When Kris spotted a flyer for Food Not Bombs on a Provo street corner, he didn’t hesitate—he called the number right away. He already knew what the group stood for: feeding people, not profit. What he didn’t know was that this moment would set the course for the rest of his life.

In this episode of The Collective Table Podcast, host Jason Coker shares how Kris’s journey—from the punk rock shows of Provo, Utah to a two-year mission in Guatemala, to his work as a public librarian—reveals empathy as both a personal practice and a social force.

Raised in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Kris began asking hard questions about faith, justice, and belonging. Punk rock offered community. Activism gave those convictions purpose. And the library became the place where it all came together—a space of radical inclusion where everyone belongs.

Through Kris’s story, Jason explores what sociologists call social infrastructure—the shared spaces that hold communities together—and how they mirror the very heart of empathy itself.

Curious. Courageous. Deeply human.
This is Kris’s story—and a testament to empathy as the quiet architecture of community.

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