The Friday Finish - "...hands and feet..." - 1 Clay Boost - "Wagon Wheel" - Job Development - Matching Money - Mommy-Baby Fair
- Tim Crawford
- 3 hours ago
- 5 min read
September 12, 2025
“The hands and feet of Jesus”
Red Bird Mission Work Camp does not schedule teams the week of Labor Day, but the north end of Queendale Campus was filled this week with lots of familiar faces, and some new faces, opening up the Fall Work Camp “season.” All four groups came last year and some have been coming literally for decades to help repair homes for families and lend aid in our Red Bird Mission program activities.
Carolyn came twelve years ago with a “ladies only” team from White River Christian Church in Noblesville, Indiana, and returned this year with a group of 15 women, some coming to Red Bird for the first time. Each year, the White River team completes a home repair project and jumps into assisting with Community Outreach the rest of the week. Not everybody could work on the community home project this year, so some spent the week assisting with meal delivery, food box preparation, and leading devotions and activities at the DeWall Senior Center on the Beverly Campus.
The group came in on Saturday so they could worship with Pino Brock, a former crew leader for the group, on Sunday morning. They also brought a special donation to buy uniforms for the Red Bird Christian Middle School basketball team that Pino coaches. The entire group closed out their week of service on Thursday at the DeWall Center where Pino gave his moving, personal testimony and sang special music.
One of the White River newcomers shared about her assigned tasks that included riding along to deliver meals to the elderly, helping with activities at the DeWall Center, and prepping boxes for the Food Pantry. Her face lit up when she told about helping clean an apartment for a community person. She summed up her week of service saying,
“It was good to just be the hands and feet of Jesus.”
1 Clay County Boosts Home Repair
Red Bird Mission was established in northeastern Bell County 104 years ago. The acquisition of farm land in Clay County from Henry Ford’s tractor and truck company, the Fordson Company, in the 1940’s was intended to provide food for the Beverly Campus. However, over the decades the flat, river bottom land became prime building sites for Red Bird Mission’s growing facility needs. Today, almost all of the Red Bird facilities are in Clay County.
1 Clay County is a nonprofit organization working to boost tourism, revitalize downtown Manchester, and promote local culture, history and beauty. On Thursday, 1 Clay County Executive Director Mike White and Board Chair Terry Grey boosted the impact of Red Bird Mission Work Camp with a significant gift to purchase additional materials for home repair. These funds come at a time of year when additional funds are needed to maximize the use of highly skilled volunteers that make homes safe and healthy for families and individuals living in poverty.
“Wagon Wheel” and PT
The Red Bird Civil Air Patrol (CAP) Cadets were honored with an incredible visit from Technical Sergeant Andrew Komula, Assistant Flight Sergeant at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Air Reserve Station. You might wonder—what brought him to our little corner of Kentucky? TSgt Komula traveled here as part of Latrobe Community Ministries, his church group, for the Red Bird Mission Work Camp Program. While here, his group has been hard at work improving two local homes for our community.
This wasn’t Komula’s first time supporting the Red Bird 801st Cadets. His first visit was to speak with first-year cadets during a RBM Work Camp. During his second visit, Andrew went above and beyond, renting a U-Haul to deliver much-needed gear like boots and uniforms. Traveling all the way from Pittsburgh to Kentucky in a single day for our cadets shows the dedication he has to these young leaders.
This year, TSgt Komula led the cadets in Physical Training. They started with stretches and three-count push-ups, then tackled a mile run. In true CAP spirit, the group finished together as a team in a "wagon wheel" formation, ensuring no one was left behind. During his visit, TSgt Komula spent time with our cadets, sharing insights from his background and emphasizing the importance of core values. One standout lesson was about paying close attention to small details—like maintaining a proper uniform—because, as he put it, "If you can’t be trusted with your uniform, you can’t be trusted with bigger things.”
When thanked with a patch and coin from Major Adams and asked by Lieutenant Smith if he had any words of wisdom to share, TSgt Komula replied,
"I don’t have any good quotes. I'm not good at that kind of stuff, ha-ha, but thank you for the patch and the coin! I really appreciate it!"
His response reflects the humility of someone who lets actions speak louder than words, a mindset that is truly inspiring.
Red Bird Partners Solidify Support for Job Development
Representatives from five organizations – Connect Humanity, Just Transition Fund, Rural Lisk, Lite Linx, and Broadband Catalysts – were on the Queendale Campus Wednesday to explore the viability of providing partnership support to Red Bird Mission for community job and workforce development. They spent the day meeting with Red Bird Mission program directors and touring campus locations to analyze the potential for further development of broadband access for expanded rural education, workforce development and economic opportunity for the people in the Red Bird Mission service area. At the end of the day, all agreed that they would commit to provide technical and financial assistance needed for Red Bird Mission to submit a letter of intent to apply for a POWER grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission.
Double Your Impact - Matching Funds Still Available
Give online using the link to our 2025 Homecoming Challenge donation form or, if you prefer, mail your check marked “Homecoming Challenge” payable to Red Bird Mission, Inc., 70 Queendale Ctr, Beverly, KY 40913-9607. Those giving online have the options of using credit or debit cards, direct debit, Apple Pay, or PayPal.
Berea Nursing Seniors Connect at Mommy and Baby Fair
Ten Berea College Nursing students were present Thursday with Candace Collins, Red Bird Mission Community Outreach Women and Children Ministries Coordinator, at the AdventHealth Mommy and Baby Fair held at EKU Manchester. Almost 150 were registered in attendance for the day to pick up useful information and needed “freebies” to take home.
One student said,
"It was incredible to see so many valuable resources gathered in one space - and the generosity of the door prizes truly stood out! I wish there was an event like this back home."
Candace shared useful info and donated items from the Community Outreach Baby Pantry as well as handmade dresses and shorts made and shipped to Red Bird to share with our communities. Led by Berea Nursing Faculty Dr. Lisa Turner, PhD, RN, the Berea Nursing seniors, as part of their Community Health Nursing clinical, provided health education on the following topics: Developmental milestones, Smoke-free pregnancy, Postpartum depression, Exercise during pregnancy, Foods to avoid during pregnancy, and Prenatal care.
One student enjoyed the face to face opportunity saying,
"It was so great getting to interact with the parents, babies, and kids."
Another saw how important the event was for families stating,
"It was heartwarming to see families connect with resources they didn’t know existed."