WMCC makes cabinets for local church

The WMCC vocational class of modern cabinetry and construction recently created all of the cabinets and countertops for the Kidder United Methodist Church (UMC) kitchen. The church, the city of Kidder and the Caldwell County Emergency Management have all partnered to make the Kidder UMC a disaster relief center, once the kitchen is upgraded to the specifications necessary.

According to Pastor Richard Evans, the church was planning to remodel the kitchen anyway and this presented an opportunity for them to do so in a way benefitting not only the church but also the community as a whole.

Dean Sedokna, instructor of the vocational class and member of the Kidder church suggested the partnership and assisted in the communications with the prison.  It took some time for the prison to get the approval from Jefferson City to go ahead with the project.

“It’s a great opportunity to get real world experience. They see the product they built and created going to help others in a positive way. It’s nice knowing their product is being used, that will be around for a long time,”  said Martin Montgomery, overall supervisor of vocational programs at WMCC.

WMCC offers nine vocational programs in everything from auto and diesel mechanics to plumbing and electrical work. According to Montgomery, it is the largest vocational school for secondary education in the state and is used as an example for other institutions building similar programs. Offenders in the vocational programs receive certificates of completion and are registered with the Department of Labor, which helps serve as a foot in the door for future employment.

Typically, projects are created and then torn down to be remade for the next class, the cabinets for the Kidder UMC have offered a unique opportunity to the class to build something to be used.

“It’s a great thing, besides learning the trade, they gave back to the community as well,” said Warden Sherie Korneman

“We are so grateful to the correctional center and the offenders, they created the cabinets and they are beautiful,” Evans said.

All of the costs of materials was paid by the church, with the prison offering the labor.

“The labor involved was huge, when you can get the labor taken care of in any project, you can afford to do a lot of things. So we owe them a great amount of thank you for this.” Evans said.