Numerous volunteers from local and
area organizations donate their time to help the People’s City Mission in
Lincoln. There are dozens of opportunities.
A group of volunteers from Milford
Assembly of God church serve meals in the kitchen at PCM. About six months ago
members of the group were talking to Randy Hand, PCM food services manager, who
mentioned that he would like to barbecue for the people he serves.
Terry Stutzman, one of those church
volunteers, said the group discussed purchasing a new grill for PCM. They
presented the plan to the rest of the congregation, and fundraising began.
“We really couldn’t find a commercial
grill that was affordable and yet was big enough for what they needed,”
Stutzman said.
So Stutzman, an information systems
technician at Southeast Community College, talked to Todd Roth, chairman of the
Computer Aided Design Drafting program, to see if a student could design a
grill. He did.
During the design process, Stutzman
approached Mark Hawkins, co-chair of SCC’s Welding Technology program, to see
if a class would be willing to build the grill for PCM.
“Once the design was completed, Mark
and I visited about making some changes to the original design, which he did
based on his experience building smokers/grills,” Stutzman said.
On Nov. 20, Hawkins and 11 students
delivered the smoker/grill to PCM’s facility at 110 Q St. in Lincoln. Hawkins
fired up the smoker for the initial seasoning process.
Stutzman said he was proud to be a
part of a project that “will be a blessing for many of the homeless and less
fortunate at PCM for years to come.”
“I must say it was so exciting to see
all the staff at PCM come out and inspect the grill and see the amazement on
their faces of what an awesome grill that SCC built for them,” Stutzman said. “I
am also so proud of Mark and his students for not only taking on this project, but
building a quality smoker/grill for PCM.”
Stutzman said plans are being made
for a dedication barbecue sometime next spring.