PELTES FAMILY

Peltes Family

Terry, Caroline, Maya and Emma Peltes have lived in Colorado twice. They were first transferred to Denver in 1997 and then transferred back in 2002. Terry’s favorite Colorado bumper sticker states, “Not natives but we got here as soon as we could!”

Terry is the CEO of PMG Management Group. Caroline is the Pilgrimage Coordinator for Dr. Edward Sri. Maya is a Senior at the University of Colorado-Denver studying Family Development & Family Services.  And Emma is a Senior at Sky View Academy and plans to study Aerospace Engineering. The family enjoys spending time together and traveling. Their favorite spot is Italy where they love the food, the people and the countryside.

The Peltes’ are long-time parishioners at St. Thomas More. They are involved in several ministries: Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion, Youth Choir, Lectors, CHRP (Now Welcome), Knights of Columbus. In 2015 Caroline started the diaper drive at the STM School and collected over 30,000 diapers during Lent. The Diaper Disciples ministry was created soon after.  The parish and school now collect over 70,000 diapers a year.  In 2014 Terry and Caroline co-chaired the capital campaign that rebuilt much of the St. Thomas More campus. The family is also very involved in other ways in the archdiocese: Terry is the Chair of the Board of Trustees for Bishop Machebeuf High School; Caroline is on the committee for the Beacon of Hope Gala; and the girls pitch in when they can.

The family has been volunteering at the Samaritan House for about 5 years. You can find one or more of them at 5:30 on most Saturday mornings at the Holy Rosary Center serving breakfast, smiles, and hugs to the ladies there. In addition to serving meals, they sponsor Winter Drives which helps them provide socks, shoes, boots, hats, and gloves to the ladies. This past year they added walkers, carts, and rollators to the collection because they are in desperate need by the older or disabled women. And the ladies know if something needs to be repaired Terry will have a pair of pliers or his trusty roll of duct tape to fix a wheel on a cart or a tear in a suitcase (and the ladies can be very specific about what color the duct tape needs to be!)

The Peltes’ have also recruited many friends who have become passionate about serving the homeless through the Samaritan House including Marla Roper, the Cruz family, Mary and Roy  Williams, Caroline’s sisters and their families when visiting from Illinois, and Andrea Berrocal along with other friends.

What started out as a few service hours a year has turned into a passion for serving the ladies who use the center. A few hours a year has morphed into working every available Saturday, especially during times of snow and bitter cold or the dog days of summer because that means there will be more ladies in need and, therefore, more work to do. At first it was a response to heed God’s call to feed the hungry. It has developed into the opportunity to extend the fullness of the love and compassion of Jesus Christ to the most marginalized and vulnerable in our society: by providing food, shelter, and clothing, by administering to their need for friendship and compassion, by lifting them up, by reminding them of their worth, by listening to their stories of their families, where they came from, their successes, their heartbreaks and their hardships. Very often we know that the kindness they experience is as important as the food they are provided.

The Peltes family appreciates having the privilege of helping the ladies at the Samaritan House and the Holy Rosary Center. We now fully understand that the secret to happiness comes from serving others and we will always be grateful to the Samaritan House and Catholic Charities for having this opportunity to serve.