Dining Room Greeters
CHIP SHERER President
O
ur ministry at Bonclarken is a labor-intensive enterprise
of our full and part time staff mem- bers as well as the work of wonder- ful volunteers. This month, I want to spotlight two volunteers who go above and beyond in their service to Bonclarken.
If you have enjoyed a meal in our Dining Room, Mark and Jane Kennedy most likely greeted you as you entered. Mark and Jane have served as our Dining Room greeters since 2011, and are tireless in their efforts to make every guest feel welcomed. We are so blessed by their service. “We so enjoy seeing some of the same folks year after year as we greet them in the Dining Room during their visits to Bonclarken,” Mark and Jane shared with me. “We’ve made some very good friendships. We’ve been serving as greeters for 12 years, and seeing the young people who were campers when we started now come back as adults (and often with their own children) is so special. They make a point to speak to us which we so appreciate.”
Mark told me this wonderful story
- “A young teenage girl who spoke very little English tapped me on the
shoulder and her friend translated what she wanted to tell me. She said, ‘You treat us as Jesus would treat us. You treat us as we want to be treated by others. Mr. Mark, you treat us as Jesus has taught us to treat one another.’ She was echo- ing our charge to love the Lord with our whole heart, mind, soul and strength. Jane graduated from Erskine in 1963, and during her early college years, she worked one summer at Basin Harbor Resort on Lake Champlain in Vergennes, VT. There she met a young man from Vermont named Mark Kennedy. A sum- mer romance lasted a while, but they went separate ways. However, in 1991, their paths crossed again and the romance quickly rekindled. They married in 1992 and lived in Yorktown, VA. Jane’s sister, JoAnn, (a missionary to Ethiopia) had purchased a home at Bonclarken to be her retirement home, but she decided to retire to Due West, SC, instead of Bonclarken. Jane and Mark purchased the home on 371 Kinross from JoAnn and moved to Bonclarken full-time in 2011. “Mark and Jane are such wonderful ambassadors for Bonclarken in their role
as greeters in our Dining Room,” Marcesa Harper, our Director of Food Service, shared with me. “They are so dependable, so personable, and so tireless in their volunteer work. Having their smiling faces greet our guests as they enter the Dining Room sets the tone for what we hope will be a great experience. They are the best.”
When Mark and Jane moved to Bonclarken full-time in 2011, I visited with them and they asked, “What can we do to help?” Never would I have imagined that conversation would lead to 12 years (and hopefully many more) of their volunteering as our Dining Room greeters. They attend almost every meal, and our guests look forward to seeing them. On your next visit to our Dining Room, be sure to say “hello” to the Kennedy’s. They will be there ready to say “hello” to you.
An Environment for Christian Inspiration and Renewal July/August 2023 19
Bonclarken
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