The comedians with The Mystery Hour partnered with the Council of Churches of the Ozarks to make possible the donation of a 12-passenger vehicle to the International Institute of Southwest Missouri.
The International Institute of Southwest Missouri helps immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees — including those coming from Afghanistan and Ukraine — settle in the Ozarks, obtain housing, build local relationships and find employment.
The donation came as the result of an urgent need. At the end of 2021, the International Institute was receiving high levels of refugees, a Council of Churches news release said.
The Mystery Hour is a comedy show created and hosted by Jeff Houghton of Springfield. Sarah Jenkins is a writer for the show.
To help the refugees coming to this community, Houghton and Jenkins started a fundraising campaign called “The Great Ozarks Care-a-Van.”
“When I learned that more than 100 Afghan families would settle in Springfield, I knew that The Mystery Hour should jump in and help in whatever way we could,” Houghton said in the campaign post. “I called the International Institute of Southwest Missouri, the organization responsible for the resettlement, and asked them what they needed.”
Rebekah Thomas, director of the International Institute of Southwest Missouri, told Houghton the organization really needed a van to transport people from the airport and to appointments.
Philip Herzog, director of development for Council of Churches, explained that the van, a Ford E450, had previously been used to transport homeless women to and from Safe to Sleep, an overnight shelter operated by the Council of Churches.
When The Mystery Hour began promoting the Great Ozarks Care-a-Van, the Council of Churches’ CEO Jaimie Trussell reached out to Houghton and Thomas about donating the former Safe to Sleep shuttle.
The gifted shuttle allowed for the $4,000 in funds raised from The Great Ozarks Care-a-Van to pay for vehicle maintenance for the van and other needs at the International Institute.
“It’s been gratifying to see what can happen when we use our platform for good,” Jenkins said in the release. “Laughter is good, but support can be even better in certain situations.”
To learn more about how you can help refugees and immigrants coming to the Ozarks, visit www.iistl.org/iismo.