March 3, 2025 • 16 mins
Keith Mellon shares his journey of faith and service as the Facilities Manager at Hope Church. Discover what drives him to make a difference in the community and how he felt led to this role after searching for his own church family.
• Keith's background and role at Hope Church
• Transition from full-time public service to church ministry
• The impact of faith on community involvement and personal fulfillment
If you see Keith around the church, don't hesitate to stop him and thank him for all the hard work he does!
Thanks for being a part of the HOPE community as we continue conversations about faith and hope! You can learn more at meethope.org or find us on socials @meethopechurch. Join in for worship on Sundays at meethope.online.church! Have a question? Contact us at podcast@meethope.org.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
INTRO (00:03):
Welcome to the Meet Hope podcast, where we have
conversations about faith andhope.
Hope is one church made ofpeople living out their faith
through two expressions inperson and online.
We believe a hybrid faithexperience can lead to a growing
influence in our community andour world for the sake of others
.
Welcome to Hope.
Rick Court (00:28):
Hey, well, hello everyone, Welcome to another
episode of the Meet Hope podcast, and I'm Rick and I'm excited
to be your host, and today we'redoing another staff interview,
so I have with me Keith Mellon.
Hello, keith, good to be here.
Yeah, so Keith is our.
Are you our newest staff member?
Keith Mallon (00:45):
I believe I am.
Rick Court (00:46):
Yeah and so, and what's your title?
I don't even know what yourtitle is Facilities Manager.
You're the Facilities Manager.
Folks, you need to know thatKeith does an exceptional job
here.
Everyone on staff, when I hearit, they'll say, oh my goodness,
keith has done exactly what Ineeded.
Keith took care of it soquickly.
We have to be careful when wetell Keith, hey, we'd like to
(01:08):
have this done, because you turnaround and Keith doing it
before you even walked away fromhim.
Keith Mallon (01:16):
You're efficient, pal.
That's how I am.
If I know something's got toget done, I just get it done.
Rick Court (01:21):
Yeah, and so we're spoiled by having you here so
and so.
So how long you've been onstaff.
Keith Mallon (01:28):
Since October, so about four or five months yeah.
Rick Court (01:31):
And so you're fitting in well.
Like I said, everybody'sexcited that you're here.
So why don't you tell us alittle bit about, about Keith,
so you know your family andwhere you live, stuff like that,
okay.
Keith Mallon (01:48):
So everybody knows it's my birthday.
Next month I'll be 60.
Me and my wife live inGibbsboro.
I grew up in Gibbsboro.
Rick Court (01:56):
And your wife's name is Dawn.
Keith Mallon (01:57):
My wife's name is Dawn.
I have two children, mydaughter's 31.
Her name's Amy.
I have a son who's 25.
His name is Kevin Dawn and Ihave been married.
Come this October It'll be 34years.
Wow, she put up with me.
Yeah, yep, so we're just livingour life.
(02:19):
We're looking at some point tomove to our next stage, maybe
like in a 55 and over kind of.
Thing for us.
But yeah, we're living inGisboro, love it there.
Like I said, I grew up there.
I didn't know you grew up there, I did.
I lived there from 1968 until Iguess I was three or four years
(02:41):
old Three Wow.
And I moved out when I was 21,lived with my brother for a
little bit and found out Ididn't like that and I went back
mom and dad for a little bit,saved some money and bought a
house in West Berlin Wow okay.
So three blocks outside ofVoorhees.
And yeah, I got married a fewmonths after that.
Rick Court (03:04):
Okay, you guys have pets, right, you have a dog,
don't you?
Keith Mallon (03:07):
We have a dog.
What's your dog's name?
My dog's name is Zoe.
I rescued her from Camden.
I used to work for Camden CountyMUA and we have some properties
throughout with pump stations,metering stations.
We had a little dog out on ourproperty and it was out there
and it would run away and barkat me.
I finally caught it and pet itand sent it on its way and did
(03:31):
my work.
A week went by and there's thedog again.
So I was petting it and theneighbor came out and said, oh,
somebody dumped a dog andanother one, but they took the
other dog.
I said, oh, see if they want totake this one.
And a week later I came andthere's the dog running around
with a leash, but nobody tookher and it got away from the
(03:51):
neighbor who said he would takeit.
So I decided to bring it home.
I called Dawn and I said Dawn,I'm going to bring somebody home
and Dawn said it better onlyhave two legs because she knows
how I am with animals.
So I brought her home and $600later she was mine with all the
vet bills.
Rick Court (04:09):
Oh yeah, right, okay , all right.
Well, good for Zoe.
Keith Mallon (04:13):
Yeah, and I had two cats.
We rescued them from the AWA,okay All right.
Rick Court (04:17):
Well, that sounds like you got a busy full life
there, so tell me a little bitabout you're recently retired
also, right, and what did you do?
You mentioned MUA, yeah.
Keith Mallon (04:30):
So I started my career with miscellaneous jobs.
Just before I turned 21, Istarted working for Borey's
Township, started on the actualback of a recycling truck and
worked my way up to a driverAbout halfway through my career
there.
I spent almost 23 years there.
About halfway through Iswitched over to the sewer
department.
From there I found that therewas DEP licenses you can get.
Every town has to have a DEPlicensed operator.
(04:53):
So I started getting mylicenses.
It's a process and for like thehighest license, it takes 10
years of being on the job plusschooling and that kind of thing
.
So when I was at vorhees I wasup to c3c stands for collections
.
So I got that and, um, I justreally had enough of vorhees and
(05:16):
put a couple feelers out andcamden county called me up and
basically offered me the job onthe spot and within a year I got
my next license up, which wasthe C4, which is the highest one
you can get, and a few monthsafter that they made me a
supervisor.
A few years after that I becameassistant chief.
(05:37):
I guess I was assistant chieffor about three years and they
moved me up to chief Okay, andthat's the position I retired
from.
Rick Court (05:46):
And so you just recently retired, right Last
year.
Keith Mallon (05:49):
No, it's been long , three years.
You've been retired three yearsnow.
Oh, okay, all right.
Rick Court (05:53):
Yeah, all right, and so let's just backtrack a
second, because I didn't ask youwhat does a facilities manager
at Hope Church do?
Keith Mallon (06:02):
Everything, A lot more than I thought.
It is similar to what I did atthe Camden County.
I had 29 pump stations, 16metering stations.
It's usually just taking careof the grounds and any
facilities, if there'selectrical work that gets done
(06:22):
or needs to be done.
I do what I can.
Rick Court (06:23):
You know, if we can't we'll call somebody in,
but I'm a hands-on type person,so you're making sure that
you're managing the propertyhere and you're also interfacing
with contractors for work thatneeds to be done.
Correct, okay, and so how'd youend up coming to Hope?
Not on staff, but you startedas an attender, right?
Keith Mallon (06:45):
I started as an onliner.
Rick Court (06:47):
Ah, okay.
Keith Mallon (06:51):
I think we talked.
We had a small groups meetinglast night.
We were talking about how mostpeople come online first, and
that's exactly what I did wewent to a different church and
it just seemed to be dying andit just didn't seem like a fit
for us anymore.
Along came COVID, and it waskind of an excuse to not go to
church because it was all online, and then, when it started
(07:12):
being in person again, we wentback, but it just didn't feel
right.
So we decided we were going tolook for another church.
So we went online and watched afew different places and we
decided that we liked what wesaw.
So we came Well, I shouldn'tsay we came.
My wife sent me as the spy toscout it out.
(07:34):
So I came and saw this crazyguy dancing around and jumping
around on stage, Found out hisname was Andrew and I said oh,
my wife is going to love this,Dawn will really like this, and
the message was great.
I just felt welcomed.
And so the next week I broughtDawn and she said yeah, I think
(07:59):
we found our new church andwe've been here since.
Rick Court (08:01):
All right, and how long ago was that?
Keith Mallon (08:04):
About a year and a half ago.
Rick Court (08:05):
Okay, a year and a half.
Keith Mallon (08:06):
All right.
Rick Court (08:07):
All right.
And then along the way, we metand I invited you to a small
group, right.
Keith Mallon (08:14):
Yes, and it's strange because I wanted to feel
more a part of something.
And it's strange because Iwanted to feel more a part of
something and my wife said shewas praying about it and you
happened to approach me and askme to join a small group, which
I did.
Rick Court (08:28):
And we've been doing that together for about a year
now, right, yeah, yeah okay, Iguess this is our third one.
And it's working out all right.
Yeah, it's working out prettygood.
Yeah, I like it it's making meall right.
Keith Mallon (08:38):
Yeah, it's working out pretty good.
Yeah, I like it.
It's making me feel like a partof something more, and so, yeah
, I'm happy.
Rick Court (08:47):
That's great.
Now, during that, you also toldme that when you retired, you
were looking to do somethingwith you.
Know, because you're retiredYou're fortunate to retire, as I
consider you younger, yeah.
Keith Mallon (08:59):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So, yeah, I was 57, and I wentsix months without doing
anything.
Right, I had shoulder surgery,so three months of that was like
a rehab.
After that, though, I wentthree months, and I just said I
have to do something, and Iwanted to do something
meaningful, something meaningfulyeah, I remember you telling me
that.
(09:20):
And friends of mine own a buscompany and they asked me to
come work.
They said they really needed adriver.
So I did that and I tried tolook at that as a way to serve,
because I'm bringing kids safelyto school and you still do that
now.
I still do that today.
Yeah, I still do that today, andso I just tried to look at it
as a way to serve.
And so I just tried to look atit as a way to serve and I was.
You know, the kids don't actgrateful or anything like that.
(09:42):
I don't expect them to, but youknow I make sure the bus is
clean, I get them there safely,I'm on time, I don't ever miss,
so I'm dependable for them, youknow.
So that was important to me,but it just seemed like I was
missing something.
And we happened to be at thesmall groups meeting and I was
(10:05):
talking to you about.
I just felt like I was missingsomething.
I wanted to do something moremeaningful.
I was at the point in my lifewhere money's not really a thing
for me and I just wanted to dosomething meaningful to serve
God more and be more meaningfulto me personally.
And a little bit of time went byand I know at the food bank
(10:31):
there was possibly an openingbecause Scott was there who was
at our small men's meeting andwe talked and he's like you know
, that might be a fit for you.
And I considered, I prayedabout it and I told God, if it's
the right thing, open the door,if it's not, close it.
And I didn't hear anything.
(10:53):
I said, okay, maybe that door'sclosed.
I think it was the pastor,pastor Jeff said hey, we have an
opening.
I think you'll be the perfectfit, and he goes.
Some other people alreadybrought it to my attention.
So it was not for the foodpantry, but it was for
facilities manager and it'sbasically what I did for Camden
(11:14):
County MUA.
Rick Court (11:15):
I said, yeah, I'll give it a whirl, and I love it,
love it, yeah, so do you feelit's bringing that meaning you
were looking for?
Keith Mallon (11:21):
It does.
I feel like I spend a few hourshere every day, but I'd like to
spend more.
INTRO (11:26):
It's just something.
Keith Mallon (11:27):
when I get here, I just want to do the best I can
and make a difference.
Rick Court (11:33):
That's great, and I said just to speak for all the
staff.
We've all experienced you doingexactly that that you support
us in the ministry.
That needs to be done andyou're doing ministry yourself.
Keith Mallon (11:50):
So I never looked at it as ministry, but truth.
Rick Court (11:53):
Yeah, yeah, so, but yeah, so, so.
So what's?
What's one of the mostchallenging parts of, of your
job here at the church?
Keith Mallon (12:00):
It's just my time trying to figure out what I can
do in this amount of time, right, okay, there's so many things.
You wouldn't really think thatthere's a lot of facilities
managing to do, but there is alot and there's a lot of work
and it's continuous.
Rick Court (12:18):
Yeah, it's a big building and with a lot of
things happening and a lot ofministry going on, so it's
active.
So that's got to make itchallenging.
And then what's nice, though,is it's not a museum where it
doesn't get used right, it'sgetting used, getting used and
abused, and you know what.
Keith Mallon (12:36):
That's what we're here for, right, good work.
Rick Court (12:38):
Good work, hey, keith.
So thanks so much.
Glad that you're on staff andthat's terrific.
But I want to do some.
This is a little fun section,okay, at least I think it's fun.
I'm going to answer somequestions and we want to get a
little better idea of who Keithis.
What's your favorite pizzatopping?
Pepperoni?
(12:58):
Everybody says pepperoni, okay.
Keith Mallon (13:02):
Second favorite is extra cheese, extra cheese,
okay good.
Second favorite is extra cheese.
Rick Court (13:05):
Extra cheese.
Okay, how about?
Are you a morning person orevening person?
Keith Mallon (13:09):
I would say I'm a morning person.
I'm up at 5 every morning.
Rick Court (13:12):
Now have you always been a morning person.
Keith Mallon (13:15):
Since I started my real career 5 o'clock.
I'm up and ready to go.
Rick Court (13:20):
Okay, because you're picking up kids off the bus
pretty early too, right.
Keith Mallon (13:23):
Yeah, I'm there early.
Go, Okay, because you'repicking up kids on the bus
pretty early too, right?
Yeah, I'm there early.
My first pickup is 6.15, butI'm in work at 5.30.
I always am early.
That's how I operate.
Rick Court (13:30):
And before we started recording, we already
talked about this a little bit.
But do you drink coffee?
Coffee order.
Keith Mallon (13:37):
I do.
I drink my mocha coffee creamsugar.
Okay, and I know bagels, rightBagels yeah, I stop at the bagel
man every day.
Bagel every morning.
That's what we talk aboutMonday through Friday.
Rick Court (13:47):
Monday through Friday.
Okay, all right, and how abouta favorite show or movie you've
watched recently?
Keith Mallon (13:54):
Breaking Bad.
It's a series.
Rick Court (13:56):
Uh-huh, okay, it's a good series it.
Keith Mallon (13:59):
It is good, it's captivating.
Rick Court (14:01):
Okay, all right, I'm thinking about watching it a
second time.
Yeah, you want to see WalterWhite again.
Yes, how about a book you'veread recently?
Keith Mallon (14:10):
I don't read a lot of books, so I'll go with
Garden City.
Rick Court (14:13):
Yeah.
By John Mark Homer John Mark.
Keith Mallon (14:14):
Homer.
We read that in our small groupand, like I said, I'm not a
reader, but that was easyreading and I enjoyed it.
And there's another one of hisbooks I'm thinking about getting
.
Rick Court (14:25):
Yeah, yeah, we're just talking about it right,
practicing the.
INTRO (14:28):
Way, practicing the Way.
Rick Court (14:29):
Yeah, yeah, I think that's going to be our next
small group, so we do a littlesmall group plug for that.
And how about your favoritelocal place to eat Local?
Keith Mallon (14:38):
place to eat.
Well, we like the Piccoli forthe wings.
Rick Court (14:43):
Ah, okay With the one on 206?
.
Keith Mallon (14:45):
The one on 206,.
Rick Court (14:45):
Yeah, yeah, okay, that's a little bit of a ride,
but it's worth it.
Yeah, the winter good.
Keith Mallon (14:50):
And just as a plug , if you go on Wednesdays, all
you can eat, is it really?
It is?
It's like 15, 16 bucks all youcan eat.
I didn't know that.
Rick Court (14:58):
Okay, golden nugget wings.
I have never had them.
I want to have them Okay wehave to go then, Okay, because I
think golden nugget are thebest wings, that's what I hear
and I really want to try it.
Keith Mallon (15:07):
Okay, I just never have.
Rick Court (15:08):
All right, all right , we'll do it, we're definitely
going to Lunch date that's goingto happen.
Yep, all right.
All right, we're going to wrapup right here.
I want to ask you what is Lastquestion?
What is bringing you hope today?
Keith Mallon (15:21):
What is bringing me hope today is my faith in God
.
That brings me, personally,hope every day and through my
struggles I know God's going tobe there and be with me.
And as far as bringing me tohope, the church, it's the
people in the community here.
Rick Court (15:38):
Okay, Great answer, Keith.
Hey, thanks so much.
This wasn't so bad, was it Not?
One too bad All right,listeners, thanks so much.
This wasn't so bad, was it?
Not one too bad?
All right, hey, listeners,thanks so much for being a part
of this.
Hope you got to know Keith alittle better.
If you see him in the lobby,see him in the church, just stop
by and thank him for the workhe does.
And you all have a great day.
Keith Mallon (15:56):
Yeah.
INTRO (16:01):
Thanks for being a part of the Hope Community as we
continue our conversations aboutfaith and hope.
If you don't already, pleasejoin us for worship on Sundays
or on demand.
You can learn more atmeethopeorg or find us on
socials at meethopechurch.
Welcome to the Meet Hope podcast, where we have
conversations about faith andhope.
Hope is one church made ofpeople living out their faith
through two expressions inperson and online.
We believe a hybrid faithexperience can lead to a growing
influence in our community andour world for the sake of others
.
Welcome to Hope.
Rick Court (00:28):
Hey, well, hello everyone, Welcome to another
episode of the Meet Hope podcast, and I'm Rick and I'm excited
to be your host, and today we'redoing another staff interview,
so I have with me Keith Mellon.
Hello, keith, good to be here.
Yeah, so Keith is our.
Are you our newest staff member?
Keith Mallon (00:45):
I believe I am.
Rick Court (00:46):
Yeah and so, and what's your title?
I don't even know what yourtitle is Facilities Manager.
You're the Facilities Manager.
Folks, you need to know thatKeith does an exceptional job
here.
Everyone on staff, when I hearit, they'll say, oh my goodness,
keith has done exactly what Ineeded.
Keith took care of it soquickly.
We have to be careful when wetell Keith, hey, we'd like to
(01:08):
have this done, because you turnaround and Keith doing it
before you even walked away fromhim.
Keith Mallon (01:16):
You're efficient, pal.
That's how I am.
If I know something's got toget done, I just get it done.
Rick Court (01:21):
Yeah, and so we're spoiled by having you here so
and so.
So how long you've been onstaff.
Keith Mallon (01:28):
Since October, so about four or five months yeah.
Rick Court (01:31):
And so you're fitting in well.
Like I said, everybody'sexcited that you're here.
So why don't you tell us alittle bit about, about Keith,
so you know your family andwhere you live, stuff like that,
okay.
Keith Mallon (01:48):
So everybody knows it's my birthday.
Next month I'll be 60.
Me and my wife live inGibbsboro.
I grew up in Gibbsboro.
Rick Court (01:56):
And your wife's name is Dawn.
Keith Mallon (01:57):
My wife's name is Dawn.
I have two children, mydaughter's 31.
Her name's Amy.
I have a son who's 25.
His name is Kevin Dawn and Ihave been married.
Come this October It'll be 34years.
Wow, she put up with me.
Yeah, yep, so we're just livingour life.
(02:19):
We're looking at some point tomove to our next stage, maybe
like in a 55 and over kind of.
Thing for us.
But yeah, we're living inGisboro, love it there.
Like I said, I grew up there.
I didn't know you grew up there, I did.
I lived there from 1968 until Iguess I was three or four years
(02:41):
old Three Wow.
And I moved out when I was 21,lived with my brother for a
little bit and found out Ididn't like that and I went back
mom and dad for a little bit,saved some money and bought a
house in West Berlin Wow okay.
So three blocks outside ofVoorhees.
And yeah, I got married a fewmonths after that.
Rick Court (03:04):
Okay, you guys have pets, right, you have a dog,
don't you?
Keith Mallon (03:07):
We have a dog.
What's your dog's name?
My dog's name is Zoe.
I rescued her from Camden.
I used to work for Camden CountyMUA and we have some properties
throughout with pump stations,metering stations.
We had a little dog out on ourproperty and it was out there
and it would run away and barkat me.
I finally caught it and pet itand sent it on its way and did
(03:31):
my work.
A week went by and there's thedog again.
So I was petting it and theneighbor came out and said, oh,
somebody dumped a dog andanother one, but they took the
other dog.
I said, oh, see if they want totake this one.
And a week later I came andthere's the dog running around
with a leash, but nobody tookher and it got away from the
(03:51):
neighbor who said he would takeit.
So I decided to bring it home.
I called Dawn and I said Dawn,I'm going to bring somebody home
and Dawn said it better onlyhave two legs because she knows
how I am with animals.
So I brought her home and $600later she was mine with all the
vet bills.
Rick Court (04:09):
Oh yeah, right, okay , all right.
Well, good for Zoe.
Keith Mallon (04:13):
Yeah, and I had two cats.
We rescued them from the AWA,okay All right.
Rick Court (04:17):
Well, that sounds like you got a busy full life
there, so tell me a little bitabout you're recently retired
also, right, and what did you do?
You mentioned MUA, yeah.
Keith Mallon (04:30):
So I started my career with miscellaneous jobs.
Just before I turned 21, Istarted working for Borey's
Township, started on the actualback of a recycling truck and
worked my way up to a driverAbout halfway through my career
there.
I spent almost 23 years there.
About halfway through Iswitched over to the sewer
department.
From there I found that therewas DEP licenses you can get.
Every town has to have a DEPlicensed operator.
(04:53):
So I started getting mylicenses.
It's a process and for like thehighest license, it takes 10
years of being on the job plusschooling and that kind of thing
.
So when I was at vorhees I wasup to c3c stands for collections
.
So I got that and, um, I justreally had enough of vorhees and
(05:16):
put a couple feelers out andcamden county called me up and
basically offered me the job onthe spot and within a year I got
my next license up, which wasthe C4, which is the highest one
you can get, and a few monthsafter that they made me a
supervisor.
A few years after that I becameassistant chief.
(05:37):
I guess I was assistant chieffor about three years and they
moved me up to chief Okay, andthat's the position I retired
from.
Rick Court (05:46):
And so you just recently retired, right Last
year.
Keith Mallon (05:49):
No, it's been long , three years.
You've been retired three yearsnow.
Oh, okay, all right.
Rick Court (05:53):
Yeah, all right, and so let's just backtrack a
second, because I didn't ask youwhat does a facilities manager
at Hope Church do?
Keith Mallon (06:02):
Everything, A lot more than I thought.
It is similar to what I did atthe Camden County.
I had 29 pump stations, 16metering stations.
It's usually just taking careof the grounds and any
facilities, if there'selectrical work that gets done
(06:22):
or needs to be done.
I do what I can.
Rick Court (06:23):
You know, if we can't we'll call somebody in,
but I'm a hands-on type person,so you're making sure that
you're managing the propertyhere and you're also interfacing
with contractors for work thatneeds to be done.
Correct, okay, and so how'd youend up coming to Hope?
Not on staff, but you startedas an attender, right?
Keith Mallon (06:45):
I started as an onliner.
Rick Court (06:47):
Ah, okay.
Keith Mallon (06:51):
I think we talked.
We had a small groups meetinglast night.
We were talking about how mostpeople come online first, and
that's exactly what I did wewent to a different church and
it just seemed to be dying andit just didn't seem like a fit
for us anymore.
Along came COVID, and it waskind of an excuse to not go to
church because it was all online, and then, when it started
(07:12):
being in person again, we wentback, but it just didn't feel
right.
So we decided we were going tolook for another church.
So we went online and watched afew different places and we
decided that we liked what wesaw.
So we came Well, I shouldn'tsay we came.
My wife sent me as the spy toscout it out.
(07:34):
So I came and saw this crazyguy dancing around and jumping
around on stage, Found out hisname was Andrew and I said oh,
my wife is going to love this,Dawn will really like this, and
the message was great.
I just felt welcomed.
And so the next week I broughtDawn and she said yeah, I think
(07:59):
we found our new church andwe've been here since.
Rick Court (08:01):
All right, and how long ago was that?
Keith Mallon (08:04):
About a year and a half ago.
Rick Court (08:05):
Okay, a year and a half.
Keith Mallon (08:06):
All right.
Rick Court (08:07):
All right.
And then along the way, we metand I invited you to a small
group, right.
Keith Mallon (08:14):
Yes, and it's strange because I wanted to feel
more a part of something.
And it's strange because Iwanted to feel more a part of
something and my wife said shewas praying about it and you
happened to approach me and askme to join a small group, which
I did.
Rick Court (08:28):
And we've been doing that together for about a year
now, right, yeah, yeah okay, Iguess this is our third one.
And it's working out all right.
Yeah, it's working out prettygood.
Yeah, I like it it's making meall right.
Keith Mallon (08:38):
Yeah, it's working out pretty good.
Yeah, I like it.
It's making me feel like a partof something more, and so, yeah
, I'm happy.
Rick Court (08:47):
That's great.
Now, during that, you also toldme that when you retired, you
were looking to do somethingwith you.
Know, because you're retiredYou're fortunate to retire, as I
consider you younger, yeah.
Keith Mallon (08:59):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So, yeah, I was 57, and I wentsix months without doing
anything.
Right, I had shoulder surgery,so three months of that was like
a rehab.
After that, though, I wentthree months, and I just said I
have to do something, and Iwanted to do something
meaningful, something meaningfulyeah, I remember you telling me
that.
(09:20):
And friends of mine own a buscompany and they asked me to
come work.
They said they really needed adriver.
So I did that and I tried tolook at that as a way to serve,
because I'm bringing kids safelyto school and you still do that
now.
I still do that today.
Yeah, I still do that today, andso I just tried to look at it
as a way to serve.
And so I just tried to look atit as a way to serve and I was.
You know, the kids don't actgrateful or anything like that.
(09:42):
I don't expect them to, but youknow I make sure the bus is
clean, I get them there safely,I'm on time, I don't ever miss,
so I'm dependable for them, youknow.
So that was important to me,but it just seemed like I was
missing something.
And we happened to be at thesmall groups meeting and I was
(10:05):
talking to you about.
I just felt like I was missingsomething.
I wanted to do something moremeaningful.
I was at the point in my lifewhere money's not really a thing
for me and I just wanted to dosomething meaningful to serve
God more and be more meaningfulto me personally.
And a little bit of time went byand I know at the food bank
(10:31):
there was possibly an openingbecause Scott was there who was
at our small men's meeting andwe talked and he's like you know
, that might be a fit for you.
And I considered, I prayedabout it and I told God, if it's
the right thing, open the door,if it's not, close it.
And I didn't hear anything.
(10:53):
I said, okay, maybe that door'sclosed.
I think it was the pastor,pastor Jeff said hey, we have an
opening.
I think you'll be the perfectfit, and he goes.
Some other people alreadybrought it to my attention.
So it was not for the foodpantry, but it was for
facilities manager and it'sbasically what I did for Camden
(11:14):
County MUA.
Rick Court (11:15):
I said, yeah, I'll give it a whirl, and I love it,
love it, yeah, so do you feelit's bringing that meaning you
were looking for?
Keith Mallon (11:21):
It does.
I feel like I spend a few hourshere every day, but I'd like to
spend more.
INTRO (11:26):
It's just something.
Keith Mallon (11:27):
when I get here, I just want to do the best I can
and make a difference.
Rick Court (11:33):
That's great, and I said just to speak for all the
staff.
We've all experienced you doingexactly that that you support
us in the ministry.
That needs to be done andyou're doing ministry yourself.
Keith Mallon (11:50):
So I never looked at it as ministry, but truth.
Rick Court (11:53):
Yeah, yeah, so, but yeah, so, so.
So what's?
What's one of the mostchallenging parts of, of your
job here at the church?
Keith Mallon (12:00):
It's just my time trying to figure out what I can
do in this amount of time, right, okay, there's so many things.
You wouldn't really think thatthere's a lot of facilities
managing to do, but there is alot and there's a lot of work
and it's continuous.
Rick Court (12:18):
Yeah, it's a big building and with a lot of
things happening and a lot ofministry going on, so it's
active.
So that's got to make itchallenging.
And then what's nice, though,is it's not a museum where it
doesn't get used right, it'sgetting used, getting used and
abused, and you know what.
Keith Mallon (12:36):
That's what we're here for, right, good work.
Rick Court (12:38):
Good work, hey, keith.
So thanks so much.
Glad that you're on staff andthat's terrific.
But I want to do some.
This is a little fun section,okay, at least I think it's fun.
I'm going to answer somequestions and we want to get a
little better idea of who Keithis.
What's your favorite pizzatopping?
Pepperoni?
(12:58):
Everybody says pepperoni, okay.
Keith Mallon (13:02):
Second favorite is extra cheese, extra cheese,
okay good.
Second favorite is extra cheese.
Rick Court (13:05):
Extra cheese.
Okay, how about?
Are you a morning person orevening person?
Keith Mallon (13:09):
I would say I'm a morning person.
I'm up at 5 every morning.
Rick Court (13:12):
Now have you always been a morning person.
Keith Mallon (13:15):
Since I started my real career 5 o'clock.
I'm up and ready to go.
Rick Court (13:20):
Okay, because you're picking up kids off the bus
pretty early too, right.
Keith Mallon (13:23):
Yeah, I'm there early.
Go, Okay, because you'repicking up kids on the bus
pretty early too, right?
Yeah, I'm there early.
My first pickup is 6.15, butI'm in work at 5.30.
I always am early.
That's how I operate.
Rick Court (13:30):
And before we started recording, we already
talked about this a little bit.
But do you drink coffee?
Coffee order.
Keith Mallon (13:37):
I do.
I drink my mocha coffee creamsugar.
Okay, and I know bagels, rightBagels yeah, I stop at the bagel
man every day.
Bagel every morning.
That's what we talk aboutMonday through Friday.
Rick Court (13:47):
Monday through Friday.
Okay, all right, and how abouta favorite show or movie you've
watched recently?
Keith Mallon (13:54):
Breaking Bad.
It's a series.
Rick Court (13:56):
Uh-huh, okay, it's a good series it.
Keith Mallon (13:59):
It is good, it's captivating.
Rick Court (14:01):
Okay, all right, I'm thinking about watching it a
second time.
Yeah, you want to see WalterWhite again.
Yes, how about a book you'veread recently?
Keith Mallon (14:10):
I don't read a lot of books, so I'll go with
Garden City.
Rick Court (14:13):
Yeah.
By John Mark Homer John Mark.
Keith Mallon (14:14):
Homer.
We read that in our small groupand, like I said, I'm not a
reader, but that was easyreading and I enjoyed it.
And there's another one of hisbooks I'm thinking about getting
.
Rick Court (14:25):
Yeah, yeah, we're just talking about it right,
practicing the.
INTRO (14:28):
Way, practicing the Way.
Rick Court (14:29):
Yeah, yeah, I think that's going to be our next
small group, so we do a littlesmall group plug for that.
And how about your favoritelocal place to eat Local?
Keith Mallon (14:38):
place to eat.
Well, we like the Piccoli forthe wings.
Rick Court (14:43):
Ah, okay With the one on 206?
.
Keith Mallon (14:45):
The one on 206,.
Rick Court (14:45):
Yeah, yeah, okay, that's a little bit of a ride,
but it's worth it.
Yeah, the winter good.
Keith Mallon (14:50):
And just as a plug , if you go on Wednesdays, all
you can eat, is it really?
It is?
It's like 15, 16 bucks all youcan eat.
I didn't know that.
Rick Court (14:58):
Okay, golden nugget wings.
I have never had them.
I want to have them Okay wehave to go then, Okay, because I
think golden nugget are thebest wings, that's what I hear
and I really want to try it.
Keith Mallon (15:07):
Okay, I just never have.
Rick Court (15:08):
All right, all right , we'll do it, we're definitely
going to Lunch date that's goingto happen.
Yep, all right.
All right, we're going to wrapup right here.
I want to ask you what is Lastquestion?
What is bringing you hope today?
Keith Mallon (15:21):
What is bringing me hope today is my faith in God
.
That brings me, personally,hope every day and through my
struggles I know God's going tobe there and be with me.
And as far as bringing me tohope, the church, it's the
people in the community here.
Rick Court (15:38):
Okay, Great answer, Keith.
Hey, thanks so much.
This wasn't so bad, was it Not?
One too bad All right,listeners, thanks so much.
This wasn't so bad, was it?
Not one too bad?
All right, hey, listeners,thanks so much for being a part
of this.
Hope you got to know Keith alittle better.
If you see him in the lobby,see him in the church, just stop
by and thank him for the workhe does.
And you all have a great day.
Keith Mallon (15:56):
Yeah.
INTRO (16:01):
Thanks for being a part of the Hope Community as we
continue our conversations aboutfaith and hope.
If you don't already, pleasejoin us for worship on Sundays
or on demand.
You can learn more atmeethopeorg or find us on
socials at meethopechurch.
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