Lumen Newsletter | Virtue of the Month, Integrity | Summer Missions and much more!

Ray Burns of the Lumen NJ Chapter recently took on Arthur Aguilar as a mentor. In terms of background Arthur's parents immigrated from Mexico to NY over 25 years ago with nothing more than the clothes on their back. Neither parent had education beyond 9th grade. They raised two boys while toiling in low-wage jobs and building a small house cleaning business. Arthur grew up in Yonkers NY and attended one of the worst high schools in the state but always stayed clear of trouble. Determined to make his parents proud, Arthur went on to Iona college and graduated in 4 years. By the age of 23, Arthur has already been through several low end jobs without much success or direction.

Ray was introduced to Arthur several months ago and was impressed with his commitment to his Catholic faith, family and his determination to help his family move up the economic ladder. Success for most people Arthurs age comes from their zip code, in Arthur's case, his best chance to advance out of middle-class America will likely come from outside his inner circles. Ray has met with Arthur a few times for coffee as well as some follow up phone call and has pointed Arthur to a few major walls street firms where he is currently interviewing.

Arthur recently called the Lumen headquarters thanking Lumen for the help and guidance Ray is making in his life. This is a great example of how Lumen members can make a difference without a lot of effort.

Pierre Ferragu a Lumen member from the CT circle initiated a mission to help feed homeless people around Penn Station in New York City. Each month a group spends their lunch hour at the train terminal and invite individuals to join them for lunch. The note below is a summary of their most recent outing.

Dear friends,

What a wonderful time we’ve had again today. Our party peaked at nearly 20 guests today!

John, Paul, Odile, Steve, Rick, Ethan, Derek and Pierre Meet at 11:30am sharp in front of the station.

We rapidly bumped into people we know well: the charming Sherry, dear Marvin, the facetious and strong-tempered Mildred, Arthur the placid, and we all headed to KFC. We got the party going, occupying nearly half the food court.

Additional guests joined us: Glen stayed for a bit, Jose took some food for later, then left, but I ran after him and offered him to stay, just to chat. He was eventually the last to leave.
Daryl showed up and joined us. The conversation heated up with Mildred who eventually left...

In the meantime Mary joined. She was crying… her suitcase wasn’t good anymore, she needed another one. Steve went to K-Mart to buy one. Mary was thankful, but worried Steve gets yelled at by his wife for this. That was an expensive suitcase! This is something which really amazes me amongst the poorest of the poor: how much they care about others before themselves, despite their own duress.

There was also this mysterious lady. Very elegant. Very hungry as well. She wouldn’t say her name, because she was ashamed of being on the street. She had been on the street for 30 years, though…

Last but not least, Jeff joined. He bought his own lunch, asked permission to sit with us, and didn’t say much, but visibly enjoyed his time at our table. When he left, he gave one of us his business card. He is the director of operations of a large company you all know, and asked if he could join again next time.

The food hall was filled with our laughers and chatters, it wasn’t a lunch, it was a party. Unfortunately KFC doesn’t serve champagne… Towards the end, Mary stood up, opened her arms across, and spoke as loud as her broken voice could allow. She asked for silence and said a prayer of thanksgiving. At that point in time, I could see tears in the eyes of some of us. I won’t give names.

This was a wonderful time. Join us for the next edition if you can, but book early, it is getting to be a popular gig. Second Tuesday of the Month @ KFC, Penn Station is the place to be. See pictures below.

Next lunch scheduled for Tuesday, 6/11 @11:30am

You are invited to attend the New York Men's Leadership Forum breakfast this month featuring Lumen Board member, Steve Auth. The NYMLF offers four sessions a year featuring outstanding speakers and witnesses, who provide thought-provoking and challenging material for professional men. For more information click here.

Our Mission
Lumen’s Mission is to further enhance the character, faith, and leadership skills of today’s business and cultural leaders and their families.