Please help the Franciscan Sisters of Kansas City with their boiler.

DanHolohan

Last February, I got a call from a Franciscan Sister in Kansas City, MO. Sister Mary Clare was looking for advice about their heating system. She had done a lot of homework and I helped as much as I could from afar. I asked a local rep to stop by and take a look and that was very helpful.

Here's the heating story in Sister Mary Clare's own words:

We had the hydronic boilers replaced when we moved here, and since then we have spent a lot of time trying to correct some mistakes. We noticed a piping error and a problem with the controller, which our current mechanical contractor corrected for us. The boiler operated much more efficiently, but still needs more regular attention than we would like to give it, considering our first duties to God. After reading technical manuals, consulting experts from around the country, and visiting several times with our Mechanical Contractor, we are all in agreement that we can take the next step and add, move, and replace some key components to make the system more stable, and we hope even more efficient. We are not trying to create our “dream boiler,” just something that will keep us out of the boiler room and away from bleeding radiators all the time, so that we can focus on more important duties. The cost of this project should not exceed $14,000.

I'm helping them. If you'd like to join me, you can donate HERE.

Oh, and Sister Mary Clare said they were praying for all of us. That's powerful stuff.

Dan

DanHolohan

Additional background:

About Us
We are a group of traditional Franciscan teaching sisters founded in 2000 to assist the Society of Saint Pius X in the apostolate of teaching. Our desire is to promote the social kingship of Christ, primarily by helping to restore the teaching sisterhood to its former glory. We wear the full habit and live in community under the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Our prayers include the recitation of the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin in common, community vocal prayers, and thirty minutes of meditation daily. Sisters are also required to do spiritual reading for fifteen minutes daily, and we have an additional hour of private prayer and study time added into our schedules. We teach part-time, any grade and any subject to boys and girls. Our Motherhouse and novitiate is in Kansas City, Missouri. For more information, please visit our website.

Our Convent
We live in an 84,000 square foot convent in Southtown, Kansas City. The hill on which the convent rests was once a part of the battle of Westport during the Civil War, and the building itself is considered to be one of Kansas City's historic gems. Built in 1947, it was Catholic builder J.E. Dunn's favorite project, and stands as a monument to fine craftsmanship. Above all, it once again houses Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, and from this magnificent structure prayers pour out onto the city, the country, the world. As you might imagine, the building can also act like a grumpy old lady who demands a great deal of attention. We cannot afford a maintenance man, so we do as much work as we can ourselves. Our singing skills are such that you will probably never hear us making a CD like other, famous sisters from Missouri, but we have learned to turn a wrench and can control building emergencies long enough to make it to the next monthly work day, when a small group of faithful men volunteer their skills. With 84,000 square feet to maintain and restore, much of which had fallen into disrepair when we arrived here seventeen years ago, we have a lot of work to do. But this is where God wants us to be! We feel like we are rebuilding the way St. Francis did with San Damiano. People ask why we did not simply build or purchase a smaller building, but we have found it to be more cost-effective to repair and maintain this larger building (we think we will never have to build an addition!)

Our Needs
In addition to the daily needs of the sisters and the apostolate, we have many utility bills and restoration projects to improve and maintain our convent. Here is one of our most pressing projects:

Boilers
We had the original hydronic boilers replaced when we moved here, and since then we have spent a lot of time trying to correct some mistakes. We noticed a piping error and a problem with the controller, which our current mechanical contractor corrected for us. The boiler operated much more efficiently, but still needs more regular attention than we would like to give it, considering our first duties to God. After reading technical manuals, consulting experts from around the country, and visiting several times with our Mechanical Contractor, we are all in agreement that we can take the next step and add, move, and replace some key components to make the system more stable, and we hope even more efficient. We are not trying to create our "dream boiler," just something that will keep us out of the boiler room and away from bleeding radiators all the time, so that we can focus on more important duties. The estimated cost for the project should not exceed $14,000. Any money we can raise beyond that will go toward our utility bill and then future projects.

Even a single dollar will help us.

https://sspx.gifts/collections/franciscan-sisters-of-christ-the-king/products/franciscan-sisters-of-christ-the-king-boiler-fund

Thanks.

Intplm.

I had a Aunt who was a Nun. She died a couple of years ago at the age of 100. Her funeral with whom all attended was very touching.
She was kind and courageous. She had a way of understanding things and implementing ideas much like what was told in this very nice story.
Thank you @DanHolohan for sharing

DanHolohan

God bless your aunt. I think you'd like Sr. Mary Clare. She has dug so deeply into this and I admire her for taking on such a big project. I hope they make their goal.

DanHolohan

Please keep praying. The weather warmed up and I was able to turn the circulating pump off. The low temperatures ended up not hitting the turnover point, so we have not run the boilers at all. It is pretty chilly, but I am hoping this afternoon to do something with the compression tank to get things going over the next couple of days. The drain for the tank is plugged and the men could not get it open at the end of the season last year, so I am considering going up to the attic with a sawzall so that we can just drain it by hand until the donations come in... a little bit of a workout because we have to run buckets down to the third floor, but it is better than crawling all the way underneath the tank and breaking the union, which I can hardly do. If I can manage it, I am also going to pull off all of that connecting stuff on the top of the tank that you said was bad, and will put in plugs.

We were short handed on the last volunteer day, so the mini-split did not get put in, but we can probably run two space heaters.

God is good. Heaven is not far away!

In the Immaculate Heart of Mary,

Sr. Mary Clare

DanHolohan

So far, I'm the only one who has donated. Please join me if you can.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMoD2m5pzZU

Steve_210

14 different options Which one maybe I’m missing something

Steve_210

That’s on PayPal I can send a check

DanHolohan

Thanks so much!

Jamie Hall

No problem with a credit card for me...

DanHolohan

Thanks, guys. I appreciate you. There's a magic to helping those we've never met in person.

Here's the donation page:
https://sspx.gifts/collections/franciscan-sisters-of-christ-the-king/products/franciscan-sisters-of-christ-the-king-boiler-fund

Please don't let the $100 that shows in the window scare you. It's just a default suggestion of the program. Even a $1.00 donation will help. Whatever you can do is wonderful, especially at this time of the year.

unclejohn

First time on CC info page the spot where you enter the stuff kept refreashing. Back clicked and hit the terms and condititions info button and then back to CC page and BINGO.

DanHolohan

Thanks, UJ. The Sisters don’t use computers very often. I appreciate you so much.

Larry Weingarten

Done

DanHolohan

Thanks, Larry!

Intplm.

Just pitched in too.🙂

DanHolohan

Thanks! I think we can do this. I’m feeling warmer by your help and I hope the Sisters will soon be warmer too.

My favorite part of HeatingHelp.com.com has always been how good people step up to help others, even those they’ve never met them. We’re always there for each other. It’s beautiful. Thanks.

Alan R. Mercurio_3

After reading this, what came to my mind was the bible verse from the book of Luke:
For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.

I’ve made a small donation, I’m lifting them in prayer and I’ll certainly be spreading the word, to hopefully get them the assistance and heat they need.

Blessings,
Alan

DanHolohan

An update, and my thanks to all of you who are helping the Sisters.

Dan

Mr. Holohan,

We just got a report in yesterday, and there were four donations more, totaling about $360! We checked your website and it looks like more are coming in! I myself said extra prayers today specifically for everyone who has donated. We are very grateful! If you think it is a good idea, please let everyone know that they can put specific prayer intentions in the "notes" section if they would like, and we will get those. Even if someone does not have $1 to give, they can pray for us to get the money we need for the boiler (so can anyone who has donated!) and also pray that we become good and holy sisters. We keep this place going on small donations, so no one should worry about what they give!

We will pass on the difficulties to the SSPX representative who is helping us with the donation site. Now, I don't like to blame everything on the devil, but he is probably not happy about this and might be getting in the way of things. Still, I will let them know what is going on!

It will be 13 degrees Monday night and in the teens Tuesday night, too. The chapel is holding at 51, but we think it will drop down to 48 by Tuesday. That's where we want it. We have moved into the side chapel and are running two large space heaters until we can get the mini-split going (still cheaper than running the boilers.) I have to change the sock filter today (forgot about that,) and either tomorrow or Monday will turn everything on and make sure the zone valves are still holding. We will then turn on each zone one at a time to make sure everything is still functioning as we remember. Hopefully the compression tank will take a longer time to fill with that top stuff off. There are a lot of radiators with stuck valves, and we will be trying our best to work them open without breaking them.

In the Sacred Heart,
Sr. Mary Clare

unclejohn

Ok sister Clare, remember righty tighty lefty losey.

DanHolohan

LOL! She's done her homework, John.

Rich_L

I live about 4 hours away from Kansas City. Wish I were closer and I would love to help the Sisters out! Honestly, this is part of the reason I've never gone into business for myself. I'd have to take the vow of poverty my self because I'd give everything away!

MikeL_2

I made a small donation; it feels real good to be able to do it.

DanHolohan

Thanks, Mike. It does feel good. Me too. People helping people always does. Thanks, pal.

ethicalpaul

My aunt was a sister in Canada for about 70 years. I gave a donation for her memory and for all the great assistance that has been given to me and others on this site. Thank you!

DanHolohan

Thanks for getting it, Paul. I appreciate you.

DanHolohan

Update follows, and Wallies, please feel free to jump in with your thought about what's going on with the system.

And blessing to the generous donor who kicked in the thousand bucks. I'll be there for you as well. Thanks:

Mr. Holohan

Sorry if this is too long...

I am not sure yet how much we are up to, but someone handed us $1000! We are getting closer. We only broke one handle Saturday from which we learned that if the radiator valve doesn't give right away when applying gentle pressure with the pipe wrench (as it did with the first six radiators,) it won't give with a little more pressure applied with the pipe wrench, but the handle will! Lefty losey, righty tighty. Got it! Lots of drips... one of the radiator valves started letting out a lot of water and it was a little scary because it kept leaking a lot in both the on and off position... thankfully tightening the packing nut worked. We don't know how to re-pack the nuts, although that has not been necessary yet. Is there a diagram anywhere?

The lead boiler is down and it's a little baffling. The controller is calling for heat, and the boiler's pump is set to go on when when the controller calls for heat, and then of course the flames should go on. However, the boiler pump was not running. We flipped it up into the constant run position and it started running, and there seems to be flow because it's all getting hot on both sides. Still no flame, and no attempt by the boiler to try to make a flame. Also, the flow switch was in the correct position. It seems like there is a problem with the boiler knowing it's supposed to be on, or maybe a sensor telling it not to go on at all. We have never seen this problem before. The other three are running, so we have heat, just more gas used because the water has 15 minutes to cool down before the second boiler takes over, which is not so desirable when it's going down to 10 or 13 degrees. The controller rotates the lead boiler each week , so thankfully next week this boiler will be the last in line. It is what they call in aviation a "hangar queen." It always seems to develop some kind of problem!

With continuing gratitude,
Sr. Mary Clare

And then this:

Mr. Holohan,

Mother gave me permission to get back on the email to tell you that the lead boiler is running... called one of the convent dads and mom answered. Dad wasn't home but she said they'd pray to St. Anthony to find the problem. Went back down, turned off the circuit breaker, pulled the cover off of the wires, jiggled a few things, saw the"reset button." Oh! Reset button. Good idea. It seemed to give a little, I am not sure. When we turned the breaker back on, the old familiar click, click, click POOF noise came right away and the boiler is on. Deo Gratias!

In the Sacred Heart,
Sr. Mary Clare

nicholas bonham-carter

We’ll have to put St. Anthony on our list of preferred service providers on this site: (where did I put my pipe wrench-it was just here!).
Maybe a beginners book on hydronic systems would be a useful gift to the sisters.—NBC

DanHolohan

I sent Sr. Mary Clare Gil Carlson's book about Air Control in Hydronic Systems last February. She read it and got it.

And St. Anthony helps me a lot, especially at this age.

nicholas bonham-carter

A trip to the supply houses in KC might get the name of a recently retired hydronic pro, who could be an additional knowledgeable volunteer for them to lean on.
At any rate, the countermen might become additional contributors!—NBC

DanHolohan

Good advice, Nicholas. Thanks!

DanHolohan

Happy World Kindness Day!
https://www.awarenessdays.com/awareness-days-calendar/world-kindness-day-2019/

pecmsg

nicholas bonham-carter said:

A trip to the supply houses in KC might get the name of a recently retired hydronic pro, who could be an additional knowledgeable volunteer for them to lean on.
At any rate, the countermen might become additional contributors!—NBC

as well as
https://www.ua441.org/

DanHolohan

Update! Thanks to everyone who is helping:

Mr. Holohan,

Donations online and local total $1,800!

Thank you to everyone again. Stopped in the boiler room, everything seems pretty stable. Have not done much in the last two days as there were other duties to attend to, but still have to check the zones and see if everything is ok- west side of center wing is not getting very warm. Probably will not get to it for another day or two. We try to do as much investigating as we can to save our contractor time, and that's less expense for us. Our contractor of eleven years has been very good to us, but he and his men have to feed their families and we want them to be able to do that. They know we have a limited budget but they are still good to us. They listen. They have a good sense of humor. They know what they are doing. From a customer perspective, these are great qualities for a contractor. To us, cheaper isn't always better, and we like that they want to do the job right, but work smartly with our budget constraints. The bell just rang for Vespers. Will be praying for deceased family and friends of our benefactors (November... the month of the Holy Souls!)

In the Sacred Heart,
Sr. Mary Clare

nicholas bonham-carter

I got such a nice thank you note from the Sisters for my donation!
Their included newsletter describes all of their trials and tribulations with the many repairs to their old building.
When I next get to KC, (3 hours away), I think I will look them up!--NBC

DanHolohan

That is so kind of you, Nicholas. Thanks!

Jamie Hall

I got a note today, too. They didn't have to do that! And the newsletter is wonderful!

DanHolohan

And they’re praying for us all.

ethicalpaul

I admit I really want to know what trashy song they heard over the Big Box's PA system while they were shopping for faucets

Intplm.

I received a thank you letter from them today. They also sent a newsletter. Was very nice of them.

DanHolohan

Nice. Thanks from me too. 😊