FORT SMITH — Christmas 2002 was difficult for Christ the King parishioner Lottie Klyne.
“Someone stole our Christmas,” she said. “A burglar took all our Christmas presents, smashed some things my mother had given me and took two bottles of wine that had been blessed by Pope John Paul II.”
In January 2003 Klyne was getting ready to bring dinner to the young inmates at the Sebastian County Juvenile Detention Center as a prison ministry volunteer when she learned the burglar had been apprehended and was being held at the detention center.
“Msgr. (Royce) Thomas (former Christ the King Church pastor) was the one who told me about Lottie’s burglary,” Captain Fran Hall of the detention center said. “He said, ’We’ll see how good of a Christian she is.’ When Lottie arrived, I called the youth out. She’s a very small woman and he was 6’2”. They both hugged and cried.
“If there ever was someone who loves the kids in the juvenile detention center, Lottie Klyne is it,” Hall said. “Lottie comes into the facility with Christ the King Church bringing food for the Friday night meal as well as Thanksgiving and Christmas. Even in poor health, Lottie still comes and hugs and loves these kids. Lottie has a true servant’s heart.”
On Friday, April 13 Klyne received Sebastian County Juvenile Detention Center’s Volunteer of the Year Award.
Christ the King, St. Boniface and Immaculate Conception parishes have all stepped up to feed the residents at the detention center on Friday nights.
“Usually we serve 30 to 40 teens,” St. Boniface volunteer David Foss said. “They have to have had good behavior the previous week to participate.”
The home-cooked food the churches supply brings a touch of family to the teens. On Good Friday, St. Boniface served up fried fish cooked by Foss’ Cursillo group, coleslaw, soft drinks and bottomless gallons of Neapolitan ice cream. The following Friday, Christ the King brought ham, twice-baked potatoes, fresh rolls from St. Scholastica Monastery, soft drinks, ice cream bars and homemade chocolate chip cookies.
The teens eat all their meals in their cells, but Friday night dinner is a time for socializing. Sgt. Steve Wilhelm plays chess with some of the boys seated around the plain metal tables. The teens, who are segregated by sex, wear shapeless striped shirts and pants, sneakers with Velcro straps and no makeup. They eat with plastic forks and spoons, and volunteers count each fork before and after meals.
“Our kids range from age 10 through 17,” Hall said. “Some are here for as little as three days or as long as a year, but the average stay is 90 days.”
After saying grace, usually led by a teen, everyone eats and chats. Some come for second and third helpings. They talk about what brought them there, their families, school, and sometimes, their pregnancies. The volunteers usually catch them being good, and encourage them in those paths.
When Hall arrived at her assignment 101/2 years ago, she looked for volunteers to interact with the youth and provide role models.
“I think it’s essential for these kids to know that there are people out here who love them and care about them and want them to succeed, and without the people from the Church coming in, they might not know that,” she said. “These kids need to know about God, because that’s where all the love starts.”
Klyne, who started volunteering at the center in 2000, goes from table to table hugging and laughing with the teenage boys.
“I always visit the boys because I figure ’There but for the grace of God go my boys,’” Klyne said, who has two adult sons.
Hall said she could use several more Lottie Klynes at the detention center. “Right now we’re looking for volunteers to teach them life skills — table manners, filling out job applications, balancing a checkbook,” she said.
