Peace Connections News

  Volunteer Follows Her Passion By Julia Largent Kuttler  I moved to Newton with my husband at the end of December 2020. At that point we knew a few people in town, but not many. One day, I found the  Peace Connections  Facebook page and gave it a follow. I eventually worked up the nerve to submit a volunteer application and quickly met with Jennifer Rose, the director at the time, and began my involvement with this great group of folks who are passionate about building community. Since I love planning events, the natural fit was to add me to the Events Committee - on which I still serve.  As a professor at McPherson College, I have the summers off, so I also began volunteering to help serve the meals for SEAK (Summer Enrichment Activities for Kids), and I’ve been a part of that program since 2022. This year, I was encouraged to step up my responsibility with SEAK, and I applied to serve as the AmeriCorps Coordinator for the 2025 program year, a position which c...

  Volunteer Opportunities

  Summertime Celebrations      As has become our tradition, we capped off SEAK (Summer Enrichment Activities for Kids) with the Newton Fire Department blasting us with their firehose! 90 kids that day enjoyed lunch with us at the park. We served an additional 900 meals this summer over 2023, for a total of  over 2,500 lunches to kids and families ! We are thankful for volunteer helpers from across the community who helped transport meals, serve kids, and bring engaging activities.      We petted a chicken, blasted pop bottles of water into the sky and danced to a silly song about dinosaurs. We also learned about the life cycle of plants, combined a bubble machine with a slip-and-slide, and floated a huge, brightly colored parachute above our heads … and that was just before lunch! As these volunteers were bringing their talents and activities to engage the kids, our staff and local restaurant partners were preparing to serve a healthy, nutritional...

John Sommer confesses that before he became a volunteer ally with Circle of Hope, he wasn’t exposed to people who hadn’t been raised in a middle-class environment. Since becoming an Ally- a person who accompanies a Circle of Hope participant for 18 months while he or she sets and meets goals in building a stronger future some of his blinders have been peeled away. “Being an Ally has brought me into direct contact and relationship with people I would not otherwise have run into,” John said. “It is helping me get involved with the lives of people- and they with mine- in ways that foster new human connections. “By connecting with people outside my normal sphere, I have been enriched and educated. I once attributed poverty to laziness and a lack of direction. What I have learned is that larger socio-economic forces- such as racism and lack of access to healthcare and educational opportunities contribute greatly to a generational family pattern that is hard to break.” During the 10 years th...

(Originally Published Tuesday, May 09, 2023) Jacob Easley first learned about Harvey County Circle of Hope in 2011 through a friend, another program participant, who invited him to an evening program and dinner. Jacob came to the dinner but slipped out before the program. Five years later, Jacob returned to the program with another attendee, but this time he stayed for dinner and the program. He liked what he heard. Jacob quickly signed up for a financial management class offered as part of the robust program. He wanted to learn how to budget, to set goals, AND stick to them! Jacob and five others attended the 15-week Getting Ahead Class where they learned all about financial and social capital, causes of poverty, and re-examined their community.  After the Getting Ahead Class, Jacob was matched with three Allies: John, Marvin, and Deb. These three volunteers walked alongside Jacob as he made progress on his goals, offered insight and advice when needed, and provided a listeni...

  (Originally Published Wednesday, February 01, 2023) Volunteer Gary Moore has a long legacy with Peace Connections- since its inception in 1983. He helped establish the city-wide Recycling Program and has been engaged with the Peace Center ever since. In 2000, when the focus shifted toward alleviating local poverty, Gary joined the initial meetings- the ones that eventually led to starting Circles of Hope - at the McKinley Administration Building. He states, “They brought in people from Missouri and Texas to tell us about the program.” Gary knew it was a worthwhile program but didn’t think he could get fully involved due to the time commitment. However, five years ago when he semi-retired, he decided to jump right into becoming an Ally. Simultaneously, for the past 15 years, Gary led devotionals at the Harvey Co Detention Center, and once he learned that Peace Connections was searching for a facilitator for the Getting Ahead Class, he offered his time and talent to continue the ef...

 ( Originally Published Wednesday, June 22, 2022) This past month, LaRita Claassen stepped down from her long-time role as a board member and as our liaison with First United Methodist Church. She brought passion, perspective, and considerable care to her position, and we are so grateful for her service to us in various roles. Her place on the board will be filled by Gerhard Neufeld (pictured above), another gem of FUMC who shares a passion for a vibrant community-based church. Both have been instrumental to Circle of Hope, are valuable assets to our community, and keep us connected to the needs of those around us. We are grateful for their commitment!

 ( Originally Published Tuesday, June 14, 2022) We are gearing up for another fun season of Summer Enrichment Activities for Kids (SEAK), an eight-week program for children to interact with others, learn about community resources, and get a good meal. This program, geared towards kids ages 1-18, offers free programming to any family in Harvey County and puts more meals in the hands of children while simultaneously reducing social isolation and supporting small businesses! With your help, we had a fantastic year in 2021, where we served nearly 1,000 meals to kids and their caretakers and were able to introduce them to new community resources. Icing on the cake- we are partnering with Immanuel Baptist Church to offer a second location for meals and social activities to build even greater community connections this summer!     This will be twice the fun and twice the opportunity to get involved and offer twice the impact. Collaborative partnerships with community member...

 ( Originally Published Wednesday, March 02, 2022) Veronica is a graduate of Wichita State University with a Bachelor’s degree in History/Political Science and a Master’s in Social Work. Veronica is currently working as the Director at Heart-to-Heart Child Advocacy Center. While she had known about Peace Connections and their work in the community for many years, it was not until 2018 that she experienced first-hand how great a community resource it truly is. Being able to attend SEAK with her children allowed her to appreciate and learn more about Peace Connections programs which eventually led to being able to become a volunteer herself. Veronica is excited to be able to join the Peace Connections Board and continue to promote and share the mission across Harvey County.

(Originally Published Thursday, February 17, 2022)    December 2021 saw a graduation rate of 100% for our 22nd Cohort of the Getting Ahead Class. Patricia, pictured below, received her certificate of achievement along with seven others. These class members learned alongside one another for 15 weeks and are already making strong progress working toward their goals. Congratulations to each of them as they continue to build relationships, resources, and resilience. This class also enjoyed the presence of Hesston College Nursing students, all working to complete their community-based medicine practicum. The nursing students were able to share their passion for health, hear stories of lived experiences, and gain insight from the class members.

 ( Originally Published February 7, 2022) Gordon retired in Sept 2020 after working 42 years as an editor for a magazine called The Mennonite. He has lived in Kansas all his life - he born in Emporia and has been living in Newton and North Newton since 1976 when he graduated from Wichita State University. He was among those who began the Newton Area Peace Center (now Peace Connections) in the early 1980s and served on the board for several years back then. He has been an Ally for Circle of Hope since 2010 and a member of New Creation Fellowship Church since 1976. Gordon and his wife Jeanne have two children and four grandchildren.       

(Originally Published January 17, 2022) Over the past several months, the way we relate to one another has changed in a fundamental way. Personally, I found myself wanting to help my neighbors, but I wasn’t sure what that would look like or how to do so in a meaningful or safe manner. I didn’t have a connection to them or their needs, as I was new in the neighborhood. I wanted to share my resources (insert joke about toilet paper here) but didn’t know if that was the greatest need. One thing I did note was that the Little Free Library in front of our office was getting used more frequently, and people were taking more items than they had before. This sparked something for me, as it was a tangible thing people would use. So we got soap and sanitizer for the Little Box and it quickly disappeared. I sewed dozens of masks to put in there. They disappeared. And that meant people were using them! The things I was doing to support my neighbors were also supporting me and keeping me safe. We w...