Meals will be served on Thursdays at East Avenue church

ALBION – Mike and Faith Smith are about to embark on a new mission in their goal to help feed the needy in the Albion area.

After running the Community Soup Kitchen at Christ Episcopal Church for 13 years, the couple is now planning to open Orleans Koinonia Kitchen (the Orleans OK Kitchen) at Harvest Christian Fellowship, 560 East Ave.

Faith said the name Orleans Koinonia Kitchen was suggested by the Rev. Tim Lindsay, who explained “koinonia” is Greek for fellowship. The Smiths want make sure everyone who comes to the OK Kitchen, as it will be known, knows they are seen as a person, not a number.

They plan to hand out goodie bags each week and will have a birthday box in which they will record the birth month and day of everyone who comes to dinner. The week of their birthday, they will receive a personalized card and a gift. Faith said they are looking for donations to buy gifts for birthday observances.

“It’s the little things like that which count,” Mike said.

The Smiths are concerned getting to Harvest Christian Fellowship on the outskirts of town might present a problem for some individuals looking for a meal. The Smiths are hoping some church might have a bus and be willing to adopt the soup kitchen as a ministry. This would entail parking at a chosen site downtown and taking people to the OK Kitchen at 4 p.m. and returning them at 5:30 p.m. each Thursday night.

While the former Community Soup Kitchen was open on Friday nights, the new OK Kitchen will be open on Thursday nights, as Harvest Christian Fellowship’s kitchen is not available on Fridays.

The first meal on June 2 will be tacos, a favorite of attendees, Faith said.

Lindsay said he offered the use of his church’s kitchen because “giving back to the community is the thing to do.”

“The soup kitchen not only puts food in their belly, but a smile on their face and warms their heart,” Faith said.

Anyone wishing to adopt a Thursday night to prepare a meal, make a donation of food or money or volunteer any night may contact Faith at OKKitchen2022@gmail.com or by calling (585) 319-1578. Donations may be made conveniently through Venmo or Paypal.

The Smiths  and Christ Episcopal Church ended their relationship after a difference of opinion.

Jim Theodorakos, warden of the vestry along with Kevin Doherty, said the split was caused by miscommunication between the church and the Smiths.

Faith said she was summoned by the church to bring in receipts for all the transactions she had conducted as head of the soup kitchen, which she did.

Theodorakos said the church found nothing awry with the books.

Faith said she was asked for her keys shortly before Christmas.

In January, Faith reached out to Harvest Christian and shortly after, Pastor Lindsay opened up the new kitchen and dining room for use as a soup kitchen.

“We regularly had five groups who came in every month to cook and serve food,” Faith said. “This time we want the entire county to be involved, whether it’s Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, churches or friends having a ‘girls’ night out.”

Mike and Faith Smith stand in the new dining room at Harvest Christian Fellowship at 560 East Avenue, which has offered its facility for the site of a new soup kitchen called Orleans Koinonia Kitchen. They will begin serving free meals there from 4 to 5:30 on June 2.

The Smiths are looking for individuals and groups to volunteer to help on a regular basis or whenever they can.

Faith said they were crushed when the soup kitchen at Christ Episcopal Church closed – with no notice to the community.

“For some of these people, it was the only hot meal they got in a week,” she said.

Not only did they receive a hot meal at the soup kitchen, but they would be sent home with a meal.

The Community Soup Kitchen was started in 1994 by former church rector Jeff Haines and Alex Krebs. The Smiths took over in 2009.

“It’s the friendships we made that I’m crushed to lose,” Faith said.

She said the kitchen was supported heavily by the community. Food was donated by Walmart and Community Action.

“We still go and get donated food to give out,” Mike said.

Neil and Kathy Samborski from Lyndonville still drive to Rochester to pick up excess food from Wegmans, Trader Joe’s, BJs, Sam’s Club and the Inner City Mission.

“What I’ve missed these past months is seeing the people who were so appreciative,” Faith said. “If food was short one week, we might have only had grilled cheese and tomato soup, yet no one complained.”

“We loved the socialization,” Mike said.

ALBION – Residents in the five school districts in Orleans County will go to the polls Tuesday (May 17) to vote yes or no for school budgets and propositions, and also to elect members to the boards of education.

None of the districts are proposing tax increase more than 2 percent.

Eligible voters need to be a citizen of the United States, at least 18 years old and a resident of the district for at least 30 days before the vote.

Here are snapshots from each district:

ALBION – The district is proposing a $38,298,690 budget that doesn’t increase taxes. The budget keeps the tax levy at $8,449,039. This is the 14th time in the past 16 years that taxes have either stayed the same or decreased.

Voting is from noon to 8 p.m. in the elementary school gym.

Albion also is presenting a proposition to establish a Capital Improvements Reserve Fund for acquisition, construction, reconstruction, expansion, renovation, alteration and improvements of buildings, facilities, sites and real property in the district, or the district’s share of any projects undertaken by the Orleans-Niagara BOCES. The district wishes to cap the amount at $15 million.

Albion is proposing to transfer $13,831,050 to that capital fund from the District’s Retirement Contribution Reserve Fund. That is the amount the state comptroller’s office said the account is overfunded.

Other propositions include bus purchases at $550,000 and $648,964 for Hoag Library. The money for the library is down 10.3 percent after Hoag paid off its mortgage.

Two board seats also will be up for election. They are currently filled by Kathy Harling and Wayne Wadhams. Both positions are five-year terms. Wadhams is seeking re-election. Former board member Kevin Doherty also is on the ballot. Ocie Bennett is mounting a write-in campaign.

HOLLEY – The district is proposing a $26,982,000 budget for 2022-23 that would increase taxes by 1.95 percent.

Voting will be in person at the Holley Middle School/High School from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

The tax levy increase is below the district’s allowable tax cap of 2.793 percent, said Sharon Zacher, the district’s assistant superintendent for business.

The budget maintains all current educational programs and represents a 3.18 percent budget-to-budget increase. Zacher said contractual obligations and inflation of supplies and materials are the main reasons for the budget going up.

The ballot also includes a proposition to establish a capital improvements reserve fund at a maximum of $6 million. Zacher said the fund is needed as the district begins to prepare for the next capital improvement project.

Proposition 3 is to authorize purchasing new school buses as a maximum of $334,000.

Proposition 4 would be authorizing the district to collect $194,966 for Community Free Library, which is up from the $189,287 for 2021-22.

There are two candidates for two three-year terms on the Board of Education – Tracy Van Ameron and Anne Winkley. Van Ameron and Winkley both are currently on the board, and Winkley is the vice president.

KENDALL – The Board of Education and school administrators have put together a $19,822,921 budget for 2022-23 that doesn’t increase taxes.

Voting will be from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the Kendall Town Hall, 1873 Kendall Rd.

The budget keeps the tax levy at $4,964,656, and decreases spending by $157,808 to $19,822,921.

There will be four propositions on the ballot on May 17. The budget is proposition one.

Proposition two is to spend up to $250,000 from a Transportation Bus Reserve Fund to replace transportation vehicles of the district.

Proposition three establish a Capital Reserve Fund for up to $5 million for a future capital project.

Proposition four is electing a member to the Board of Education for a five-year term. Current board member Lisa Levett, who is the board president, is running unopposed.

LYNDONVILLE – The district is presenting a $15,704,953 budget that increases spending by 2.9 percent or by $438,157 from 2021-22.

The budget calls for a 2 percent tax increase, or by $90,564 to $4,618,740 for the tax levy.

Voting will be from noon to 8 p.m. in the Stroyan Auditorium.

The budget maintains all current programs, including music, athletics and extracurriculars, and also keeps a school resource officer and on-campus space for a mental health counselor.

“The proposed 2022-23 school budget allows for a rigorous instructional program, while providing for the health and safety of all our students,” Sharon Smith, interim district superintendent, said in the budget newsletter.

Besides the budget, there are propositions to collect $119,183 for the Yates Community Free Library (up from $116,718 in 2021-22) and to spend up to $145,000 for a 64-seat passenger bus.

Four people are running for three spots on the Board of Education, including James Houseman and incumbents Vernon Fonda, Harold Suhr and Kristin Nicholson. The terms are for three years.

MEDINA – The district is proposing a $39,884,316 school budget that calls for a 2 percent tax increase, the first in a decade in Medina.

The board and Mark Kruzynski, the district superintendent, said the “runaway escalation of utility costs” is the biggest factor in the tax increase. The district still remains below the state-imposed tax cap, Kruzynski said.

Voting is from noon to 8 p.m. at the District Office Board Room.

The budget represents a 1.43% increase over 2021-2022. The proposed budget maintains all programs and staffing, increases student support services, purchases three large school buses and one wheelchair bus, adds new cafeteria tables for Oak Orchard Primary School, and returns a high school musical to the Medina auditorium.

The tax levy, what Medina collects in taxes, increases from $8,641,861 to $8,814,697.

Two candidates – Scott Robinson and Debra Tompkins – are running for two three-year terms on the Board of Education.

ALBION – The district honored soon-to-be graduates on Thursday who have attained grade point averages at 90 percent or higher during the four years of high school. The students were recognized at the annual Academic Honors Convocation Dinner.

The event is normally held at Hickory Ridge Country Club but this time was held in a transformed high school gym with food catered by Zambistro in Medina.

There are 38 seniors at a 90 percent GPA or higher, including: Alicia Allen, Carson Bader, James Beach, Katelyn Beach, Valentina Beato Herrera, Olivia Bieber, Lauren Brooks, Elisa Bropst, Jeffrey Brown, Collin Capurso, Hannah Coolbaugh, Nicolina Creasey, Angel Cruz Cruz, Ann Faery, Ethan Ferchen, Jacob Foote, Rowan Ford, Tyler Gibson, Emily Graham, Kenzi Hapeman, Emily Harling, Samantha Johnson, Leah Kania, Adrian Kingdollar, Alyson Knaak, Kyle Kuehne, Charley London, Allison Mathes, Sydney Mulka, Hannah Papponetti, Leah Pritchard, Reuben Rivers, Belen Rosario Soto, Aurora Serafin, Aidan Smith, Paris Smith, Presley Smith and Colleen Usselman.

Photos by Tom Rivers: Valentina Beato Herrera, one of the honor grads, is congratulated by Board of Education member David Sidari. Other board members from left include Margy Brown, Kathy Harling and Kurt Schmitt.

The gym turned into a venue for the meal and awards presentation.

Greg Madejski, Ph.D, the Class of 2006 valedictorian at Albion, gives the keynote message to this year’s honor grads advice on Thursday during an Academic Honors Convocation Dinner. Madejski urged the group to be problem solvers and make a plan for action.

The keynote speaker for the event was Class of 2006 valedictorian Greg Madejski, who works on biomedical problems.

He earned a degree in microelectronic engineering from Rochester Institute of Technology in 2010 and earned his PhD in biomedical engineering from the University of Rochester in 2018.

He is a laboratory engineer for the Integrated Nano Systems Center at the University of Rochester.

Madejski also is the co-founder and CEO of Parverio, a company focused on combating nanoplastic contamination. That company researches detecting microplastics in water.

Madejski enjoys climbing, singing with the Rochester Oratorio Society and is a cantor at the Holy Family Parish in Albion.

He urged the honor grads to be problem solvers.

“I encourage you to not rest on your laurels because there’s so many interesting problems out there, and we need your help,” Madejski said.

A key component of being a problem solver: curiosity. “How does this thing work? What does this one thing do when I change inputs?” he said. “How can this be done better?”

He shared how he was working in a research lab and accidentally breathed on a chip when it was close to his face. He wouldn’t recommend that.

It was a humid that day. His breath opened a new fabrication strategy and that process went on to detect over a million pieces of DNA in a row, a record for the time. He learned to observe and make changes in a process.

Madejski said being a problem solver means taking care of yourself – and being honest with yourself. He said at times he has struggled with anxiety and depression. He focuses his time on activities that bring him joy.

He recommended to the grads they have a plan, and ask for help when they need it.

He urged them to run the risk of being wrong and of being unpopular.

“I can say without reservation that the education I received here allowed me to navigate college, graduate school and studies abroad in another culture,” Madejski said. “You have a fine quality of education to compete and excel in a variety of settings. What you do with your well-earned knowledge and learning will matter more than simply gaining it. I challenge you to be an active problem solver wherever they arise in your lives and for our community.”

Emily Harling shakes hands with board member Wayne Wadhams after receiving a certificate for earning a GPA at 90 percent or higher. Parents of the graduates then presented them with their honor cords.

The seniors have fun singing Albion’s alma mater. The Class of 2022 is set to graduate with an outdoor ceremony at the football field on June 24 with June 25 reserved as a rain date.

The four other districts in Orleans County – Holley, Kendall, Lyndonville and Medina – will honor their top 10 graduates during a program on June 14 at the White Birch Golf Course in Lyndonville.