By STU CLAMPITT
news@readthereporter.com
Next month, you can enjoy a delightful breakfast at The Mill Top in Noblesville, while also supporting a great cause that both improves the quality of life throughout Hamilton County while doing good work to help keep the community safe.
The Reporter spoke to Pastor Mark Fidler, Senior Chaplain with Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) Chaplaincy, about the event itself and the various programs it helps support.
Fidler told The Reporter HCSO Chaplaincy is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and a nondenominational faith-based organization that works in tandem with the Sheriff’s Department, but their people are not county employees and are not paid from public funds.
Fidler
“The funds from the HCSO Chaplaincy breakfast help us purchase Bibles and other spiritual literature because we do not use money from the Sheriff’s Office,” Fidler said. “We purchase glasses. We purchase clothing. People might get arrested in July and get out in January, so we want to make sure they are dressed for the elements.”
The fundraiser also helps pay for transportation to help people being released from the Hamilton County Jail to get back home.
“A lot of them are not from Hamilton County,” Fidler said. “A lot of them are from out of state or different parts of Indiana. We’ve sent them down to Hollywood, Fla., Baltimore, Md., and all the way out to Phoenix, Ariz. We don’t want them to be forced to stay in Hamilton County. We want them to go home and start life over so they can have that fresh start. We don’t want anybody stranded.”
Fidler has been working with HCSO Chaplaincy since 2010. He started as a part-time volunteer chaplain. Later he started working full-time for the organization. He became the senior chaplain in April 2014 after the passing of senior chaplain Tom Burton.
“He was my mentor for three years in running this organization,” Fidler said.
Fidler said he enjoys working with Sheriff Quakenbush and finds him to be more involved in wanting the chaplaincy to branch out more into the community.
“He is very big on community,” Fidler said. “We serve not only the inmates and the Sheriff, his staff, and law enforcement, but we serve the citizens of Hamilton County.”
One example of the Chaplaincy’s community service is death notifications.
“We have follow-up for that,” Fidler said. “We have grief and trauma books we give people. We meet with them if they want us to. We always let it be their decision. Quakenbush is very big on outreach. He encourages us to get out in the community, let the community know we are here for you and how we can help. Resources is one of the things that we have a lot of. We can find help for people in many different areas, whether it’s drug recovery, alcohol recovery, abuse and recovery from victimization from crimes committed against them.”
Fidler said in his time with HSCO Chaplaincy he has seen a decrease in recidivism, which he partially credits to several of the programs run by both the chaplaincy and the jail.
“That’s a positive all the way around,” Fidler said.
As the population of Hamilton County has increased in recent decades and the demographics have changed, Fidler said he has seen more people in need in the area.
“There are a lot more homeless,” Fidler said. “There are a lot more people crying out for help, where before they were kind of hidden in the shadows. Someone who doesn’t think we have a drug issue or a homeless issue here in Hamilton County has their head buried in the sand. We need to be there to help them. Again, just people who are in need.”
The second annual HCSO Chaplaincy Breakfast fundraiser will be held Wednesday, April 26 at The Mill Top Banquet and Conference Center, 802 Mulberry St., Noblesville. Registration will begin at 7 a.m. with the breakfast starting at 7:30.
“We have been blessed with Rocky Shanehsaz, who runs the Mill Top,” Fidler said. “He has made available enough space where we can sit up to 400 people.”
If you want to attend, individual tickets are $35 and can be bought by going to square.link/u/Biy6k9dW. Tables of up to 10 people cost $300 and can be reserved by going to square.link/u/BLGiQJtq.
A person wishing to donate and not attend the event can send a check, cash, or money order to ATTN: HCSO Chaplaincy, 18100 Cumberland Road, Noblesville, IN 46060. Make the check or money order out to The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Chaplaincy and note “Fundraiser Donation” on the memo line.
Graphic provided