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A message from Catholic Charities’ new board president

October 9, 2024 |

By Scott Thrasher

My name is Scott Thrasher, recently named Board President of Catholic Charities of Central and Northern Missouri (CCCNMO).

My wife Kris and I are 40-year members of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Columbia, Mo.

This is my second 3-year term on the board, which began July 1 with receiving the “President baton”  from fellow OLL parishioner, Mike Maag.

During my initial first term, I served as Board Vice President for two years, allowing me to learn from Mike’s leadership and develop a deeper appreciation for the mission of CCCNMO in our diocese. 

My appointment to a second CCCNMO Board term by Bishop W. Shawn Mc­Knight coincided with my retirement after a 47-year career in sales and marketing management.

This fortuitous timing has allowed me to channel my passion into serving both my parish and CCCNMO.

The past three months have been a whirlwind of activity, including a board retreat with Bishop McKnight and the Leadership Roundtable, a consulting partner at Starkenburg, attendance at the United Way Leadership Conference, alongside Executive Director Litz Main and her team, and several meetings to prepare for upcoming strategic planning sessions.

Having these opportunities to observe the caring knowledge and desire to serve the agency staff, along with the best practices management of the executive director, serves to reassure that CCCNMO should be supported throughout our diocese.

As we begin a new fiscal year, CCCNMO and our board are going through impactful changes, both in organization and responsibilities that will continue and enhance the alignment of CCCNMO’s charitable mission and vision within our diocese.

My focus in this new role will be (1) to assist and support our excellent leadership team at CCCNMO with these impactful changes, and (2) to assist in aligning with Bishop McKnight’s 3-year diocesan pastoral plan and Communities of Beatitudes Program.

Through our deaneries, we can and will facilitate the sharing of CCCNMO’s resources and programs to the parishes throughout the diocese.

We pray that this sharing will aid parishes in becoming centers of charity and mercy in their communities.

The facilitating efforts can be aided through our Charity and Mercy Grant program.

There is an application process with informational details on the CCCNMO website, cccnmo.diojeffcity.org.

I encourage you to visit our website also to review the programs that represent our mission to serve those in need and learn more about Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Jefferson City.

The calendar is a great resource for looking at opportunities for involvement.

Through the strategic planning mentioned earlier, changes and enhancements to the program menu can be expected as CCCNMO strives to be the best it can be.

Furthermore, our board members, located throughout each of the five deaneries, will support CCCNMO in the communication of the programs available to the parishes in their deaneries, as well as communicate the needs supporting the CCCNMO vision back to its leadership.

I am truly looking forward to this next stage in my life, being a grandfather to my three grandsons (and my fourth grandchild later this year), serving my parish and assisting our bishop and CCCNMO leadership in bringing its mission to those in need throughout our diocese.

If you would like to help (not with grandparenting, I’ve got that!) our volunteer number is 573-635-7719 and my email is BoardPresident@cccnmo.org.