This past year, 2020, was a very challenging year for Lafayette employees as it was for everyone, but we were able to stay safe and stay open! We actually hired 15 new workers despite all of what 2020 brought, and provided our unique program service to 436 individuals the past year. We continue to be very blessed. Due to compromising health concerns or transportation not running, after March we had only about 2/3 of our employees able to attend the workshops, all following strict safety protocols. But we immediately put in daily Zoom training, and made items available to those whose parents could pick them up at the workshop and take back to perform “work-at-home". The end result is that we stayed “connected” on a daily basis to over 98% of our employees! Having a job continues to be of utmost importance for our incredible employees.
We again received great financial support from our sponsors throughout the year which enabled us to employ those new folks. As well, we still conducted free flu shots and lunches, and got creative with our “events” as we held a “drive-by picnic”, a drive-by Halloween event, and a Zoom Holiday concert that was attended by over 150 folks. At the end of the year we again awarded 3 more gold watches (for 25 years of service), bringing the total to 94 that we have given out in the last 15 years. Is that not something special!
On the business side of our operation, somehow, our wonderful employees still managed to produce over 10 million packages. As you recall, last year we launched an innovative program geared towards enhancing one’s ability to manage self-regulation and sensory differences within the work setting. Building on that success, in October we entered into a partnership with McArthur’s bakery in Kirkwood as they opened up the “Pioneer Café” on Kirkwood’s main street. McArthur’s runs the bakery, and we train persons with 21 intellectual disabilities in the various tasks associated with the operation, both in the kitchen and at the counters. “Baking new Beginnings” is the theme, and it has started off well.
I again would like to convey my personal thanks for your continuous support and constant prayers as well as thank those St. Mark private donors who made contributions, as well as the St. Mark Spinnakers, and the St. Mark Presbyterian Women and the Deacons who support us every year.
Our very 1st employee, St. Mark’s own Ken McLuen, is still working every day, going into his 45th year of employment in 2021! He keeps telling me that he will retire when I retire, so we both are going to keep working! He is an inspiration for us all. The vision of Bob and Ethel McLuen, Board Members, Emeritus, and the founders of Lafayette Work Center, along with several of the faithful of St. Mark’s, continues to hold true today as it did in 1976---to provide employment to deserving folks that gives them Dignity through work and the opportunity to use their God-given talents and abilities, just like the rest of us. Despite all that occurred in 2020, with God’s blessing Lafayette Industries remained the leading full-time, long-term employer of adults with developmental disabilities in the State of Missouri. To Bob and Ethel, Boots and Bob Berry, Rev. and Rosella Gleason, Bev and Bob Hanson, and to the St. Mark’s community----we are forever indebted to you.
Thank you once again, may God continue to bless you all very much, and here’s to a Safe and Happy 2021!
Respectfully submitted, Rob Libera, Executive Director
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