Community Care Programs

Vivion Ebersole accepted accolades for her late husband Pastor David Ebersole at the Power of Each One Event Saturday. Behind her were (from left) Metro Lutheran Ministry Board President Vicki Westerhaus, Executive Director Jim Glynn and Pastor Mike Peck of Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Overland Park.

Special Event Highlights Fresh Beginnings

The “daily miracles” in Metro Lutheran Ministry’s battle against homelessness and hunger were celebrated Saturday, Nov. 7 with more than 300 persons attending the annual Power of Each One Event.

Held at the Kansas City Starlight Theatre, the evening was highlighted by honors to two people who furthered MLM goals for decades: the late Pastor David Ebersole and Yvonne Brown, who in October marked her 30^th year at MLM’s Wyandotte Care Center.

Pastor Ebersole, who died in September at 77, served on the MLM Board of Directors and was a frequent volunteer. In 1984, he became the pastor of Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Kansas City, North, where he served until his retirement in 1988. Shortly after he retired, however, he began the first of several services as interim pastor for area congregations, including Children’s Memorial Lutheran Church in Kansas City and Lutheran Church of the Resurrection in Prairie Village. At the time of his death, Ebersole was interim pastor of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Atchison, Kan. He and his wife, Vivian, resided in Liberty.

Yvonne Brown was honored Saturday for her 30 years of service with Metro Lutheran Ministry. Brown has helped thousands of people as Care Coordinator of Metro Lutheran Ministries’ Wyandotte Center.

Yvonne Brown in October marked her 30^th year with MLM. Coordinator of the Wyandotte County Care Center, she began only five years after the center was founded at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church. She has personally helped many of the thousands of homeless and needy who have been served there. She considers it a match made in heaven.

“You’re lucky when you can do something you love,” she said.

The evening also included comments by MLM Board President Vicki Westerhaus and an update on MLM’s programs by Executive Director Jim Glynn. Pianist Joseph Martin and his wife, vocalist Sue Martin, performed along with the Advent Lutheran Church Choir.

MLM operates programs throughout the area, including care centers in Jackson, Clay and Wyandotte counties as well as a housing facility for homeless people who also suffer from a mental illness. For more information, call (816) 931-0027 or visit www.mlmkc.org on the Internet.

(See the complete POEO photo gallery)