March 2023
“I needed clothes and you clothed me.” These words of Jesus from Matthew 25:36 could be spoken by many POWS guests in reference to Ted and Nancy McKown. Ted and Nancy’s dedication to clothing our homeless neighbors led to their selection as Volunteers of the Year (VOY) for Season 4 (2021-2022).
As members of First Presbyterian Church in Plano, Ted and Nancy support the church’s clothing closet by helping with donations and spreading the word about this ministry which has provided basic needs to low-income and housing insecure families and individuals for over 50 years. In 2020, First Presbyterian began partnering with Streetside Showers to bring the clothing closet to individuals experiencing homelessness.
The POWS leadership team contacted Ted and Nancy to see if they would consider helping with POWS clothing distribution during the cold weather
season. After meeting with POWS leadership, Ted and Nancy saw the opportunity to expand their church’s impact on our community and felt they could help with this much needed ministry by stocking the clothing closet for each POWS event.
The McKowns enjoy gathering with people to take action to help others in our community and find it rewarding to build relationships with people in the community that they wouldn't have had an opportunity to meet if it weren't for volunteering in outreach programs like POWS. Ted said, "We are amazed to continually discover other outreach programs available to help community members with needs and find that we often run into many of the same folks who are involved in multiple ministry activities. This helps encourage us to continue to look for further outreach opportunities."
In addition to working with Streetside Showers and POWS, using clothing as the main tool, Ted and Nancy serve on committees and the governing body for First Presbyterian Church. They have been youth leaders at churches they've been members of for over 40 years, have volunteered during North Texas Presbyterian Pilgrimage weekends, and Ted is currently serving as Outreach Director for North Texas Presbyterian Pilgrimage.