August 2026 -Active Shooter Exercise
Your chaplains train for something we hope will never happen. This month we worked with law enforcement, emergency medical services, school officials, and elected leaders to protect innocent life in the case of a school shooting. These exercises are a good way for our chaplains to work alongside our first responders in a proactive way. We are honored to be integral to their disaster response plans.
Pictured above (left to right): Salt & Light Chaplains Smith, Johnson, Orth, Kyeremeh, Mannenbach, Beech, Cape, Munnis and Molina
Night to Unite
Night to Unite is always a great event and our chaplains love the opportunity to spend time with our first responders as well as our amazing community. This year they were able to visit over 7 different neighborhood gatherings across the city of Rochester.
Above: Executive Director (ED) Beech with the Rochester Police Department and Executive Chaplain Cape with the Olmsted County Sheriff's Office
FROGs are Hopping!
This was a busy month for our Rochester Fire Department FROGs!
Making the most of summer, the RFD FROGs hosted a pool party at Silver Lake Pool and had a good turnout and lots of fellowship.
Their FROGs group also partnered with Back Home Harley Davidson this past weekend to raise funds for their FROGs program. From washing bikes to serving pancakes, this group did it all! A big thank you for all the hard work that went into these events!
The picture above is from the Rochester Fire FROGs Splish Splash Pool Party. The picture below includes (from left to right) RFD FROG core members Alicia Schnier, Amy Kuhlman and Michelle Pearson.
Child Trauma Kits
When a chaplain is on the scene of a critical incident and there are young children present, it can be a challenge. To help our chaplains navigate these scenes well, they now have Child Trauma Kits with tools to assist them.
This initiative began when a local Eagle Scout, Elena Haveyer proposed to address this issue with her Eagle Scout project. She partnered with Salt & Light and Child Life specialists at Mayo Clinic to develop the kits.
On the 24th of August we held a training session for our chaplains, as well as two social workers, and the child life specialists co-presented with Elena to inform our chaplains on the best ways to use the kits. A big thank you to Elena and a job well done!
Celebrations
We love to share in the life celebrations of our first responders. The photo above shows the retirement plaque that Salt & Light has made for each retiree with their name, badge number, department logo, and the Salt & Light logo. We are happy to report that these have become very desired retirement gifts!
The above photo is from the presentation by Chaplains Wyse and Goetz to retiring Captain Todd Clennon.
Bottom photo is from the promotion of Austin Police officer Dustin Wallenberg to Captain with our Austin Police Chaplains Goetz and Wyse along with ED Beech and EC Cape.
By the Numbers
So far this year, our chaplains spent 2758 hours with our first responders and responded to 185 critical incidents. That is over 5 traumatic events EACH WEEK so far this year!
As a result, in just the last 8 months,185 families in SE MN have benefitted from our chaplains showing up to support them during the worst day of their lives, and continuing to walk beside them in the days following.
It also means that our chaplains were there to support the first responders who showed up at these scenes and ensure they were able to process and navigate what they experienced as well.
This is the core of what we do - even if there are no photos to acknowledge that part of the work.
Thank You!
What else can we say when the people you serve, in this case the RPD/OCSO SWAT Team, make a decision to raise funds at their annual physical Fitness test to support the work of Salt & Light! We are so grateful for their hearts and generosity! Thank you!
Picture below shows the team presenting the donation to ED Beech with the accompanying note.
St Cloud Here We Come!
We are so excited to welcome our first agency and first chaplains outside of SE Minnesota!
We have been supporting Mayo Clinic Ambulance Service (MCAS) in Rochester since last fall, but just this summer we were asked to support MCAS in St Cloud.
Please help us welcome new St Cloud Chaplains Lambert, Hoffman and Burton!
Pictured here with EC Cape and MCAS Rochester Chaplain Mannenbach
Coming up soon: The Heroes Scramble
We have had a wonderful response to our first annual Heroes Scramble! As of this writing, we have 30 teams registered to play, so there are just a few more slots available if you have been considering putting a team together! This is your sign to go ahead and register now and put it on your calendar so it is done!
Do you know a business that might like to support our first responders and be a sponsor? Share this with them! We are grateful for all the sponsors who have stepped up to support this tournament. Want to join them? There are sponsorship opportunities that range from $250 to $1500, so there is something for everyone!
Thank you for your continued support of this ministry.
Please always reach out with any questions or requests you might have.
With gratitude,
The Salt & Light Team