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Taters n Onions – Golden Digital – Students Leading & Serving

The Friday Finish – March 15, 2024

This week’s Friday Finish features what folks have been learning through Red Bird’s programs to improve their communities, and moving towards our vision – Building healthy, sustainable communities in the mountains of southeastern Kentucky.

Taters n Onions

Red Bird Mission Grow Appalachia kicked off monthly grower meetings this week. Sixty (60) people came out to learn new tips and share tips for garden planning. Twenty-one (21) first time Grow Appalachia households have joined the 34 returning families in an effort to increase the fresh vegetables and fruit for their families, and gain access to seeds, plants, fertilizer and tools needed. Seed potatoes, onion sets, and organic fertilizer were distributed after Tuesday’s meeting.




Golden Digital

Shelbi Hinkle, former Lead for America Fellow at Red Bird Mission, returned this week in her role as an American Connectivity Corps Member. Shelbi got Red Bird Mission moving with assisting our communities tackle broadband and communication issues.


Last year she led a series of workshops teaching folks basic digital literacy, and was quite involved in getting the Seniors 4 Seniors program that utilizes Red Bird Christian High School students to teach digital skills to participants at the DeWall Senior Center. When Shelbi was here previously there was no internet available or hardware at the DeWall Center, but that wasn’t the case this time (thanks to the Kentucky Department of Public Health and AARP grants) as Shelbi was able to spend time helping our elderly advance their digital skills at the center.


Shelbi said,

“Having the Starlink connection, new tablets and computers for the seniors to use [at the Center] was amazing. I was so pleased to see the confidence in digital skills now in people that were a little hesitant to pick up a tablet or laptop last year.”



Students Leading and Serving

Leadership and service are not just ideals that are taught at Red Bird Christian School. Red Bird enables our students to practice leadership, and our boards of director president is creating opportunities for involvement.


Lucinda McMurry, Board of Directors President for Red Bird Mission, Inc., Red Bird Clinic, Inc., and Red Bird Mission Housing, Inc., stopped by Red Bird Christian School (RBCS) this week to meet with the senior class. It was a warm time of sharing and listening from both day students and dorm students that are about to leave the friendly confines of RBCS for further education and careers.


Later, at the quarterly board meetings, Bryleigh King and Felix Onusumba took their places as RBCS student representatives to the Red Bird boards. Bryleigh, Class of 2026, and Felix, Class of 2024, are highly respected among their peers and represent diverse interests within the student population. These student representatives will be able to share back to other students unique insights about leadership that supports the various programs of Red Bird.


Ten people each giving just $55 per month can fund the tuition gap for a student at Red Bird Christian School.




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