The Friday Finish - Community Store Lighthouse - Coats & Counseling - Clothes, Shoes Funded - Ohio Hearts Meet - Market Picks UP
- Tim Crawford
- 2 days ago
- 7 min read
July 10, 2026
Community Store Lighthouse
Around here, the mountains have a way of keeping you humble, teaching you that a person’s worth isn’t measured by what’s in their pocket, but by what they’re willing to give to a neighbor in need.
Growing up, my family always made sure I had what I needed, but we sure didn’t have any extras. Back then, walking through the doors of the Community Store felt like walking right into a giant toy store at Christmas time. It wasn't until I grew up and took a job in the administrative office of Red Bird Mission that the magic transformed into something deeper. Only as an adult did I finally see the effort and the immense heart that beats behind the scenes. The order and cleanliness in the store front doesn't happen by luck; it’s paid for in hard labor in the warehouse, long before the open sign ever gets flipped.
Some donors think a community store is just a convenient place to dump what’s broken, but the folks down at the store hold a different standard. There’s a rule they live by in the warehouse: if you wouldn't use it to feed or clothe your own family, it’s got no business going to a neighbor. Lately, though, the shelves have been looking a little bare. They used to watch a big semi-truck roll in with high-quality goods from folks who had plenty to spare. But since the pandemic, that truck stopped coming altogether, and it left a heavy ache in their inventory.
But around here, the need doesn't stop just because the trucks do.
A Call to Our Neighbors: If you are looking to pass along items that still have life left in them, please know the store is in deep need right now. The community is constantly searching for furniture, kids’ clothes, kitchen items, towels, and blankets. Bringing these gently used pieces in helps us keep the shelves and racks full for the folks who need them most.
Even when clothes sit on the racks too long or don't quite fit what our folks need right now, they don't get thrown out. They get packed up and sent out to expand our circle of care, heading to places like Mountain Mission or shelters down in Tennessee to help folks down there. From the freely given church pews and old pianos sent to small country churches, to the saved-up school supplies hidden away for a child who needs them, the store is a living, breathing, network of care.
Betty Mosley has been the heart and face of the Community Store for nearly twenty-four years, working every floor from the cash register to the sorting and lifting in the back. She keeps the Southern gospel music playing through the speakers, (Kevin Wilson, specifically) letting it fill up the room and in people's spirits.
Betty knows that sometimes, a voucher just isn't enough. She still remembers the woman who walked in with a voucher for clothes but didn't have a dime to clear the fees or to even get herself to a doctor's appointment. Betty didn't think twice, she reached into her own pocket and helped her. That’s how faith is lived out in these hills, not by preaching from a podium, but by doing the work from the heart. And Betty has the heart. As Betty says, you can't just talk about it—you've got to talk it, live it, and walk it. It’s about doing it from the heart, making sure everyone who walks through those doors feels loved.
Then there’s Candi, who’s spent nearly six years listening to the community across that counter. She keeps a thick paper folder packed with emergency requests for furniture, and because she knows she can’t fix every broken thing, she tries to save her inventory for the absolute hardest cases—the big families who lost everything to a house fire, or the elderly folks trying to start over in a cold room. When a solid couch or a sturdy kitchen table gets carried through the back door, Candi already knows exactly whose life that wood and fabric is going to change. She's the type that feels deeply when she sees a young mother drag herself through the door, the heavy exhaustion of raising a family in these hills weighing down her shoulders. While that tired mama tries to look through the racks for a moment of peace, Candi will step out from behind the counter. She'll drop down to the floor, laughing and playing with the kids, keeping them happy and distracted so their mother can just take a long, deep breath.
Working here, you see the whole circle of life pass right before your eyes. Candi felt that deeply not long ago when a regular customer passed away. After she passed, her son came walking through those same doors. He wasn't looking for much—just a decent button-up shirt for his father to wear for his sweet mother's funeral, needing to find some small piece of dignity during the hardest mile of his life. It hits you right in the chest, seeing generations walk through the same door, finding a light when the world gets dark.
We cannot let this light fade out. When the sun sets over the hills, you realize this Community Store is so much more than a building with racks of clothes and shelves of kitchenware. It is the absolute anchor of our community. The trucks from the north may have stopped, but the heartbeat of this ministry depends entirely on us looking out for our own. We have to keep showing up, keeping the shelves full, and ensuring that Appalachian grace stays alive and well right here where it belongs.
- Kayla Smith, Development Gifts and Media
Coats and Counseling
Who would have thought there could be a link between winter coats and mental health wellness? Caring people brought the two together this week for the students at Red Bird Christian School (RBCS)?
Faye Brock and Tony Morgan are the people that teamed up this week to bring their resources to benefit RBCS students. Faye is Assistant Director for School-Based Services for Mountain Comprehensive Care Center (MCCC) and Tony is the Family Resource Center Coordinator at Stinnett Elementary School in Leslie County. On Wednesday, they brought a donation of coats to RBCS that will be held at Red Bird Community Outreach for students in need when the temperatures start dropping.
When asked how the collaboration between MCCC and the Stinnett Elementary Family Resource Center came about, Faye said,
“We just wanted to make a donation to Red Bird because MCCC will be partnering with Red Bird Christian School, and we want to support the community in any way we can.”
Mountain Comprehensive Care Center already provides mental health services and support to our broader community through their office located in Red Bird Mission’s Schaeffer Building. Faye, a Licensed Professional Care Associate, brought along MCCC colleague Helen Collett, M.Ed, LPCA, to tour RBCS because she will be working this year to extend their services to RBCS students and families.
Faye said,
“We truly appreciate everything Red Bird does for the community, and we believe MCCC shares that same heart for serving children and families. We look forward to building a great partnership together!”
In his coordinator role with the Stinnett Family Resource Center, Tony works with families living in Leslie County to see that they have the resources needed for their children to thrive in school settings. He plans to share other resources to help Leslie County families coming to Red Bird Mission for assistance in the future.
School Clothes and Shoes Funded
Thank you to all for the generous gifts in the past three weeks for Back to School Assistance. Your compassionate care for school children in low income households came through to ensure Red Bird Mission Community Outreach can include a voucher and a new pair of shoes with each backpack filled with school and classroom supplies. Families of those 100 children will come to the Summer Family Fun Engagement Event on July 21st where other service organizations in the region will be passing out free merchandise and sharing information about services that can help them thrive during the upcoming school year.
Ohio Hearts Meet at Red Bird
It was great to witness one of those God moments this week when folks from different cities in Ohio came together at Red Bird in service to do their part to alleviate hunger here in the hills of Appalachia. With compassionate hearts to provide food to the pantry program Ralph and Nadine Aller make regular trips to Red Bird Mission from their home in McComb, Ohio throughout the year to donate food they’ve purchased for the Food Pantry in Community Outreach. They backed up to the loading dock Monday morning with 300 pounds of meats and cheese and 400 pounds of dry and canned food to fight hunger here in the hills. The unloading went quickly as Work Camp volunteers from Indian Run United Methodist Church in Dublin, Ohio that have come with a heart to serve wherever needed at Red Bird carted and shelved or refrigerated the van load of food in a matter of minutes.
Farmers Market Picks Up After 4th
Red Bird Farmers Market took a holiday last Friday since Red Bird Mission was closed for the 250th Anniversary of Independence Day. The market was back full speed today as folks were picking up cabbage for sauerkraut, tomatoes, eggs, kale, kohlrabi, beets, collard greens, sweet corn, zucchini, squash, new potatoes, onions, peppers, beans, jam, and homemade baked goods.
Patrons qualifying for the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program and the Community Farm Alliance Double Dollars went home with full bags of fresh produce to cook up and preserve. Overall, 90 shoppers showed up today spending $722 with 10 different farmer vendors.
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