Shaw seeks volunteers to help maintain BSUs
By Allen Palmeri
Senior Writer
March 7, 2006
JEFFERSON CITY – One of the biggest challenges that Kenny Shaw, Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) properties manager on the support services team, faces on an annual basis is taking care of the five Baptist Student Union (BSU) facilities owned by the MBC.
Shaw spends $12,000 a year managing the properties at Missouri State University in Springfield, the University of Missouri in Rolla, Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph, Truman State University in Kirksville and Central Missouri State University in Warrensburg. His primary responsibility is to take care of the Baptist Building in Jefferson City, which means that he is generally unavailable to travel to a BSU to do the repairs.
“If there’s an immediate need, I can’t meet it,” Shaw said. “We’ve got to call in a contractor.”
Shaw needs Missouri Baptist men to step forward as volunteer repairmen. He is looking for men to be on call in each city like Gary Hurst is in St. Joseph. Hurst, men’s ministry director for the St. Joseph Baptist Association, has proven to be a dependable volunteer at the Missouri Western State BSU.
“He installed new windows in that BSU last year,” Shaw said. “He’s an example of the kind of guy that I want—somebody who’s a handyman and is willing to spend some time there.”
Shaw said he has no problem spending his entire budget this year on contractors, but mustering an army of Missouri Baptist volunteers would allow the MBC to focus on taking care of more of the long-range needs at each BSU, such as roof replacement.
“We’re not opposed to paying professional people to come in and do things, but even to coordinate that, to know who to call in Springfield, is not the easiest thing for me to do, because I don’t live there,” Shaw said. “I don’t know who the reputable contractors are.”
Shaw serves as a deacon at Memorial Baptist Church in Jefferson City. Recently Memorial launched a Men Of Service Team (MOST) ministry that is designed to get men in the church out in the community working on maintenance projects for single mothers and senior adults.
“We told them if they have a need, gutters to be cleaned or refrigerators to be moved, anything that we can do then call us.” Sh