Few things are as important as a friend that is there when you need one. The Metropolitan Lutheran Ministry will honor Karen Pletz, president & CEO of the University of Health Sciences, as such a friend at its fifth annual banquet, Friends in Deed Reaching out to Friends in Need.

“We focus on trying to find a person who is making an outstanding contribution to the Kansas City area,” says Rev. Tom Ford, executive director of MLM, about Pletz. “Her name kept surfacing as one who has made a fantastic effort,” Ford adds.

It’s easy to see why Pletz’s name came to MLM’s attention. Since being chosen as president and CEO for the University of Health Sciences in 1995, Pletz has served as chair of the Heart of America United Way’s New Account Development Division, as co-chair for the United Way’s Alexis de Toqueville Society for Leadership Giving and as a member of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce. She was appointed by the mayor and city manager to chair the Emergency Medical Services Special Study Committee and to co-chair Kansas City’s Safe City Initiative. Pletz also chairs the Selection Committee for Kansas City Fire Chief and serves on the Special Advisory Committee to the Mayor of Kansas City. She has chaired Kansas City’s American Heart Association Heartwalk, Kansas City Public Library’s Literacy for Life Campaign and serves on numerous other boards and committees.

Five names now make up the short but influential list of MLM’s Friends in Deed. Karen Pletz joins honorees Charles Garney, David Ross, Rabbi Michael Zedek and Fr. Thomas Savage.

On top of Friends in Deed, MLM is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. “For these 30 years we’ve focused on helping the poor, hungry and disadvantaged solve the crisis in their lives, regain their hope and re-establish themselves with their normal lives,” says Ford.

MLM began with the Kansas City Lutheran churches looking to lend a hand to those in poverty in the late 1960s. By 1971 MLM had established itself, and other denominations soon lent their support. Currently MLM consists of 167 congregations, four synagogues and 17 different denominations. Various corporations and foundations also work with MLM in their fight against poverty. The collection has become Kansas City’s third-largest provider of emergency assistance.

The MLM Homeless Center is the city’s only day drop-in center. The center provides homeless with food, showers, storage, laundry facilities, telephones, a mailbox, legal aid, medical care, case management, substance abuse counseling and more, says Ford. Over 25,000 people are assisted annually at the center.

There are four MLM locations in the Kansas City area that provide emergency service. The centers provide families and individuals with much needed food, clothes, shelter and utilities. “We give grants for bills and help people keep their lights on and the heat on,” says Ford.

Many stories come and go in the MLM facilities, but Ford remembers one in particular. A family was discovered holed up in an abandoned Kansas City building, and the woman and her 14 children were brought to the homeless center for help. In a two-week period, after MLM’s intensive work with the family, family members had permanent housing and a lot of benefits that they were entitled to. The woman was able to go back to work, the children went back to school, and the older kids found part-time jobs.

MLM serves over 50,000 such individuals annually, and yet still does not have enough resources to help all who pass through its doors. “We’ve had a good response so far to Friends in Deed,” says Ford. “We just need the community to come out and support Karen and the work we’re doing to help these disadvantaged persons.”

For sponsorship information about the Oct. 27 Friends in Deed banquet, contact the Metropolitan Lutheran Ministry at 816.931.0027.