The state House has honored a long-time fixture in the Capitol not only for her work under the dome, but her charitable efforts elsewhere in the capital city.
Malissa Smith has worked in the Capitol’s cafeteria for twelve years. Visually impaired since the age of 31, she helped train workers in the cafeteria when it was operated by the Division of the Blind.
These days she is often seen in the hallways of the building, sometimes pushing a sandwich cart from office-to-office for those who don’t have time to dash out for lunch.
Representative Mike Bernskoetter (R-Jefferson City) said nearly everyone who works in the building knows Smith and she speaks with them as she makes her rounds.
“Not only is Malissa an example for people without sight, she shows everybody an example of what can be done if you set your mind to it,” said Bernskoetter. “I think she’s an example for us all. She has a fantastic attitude. If you go down and talk to Joan at [the current cafeteria, operated by] Chez Monet, she will tell you how great a worker she is and she will do anything for anybody at any time.”
Bernskoetter said Smith has also launched, with her own money, a free summer lunch program for children and teenagers up to the age of 17. All summer long she and the volunteers who joined her feed more than 100 children in Jefferson City who otherwise would likely go without lunch during the months they aren’t in school.
She had learned a lot of children in the church’s neighborhood were not eating, so she decided on the lunch program as part of her outreach effort.
“It’s a blessing just to see the smiles on their face. Now that the majority of them have come back year after year, they kind of talk to us now – make conversation – and they think we’re part of their family now,” said Smith. “If they have a need also, like if they tell me they don’t have a pair of shoes or something, we have another outreach that works with me – community outreach – that we can look for things like that for them.”
Smith moved to Jefferson City from her hometown of Moberly in 2004 to pursue a job that would allow her to keep working in spite of her impairment.
She hopes to keep working in the Capitol for years to come.
“I love the people around here. That’s my biggest thing,” said Smith. “I’ve made a lot of rapport and friends, and it’s just fun being up here.”
Smith was honored with a resolution from the House recognizing her 12 years of work in the Capitol, and the lunch program that she expects will grow this year to feeding nearly 200 children.
The summer lunch program she launched resumes May 21 at the annex of the Second Christian Church in Jefferson City, where she is an elder.