Surprise donation delights MBCH leader
By Allen Palmeri
Associate Editor
JEFFERSON CITY—Missouri Baptist Children’s Home (MBCH) President Raymond “Bob” Kenison likes to tell the children touched by the Bridgeton-based ministry that “someone loves you.” That someone may not always be known, but he or she is always out there.
On Dec. 8 at the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) Christmas Banquet, “someone” came in the form of five retirees who gave up the money it would have cost to make their plaques so that children could be blessed. Kenison was called up to the front of the room at Capitol Plaza Hotel to receive a check in the amount of $575 presented by MBC Interim Executive Director David Tolliver.
“It’s reflective of the heart of the workers in the Missouri Baptist Convention who actually through the years have given of their lives and have actually had something coming to them, and they forego that in order for children to have something,” Kenison said. “I just think it’s particularly special.”
Kension said he was surprised. The evidence was his casual dress.
“You think I’d have been up here without a tie if I had known that was coming?” he said.
The money will go into MBCH’s general fund.
“I’ve heard the Salvation Army say, ‘What would a dollar mean?’” he said. “Well, a dollar means a child has something they weren’t going to have otherwise.”
The five retiring MBC staffers who chose to give up their plaques to benefit the Children’s Home are Alice Weber, Mickey Hoskins, Mauricio Vargas, Kay Robertson and Barbara Long.
According to its official website, MBCH is committed to serving God by responding to the needs of children, youth and families to make a lasting difference in their lives.