LUKE 14:12 WELCOMES 3 TO OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS!
Welcome, Divina, George, and Karen!
Luke 14:12 welcomes the 3 newest members of our board of directors — Divina Batangan-Peoples, George Hays, and Karen Stevens! We rely on our board members to ensure we give our best to our community. Divina, George, and Karen embody the essential commitment, enthusiasm, and generosity for our leadership. We are excited to introduce these three!
Divina Batangan-Peoples settled in Nashville 10 years ago and loves the city because of the hiking and nature available through the Tennessee parks system. She was born in the Phillipines and has lived in various places in the United States, including Hawaii. Divina loves traveling, especially to beaches, and taking pictures everywhere she goes!
Board member Divina Batangan-Peoples receives the Heart of Service Award for her contributions as a volunteer with Luke 14:12.
Divina’s love for Luke 14:12 began when she joined us as a volunteer. In 2014, Divina came to volunteer with several of her colleagues from HCA. “Our company is supportive of volunteering and provides time during the workday for us to serve the community,” says Divina. At first, Divina says she was nervous, “I would just go in and not talk to any people while I was on my shift!” After Divina saw how all are treated with dignity, she was on board.
Divina wants potential volunteers to realize how rewarding it is to work with Luke 14:12. “I’d never worked in a restaurant kitchen before. It’s not as hard as I thought, and the feeling you get from helping others is a different kind of feeling. It’s so easy. It’s so rewarding.” Divina feels connected to each guest and their individual stories. “I feel compassion for our guests. I wonder, what happens to them when they leave us?” These kinds of interpersonal connections are vital for Luke 14:12.
Luke 14:12 has also recognized Divina’s contributions as a volunteer. In 2016, Divina was the first recipient of our annual “Laura B. McCray Heart of Service Award”. The award is presented each year to the person or persons who excel in providing hospitality and grace for our guests through their volunteer spirit as first modeled by Luke 14:12’s founder, Laura B. McCray. Because of her love for serving as a volunteer, Divina hopes that she will be able to spread the word to others who may want to join us in hands-on service.
George Hays moved to Nashville from Dallas, TX, 26 years ago to work with HCA. He met his wife here in Nashville, and today they and their 16-year-old son enjoy being outdoors and on the water at the lake. George is an avid sports fan. He follows the University of Arkansas Racerbacks and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, where he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business administration. He’s also a Dallas Cowboys fan.
Another activity George’s family has enjoyed is serving together as volunteers for Luke 14:12. George himself has been involved with Luke 14:12 for more than 20 years, first as a volunteer, and then as a previous and current board member.
George Hays, Luke 14:12 returning board member, and Dee Patton, Vice President of the board, exemplify the care and compassion our board members provide.
George describes the board’s role as providing “strategic direction” that aligns with our mission and purpose. This looks like supporting fundraising efforts, making vendor contacts for events, and performing other governance-related tasks. He also notes that board members are just as likely to be found helping serve meals at a moment’s notice or running to Sam’s Club to pick up food for meals! “Our board is hands-on,” says George. “We’re involved. We have first-hand contact with what we are trying to do.”
George values that Luke 14:12 is able to put so much of our resources directly toward feeding hungry people. “We are efficiently run,” says George, “with very little if any food waste. That helps us provide nutritious, filling meals for a very low cost per plate.” George sees Luke 14:12 as a grassroots organization. “The founder, Ms. Laura McCray, served one homeless person lunch one day, and it grew from there. At some point I hope less people will be hungry, and we won’t have to serve as many people as we are. For now, Nashville is exploding with unprecedented growth and from that, the homeless population has continued to grow. We’re like an emergency physician who wants to help people in a caring and compassionate way when they show up in need.”
Karen Stevens attributes growing up in a small town in the Mississippi Delta, with its many social classes, for her ability to connect to people of all backgrounds. Since moving to Nashville as a young adult, Karen has rooted herself in the work of community non-profit organizations.
For more than 22 years, Karen’s efforts included: Magdalene, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Siloam Health, and Room in the Inn. Having served diverse roles throughout her career – Project Manager, Event Planner, Director of Volunteers, and Community Development Director – her energy is now focused on volunteering in the community, including serving on Luke 14:12’s Board of Directors. Karen has helped organize our fundraisers for the previous eight years. With the help of the board, Karen looks forward to expanding her development efforts to extend the mission of Luke 14:12.
Luke 14:12 board member Karen H. Stevens prepares bags of food for our guests to take with them.
In addition to preparing and serving meals, Karen values our G.R.O.W. program, which hires kitchen staff who have struggled with chronic homelessness. Luke 14:12’s partnerships with Safe Haven and Matthew 25 provide even more outreach opportunities where we can make a difference with those whom we don’t usually interact. For Karen, this connection makes a difference. She says, “I see appreciation on our guests’ faces for the meal, but also for our hospitality. And if I can show them through my eyes that I care about them, just showing for a moment that we are on the same level…we connect.”
Karen is optimistic about Luke 14:12’s future as we mentor the next generation of volunteers. She hopes to provide opportunities for them to serve with Luke 14:12, because someday they will be the ones who do the work our current volunteers do today. Their impact will be invaluable as they discover the benefit and reward in helping the marginalized. She remembers people saying, “You can’t save the world!” Her answer continues to be, “I’m not trying to save the world. I’m trying to make a difference in the world one step at a time.”
