Barry Flecken: A Lion helping to serve
This article is one in a series of articles about what life looks like in Butler County ahead of the nation’s 250th anniversary on July 4, 2026. Stories in this series aim to showcase what it’s like to live, work, play and serve in Butler County during this moment in history.
If you ask Barry Flecken, 73, of Butler why he volunteered with local community food ministry Katie’s Kitchen, he might joke and say that it’s his wife, Janet.
If you ask him again, he will say more seriously, that it’s routine.
Every second and third Thursday, Flecken, who is on the board of directors of Katie’s Kitchen and a member and past president of the Butler Lions Club, can be found on West Jefferson Street in the basement of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church helping to distribute meals for Katie’s Kitchen.
Flecken helps to organize and fund one of several local groups mitigating hunger in the City of Butler.
Katie’s Kitchen is one of five community churches serving meals under the Community Meal Ministry group.
Community Meal Ministry is a conglomeration of different local churches that work together to provide meals every day of the week.
Monday’s meal is provided by First English Lutheran Church. Tuesday’s is provided by All Saints Parish at St. Paul Catholic Church. Wednesday’s is provided by Saint Andrew’s Presbyterian. Thursday’s is provided by St. Mark’s Lutheran and Trinity Lutheran through Katie’s Kitchen, and Friday’s is provided by Butler Global Church.
On average, Katie’s Kitchen serves about 340 meals a week, but it fluctuates depending on the time of the month.
With rare exceptions, like the recent addition of the DG Market on Main Street, the City of Butler offers limited access to fresh fruit or produce for residents, according to Brown.
Flecken works with Katie’s Kitchen to help meet that need.
He wrangles the other Lions Club members to distribute meals, coordinating the two Thursdays a month that they will work at the kitchen.
Katie’s Kitchen, which has operated for 32 years, serves every Thursday from 5 to 6 p.m.
Oftentimes, patrons are picking up food for neighbors or family members who might have disabilities or are unable to get to the food distribution site, Brown said.
Flecken and the other Lions ensure that patrons are well taken care of and that the pile of meals to choose from is stocked.
“I’ve seen the increase,” Lions Club and Trinity Church member John Hertzog said of the Lions Club’s presence at Katie’s Kitchen.
I’ve seen it go from 70 meals to now a high of more than 400, he said.
“There’s always been need,” Flecken said. This is just “one way of helping a lot of people.”
Flecken works closely with Katie’s Kitchen director Justine Brown.
While Brown might have the final say as Katie’s Kitchen director, Flecken and the other Katie’s Kitchen board of directors provide her with guidance.
“If I have any questions or anything, he answers those questions,” Brown said. “He’s my go to for anything that Katie’s Kitchen needs.”
The Community Meal Ministry is sponsored by each of the congregations that participate.
Brown said Flecken is influential in helping maintain the status and funding of Katie’s Kitchen.
There have been times that Flecken and the board of directors were able to acquire public funds from the county and the state.
Flecken started as a member of St. Mark’s Church, working with his wife to tend the community garden that provided food for Katie’s Kitchen.
The garden has since disappeared, the ground depleted of nutrients from the years of cultivation and from a lack of volunteers needed for its upkeep. Flecken and his wife now belong to Trinity Lutheran Church in Butler.
Yet, after about 20 years, they both still come back to Katie’s Kitchen to serve.
It’s just “regular folks helping regular folks,” Flecken said. “Just a whole bunch of people trying to feed people who need it.”
