The Friday Finish – March 7, 2025
Puppets and Green Eggs Encourage Readers
Read Across America has become quite popular among schools as special activities, dress up days and community leaders reading books bring attention to the importance of reading. This week, special puppet shows, music, dress up days, and culinary specialties honored Read Across America and encouraged our students at Red Bird Christian School (RBCS) to keep reading. Kayla Smith, Development Gifts & Communications, created a blog post summarizing the emphasis at RBCS. Read the post, "Reading the Bible is Cool!" on our Stories of Impact page - https://www.redbirdky.org/stories
Grocery Store Witness
There are literally scores, likely hundreds, of untold stories that chronicle generous giving that impacts the lives of people served at Red Bird Mission. Ralph and Nadine Aller are just a couple of ordinary people that dedicate themselves to feeding people and their basic needs. On Thursday, Ralph delivered a van load of meat and other food that he purchased in their home state of Ohio to help sustain the feeding programs at the Red Bird Mission DeWall Senior Center and Red Bird Christian School. Nadine sent some of the hundreds of quilts she’s made over the past few years to share with families served by Community Outreach.
Ralph said that curiosity gets the best of shoppers standing in the grocery checkout when they see the carts filled with meat and other bulk grocery items. He takes the opportunity to tell them about Red Bird Mission and food insecurity here in the mountains. Ralph said,
“I just hope that others will get inspired by what I’m doing when I tell them the story.”
Ralph, an Ohio State University graduate with 30 years of experience in food industry, talked to Pino Brock, Grow Appalachia Field Coordinator, during this week’s visit about the upcoming gardening season and how families will have opportunity to use the Red Bird Valley Kitchen. Ralph was especially interested in encouraging Grow Appalachia members to use the kitchen for small scale commercial ventures to increase family income.
Pastor Steve Makes a Visit
Another long term inspiring supporter, Pastor Steve McVay, has been making the trek with church members from Lyon County, Kentucky for two decades now delivering needed supplies to the Red Bird Christian School Kindergarten. On Tuesday, Steve delivered another load of supplies that included sanitizing wipes and paper towels and other items to help stock the Kindergarten bathroom. Saratoga Springs United Methodist Church is a Kindergarten Classroom Partner that also gives financial support in addition to in kind donations. This week, Pastor Steve brought support from his church for Red Bird Mission’s flood relief efforts.
Classroom Partners are linked to a specific classroom to stay in communication with the teacher about needs and news from the classroom. If you’d like to know how you or your church can become a Classroom Partner, contact Tim Crawford, Development Director - tcrawford@rbmission.org.
Seven Students Honored for Scholarship, Service, Leadership and Character
Seven students were inducted into the Red Bird Christian School Chapter of the National Honor Society (NHS) on Thursday afternoon. Fellow students and family members were present as existing members joined in the NHS pledge
“to seek the light of truth; to hold scholarly habits; to engage in worthy service, striving in every way, by word and deed, to make its ideals the ideals of my school and of my life.”
Marsha Roark, Class of 1985, (also a NHS member, retired teacher, and Red Bird Mission staff) returned to deliver an address emphasizing the importance of exemplifying the four NHS ideals of scholarship, service, leadership and character before others and themselves.
Senior Class Inductees - Shekinah Illunga, Muriel Kasongo and Joella Nyombo
Sophomore Class Inductees – Aiden Caldwell, Triston Helton, Hollie Hunter and Ashton Lewis
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