By Mark Hansel
NKyTribune manager editor
The MASTER Provisions M Power Luncheon at the Airport Marriott in Hebron Thursday delivered an inspirational boost to those in attendance and a financial boost to one of the region’s most valued assets.
MASTER Provisions President Roger Babik talked about the organization’s mission at Thursday’s M Power Lunch (photos by Mark Hansel).
Roger Babik, president of MASTER Provisions, said the annual event is important for a lot of reasons.
“We want to encourage people who know about us and inform people who don’t,” Babik said. “It’s our major annual fundraiser that we do every November. We want people to know that we are here to serve the community and we hope the connections we make today will allow us to help others as we follow up from today’s luncheon.”
Featured speakers at the luncheon included Pastor Chuck Mingo of the Crossroads Church, Oakley Campus, Ricky Waller of the Lord’s Gym, a volunteer, donor and mentor of special needs students, and former Cincinnati Bengal Ickey Woods.
Liz Bonis, news anchor and medical reporter at WKRC-TV, hosted the program.
Woods joked that the older folks in attendance knew his from his football days but the younger generation probably recognized him as the guy that “gets some cold cuts today.”
MASTER Provisions, which began in 1994, is a faith-based organization that provides food, clothing and orphan care in the U.S. and around the world.
MASTER Provisions began by shipping donated used clothing to people in Ukraine. The organization then set up clothing shops that created jobs and provided affordable clothing. It now ships clothing and shoes to several countries, as well as to agencies in the United States.
MP also partners with My Home, which places children orphaned as a result of political unrest in the Ukraine with local Christian families, either through adoption or foster care. MP also supports orphans in Togo through a partnership with Medical Ambassadors.
Former Cincinnati Bengal and cold cuts aficionado Ickey Woods explains how he came to be a supporter of MASTER Provisions
“Our goal is to collect resources, like good used clothing and food and everything we do is in partnership with others,” Babik said. “We operate very efficiently with six full-time workers that are able to lead, manage, mobilize and inspire over 3,000 volunteer hours of labor every single month.”
In 2014, the organization began providing food to hunger relief agencies that serve the Tri-State region of Greater Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky and Southwest Indiana.
MASTER Provisions collects high quality, fresh food that would otherwise go to waste, stores and manages it safely, and makes it available to its food partner agencies. The food outreach has become the largest of MP’s mission activities.
The theme of the MP Luncheon was “Be A Story Changer” and Mingo talked about what that means.
“Story changers see the story differently, they see generosity differently,” Mingo said. “If you’ve never been to the facility at Master Provisions…I’d encourage you to go, because what you are going to see when you get there is that these story changers see things through. They have a way of maximizing the return on everything that is entrusted to them from an investment perspective.”
The mission of MASTER Provisions is shared through this 2016 M Power video:
MASTER Provisions has made 10 million pounds of food available to over 200 non-profit agencies since the outreach started and 94 percent of donations support its programs.
Crossroads Church Oakley Campus Pastor Chuck Mingo explains how the luncheon’s ‘Be A Story Changer’ theme is put into use every day at MASTER Provisions.
Woods learned about the work of MASTER Provisions after he lost a son to asthma six years ago and founded the Jovante Woods Foundation in his honor to raise awareness of the condition.
Woods visited the MASTER Provisions facility and said the great work they were doing “blew his mind.”
“I had to tell them from that point on, ‘if there is anything you ever need from me, or anything need me to do, I’m there for you, so just give me a holler and I’ll be there,’” Woods said. “If you get a chance to go by the facility, go by. If you don’t get a chance to go by, donate, because I’m telling you guys, they do great work and the money you donate is going to a great cause.”
MASTER Provisions is located on Foundation Drive in Florence. For more information about the organization, or to become a donor or volunteer, click here .
Contact Mark Hansel at mark.hansel@nkytrib.com
