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Donations Needed for The Kitchen, Inc.

The Kitchen, Inc.

Your help is needed to make sure people who have experienced homelessness get a good start in their new lives next week.  KSMU’s Michele Skalicky explains.

The Kitchen, Inc. will move several people who have been homeless into 16 apartments recently completed at Beacon Village.  The housing complex for income qualified individuals will offer 44 units of affordable permanent housing including 20 units for formerly homeless families.

Those moving in next week have completed the steps necessary to qualify for permanent supportive housing including case management at the Missouri Hotel or through Rare Breed’s Living Program.

But help is needed to get them off to a good start.  The Kitchen is asking for donations of household items such as laundry soap, pots and pans, brooms and mops and light bulbs.  The Kitchen Inc.’s CEO, Rory Orgeron, says the items will help these people get their lives going.

"They've been living in the Missouri Hotel or maybe another place that has just not lent very easily to them having things like cleaning supplies and that type of thing that they might need," he said.

Donations may be dropped off at the Distribution Center, 421 E. Blaine, and cash donations may be made to The Kitchen, Inc., 1630 N. Jefferson, Springfield, MO, 65803.  Write “Household Items” in the memo section if you’d like your donation to go toward that purpose.  For more information or to view a list of needed items, click here.

Michele Skalicky has worked at KSMU since the station occupied the old white house at National and Grand. She enjoys working on both the announcing side and in news and has been the recipient of statewide and national awards for news reporting. She likes to tell stories that make a difference. Michele enjoys outdoor activities, including hiking, camping and leisurely kayaking.