OrthodoxUSA

St. Innocent’s Parish Update: Spring/Summer 2000

Our American Orthodox Kids (AOK)

During Great Gatsby Days, a city-sponsored event held each May to commemorate the heyday of Excelsior Springs, the parishioners of St. Innocent Orthodox Church held a fundraising chicken noodle lunch in conjunction with events at Excelsior Springs Memorial Airport. Proceeds from the lunch, when combined with those earned by St. Innocent’s American Orthodox Kids’ (AOK) bake sale and last Autumn’s Open House, were sufficient to begin construction of a disabled access ramp at the church entrance. Some materials for the ramp were donated by Torben Kharlund, owner of Excelsior Springs’ Scandinavian Shop. This follows the gracious donation of an indoor chair lift by Bill and Martha Edwards, formerly of Excelsior Springs, making our nearly 100-year-old building fully accessible to the disabled.

Members of St. Innocent’s are actively involved in the Excelsior Springs Community Development Corporation (ESCDC), which seeks sustainable local prosperity. While not a ministry of St. Innocent’s, involvement in the ESCDC forms a strategic partnership through which we hope to pursue a Christian social ethos, as far as this is permissible under Missouri’s CDC guidelines. The ESCDC is negotiating to bring the Boys and Girls Clubs of America to Excelsior Springs as a solution to the problem of youth boredom and misbehavior. Also being explored is on-the-job construction training for the un- and underemployed concurrent with restoration of Excelsior Springs’ older buildings.

UAO Chancery: 1000 Lake Maurer Road, Excelsior Springs MO 64024-9321, USA

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