle.
He, along with a few volunteers, will then go and inspect each location and talk with the homeowners before finalizing the list.
“We reserve those homes and then go visit to see if the projects are something we could take on,” Brown said. “There is generally a pretty good description of what they need on the website and they do a thorough inspection when they go to see these people, so we tend to have a pretty good feel before we go out there.
“But it’s nice to put your eyes on the house and talk to the people and see what their priorities are.”
A family legacy
Christmas in October started in Kansas City in 1984 and was cofounded by well-known area Catholics Dick Miller and John McMeel.
Volunteers from businesses, churches and many different professions from across the metropolitan area have contributed thousands of hours since that time helping to restore and renovate hundreds of homes each year.
The son of cofounder Miller — Steve Miller — smiled wryly when he recalled the initial event.
The program started out as Christmas in November. But the organizers soon discovered that they couldn’t start the actual renovations until December, after all the logistics were sorted out.
So the inaugural event was held, in fact, on Dec. 1 — and not a warm one.
“I was there for that first endeavor in 1984, and it was so cold on that first day,” said Miller, a member of Visitation Parish in Kansas City, Missouri. “We were all freezing. So, my father and John decided that we needed to do it a bit sooner.”
“The concept was changed to Christmas in October largely due to the experience that first year — just freezing ourselves off and understanding that if we wanted to do this on a bigger scale, we needed more clement weather,” Miller added.
Miller and McMeel first came up with the idea of the citywide program after hearing about a similar program in Washington, D.C., called Christmas in April. They wanted to take that idea and adapt it to Kansas City, with a broader vision to do more extensive repairs and on a grander scale.
“They both had big imaginations and lots of drive and enthusiasm,” Miller said. “John was the ultimate promoter and salesperson, and my father was the ultimate roll-up-your-sleeves guy, so they made a great team.
“Dick and John McMeel were such a unique tandem. If you met them, you would not have met two more charismatic, giving, fun people to be around. They were a dynamic duo with very different personalities, but very complementary, and it took both of them to really drive Christmas in October to where it ended up.”
Over the past 41 years, Christmas in October volunteers have rehabilitated more than 10,000 homes in the area.
It’s part of the legacy of Miller and McMeel still witnessed today.
“I’m very happy to see that it continues to last,” Miller said. “But [my dad] and John drove it to its heights and now I see it as their gift back to our community.
“The ideas, bold vision and enthusiasm that both of them brought to it was one of their greatest legacies.”
