Syd Kemsley Award 2022

Bob Fletcher is a long-time member & elder at First Presbyterian Church. He has been one of the people on whom the minister can always count to help when situations & challenges arise. He is quick to help & offer solutions. Bob is generous both with his time & financial support of our ministry.

One ministry in which Bob really stands out is the Saturday Breakfast which serves people in need in our community. Now in its 20^th year, the Saturday breakfast has served well over 150,000 free meals & continued to do so during the pandemic. The need for food assistance has grown over the years & where once we served 80-100 people, we now average about 180 people every Saturday.

Needless to say, a ministry of this size & scope does not happen automatically. We could never have hoped to serve this many people without the proper planning & execution. Without a doubt, Bob has had a primary & significant role in the development & implementation of practically every aspect of this ministry: funds had to be allocated; equipment purchased; 4 cooking teams, each with specific menu had to be created; serving & clean up teams had to be developed & their duties clearly established.

Many others volunteer at the Saturday Breakfast but Bob is the heartbeat of this important ministry. This would not have happened had it not been for his vision, hard work & continuing dedication to this service to our community.

Another important contribution to our community has been in his involvement in establishing the health teams in Chatham-Kent. He spent a great deal of time on the road in various cities stressing our need for doctors in our area & years ago, with his team was successful in introducing many new doctors at a time when they were desperately needed. As well, with his technical expertise he was able to introduce a computer voice-recognition system whereby medical staff could bypass hand written health reports by having their oral reports printed directly thus saving much time.

Dick Roe