Take a tour; help others

There’s one very special kitchen that isn’t on the Kitchens in Bloom tour, yet it’s one of the most important kitchens touched by the Boone County Council on Aging, the beneficiary of the fundraising event.
The kitchen that isn’t on tour belongs to Mary Sutton. She’s one of 1,632 people the BCCA helped in 2009. With an annual budget of $250,000, the BCCA works to help seniors remain in their homes with safety and dignity, says Executive Director Jessica Macy. The nonprofit serves Boone County seniors older than 55 who have incomes below poverty level. With a handful of employees and an army of 1,030 volunteers, the BCCA helps seniors access the services they need whether it is assistance in navigating Medicare or Medicaid, accessing the appropriate agency such as the food pantry or simply helping them get their lawns mowed or their homes repaired.
In 2009, Sutton needed help to make her modest home on Alexander Avenue safe for herself and her son, Billy, who is disabled and lives with her.
Sutton is perhaps best known as the mother of the owners of Columbia’s famous barbeque spot Sutton’s Place on Broadway, where President Bill Clinton stopped for barbeque during his visit to Columbia in July of 2000. The restaurant later moved to 205 McBaine Ave. and has since closed, but Sutton’s name still conjures up tasty memories. (Writer’s disclaimer: Sutton’s catered my own wedding on Oct. 10, 1998.)
Sutton’s home needed work — and lots of it. The house had broken plumbing, molding ceiling tiles and walls, broken cabinets in the kitchen and bathroom, crumbling front steps and a rickety ramp to the front of the home.
“I can’t walk too far,” said Sutton, who uses an electric wheelchair to get around. “I’ve fallen a lot of times.”
But at 79, Sutton couldn’t do the repairs herself, nor could she afford to have them done.
All these needs seemed nearly too much for the BCCA, which has a limited budget as well. The nonprofit funding comes from a variety of sources including the United Way, Missouri Foundation of Health, Boone County and the city of Columbia, as well as through fundraisers. The Kitchens in Bloom fundraiser is the agency’s main public event and typically raises $5,000.

The agency stretches its budget by combining the resources of a handful of employees with the services of 1,030 volunteers.
Just as BCCA Volunteer Coordinator Kortney Sebben was pondering how to get Sutton the help she needed, she received a call from Brian Hajiceck, minister of Fairview Road Church of Christ. He wanted to focus his church’s annual mission trip on the local community, and he’d heard about BCCA’s home repair program and wondered if his church and its volunteers could help.
In May, Hajiceck’s congregation converged on Sutton’s home, and before they were done, they’d installed new carpeting from Sherwin Williams, painted the walls, made and put up new curtains, repaired plumbing and replaced broken cabinets while Lifestyles Furniture donated a new couch and Downtown Appliances Home Center provided a new washing machine.
The church volunteers also leveled Sutton’s front porch and fixed the ramp for her, cleaned her yard and planted donated greenery. They also widened a doorway to the bathroom to make it accessible for Sutton and replaced a broken vanity. In the kitchen, they removed the moldy dropped ceiling, installed a backsplash, painted and installed a microwave donated by a BCCA volunteer.
Sutton, who has lived in the house for 39 years, said, “They fixed so much I don’t know what they did.”
And Sutton’s family thanked the volunteers the best way they knew how; on the last day, they barbequed for them.
For information on BCCA or to make a donation, contact the agency at 443-1111 or www.bcca.missouri.org/.

Kitchens In Bloom Tour

For complete Kitchens in Bloom coverage, pick up the April/May Columbia Home & Lifestyle magazine.
When: May 2, noon – 4 p.m.
Cost: $10 in advance, $12 day of the tour. Tickets are available at D&H Drugstore at 1001 W. Broadway and at the homes on the day of the tour.
Featured Homes:
Jackie Lenox | 708 W. Rollins Road
Margie Sable and George Smith | 228 E. Parkway Drive
Brian and Susan Smith | 813 Edgewood
Ann and John Havey | 112 Bingham Road