The Friday Finish - In the Community, For the Community - What Makes Them Come Alive - Phase II Kickoff - Come and See
- Tim Crawford
- 21 minutes ago
- 7 min read
March 13, 2026
Hunger Relief – In the Community, For the Community
Warmer spring-like temperatures have led to forsythia, pear and wild cherry trees blooming and redbud trees are swelling. Some gardens had already been tilled, and the meeting room at the Red Bird Mission Annex was filled Tuesday evening with gardeners ready for another productive Red Bird Grow Appalachia (GA) season. Those gathered were catching up since they’d last met talking about shared family, friends and memories.
Kelton Adams, Red Bird Mission Economic Opportunity Director, and Pino Brock, Red Bird GA Field Coordinator, called the group to order welcoming the 60 families represented at the first monthly growers meeting. Kelton said that 70 applications had been received, but the grant guidelines from Berea GA limits the Red Bird group to 60 households. All but six present have participated in GA previously, and everyone has planted a garden at least once.
Kelton and Pino praised the track record of the growers present, passed out basic info on garden planning, and distributed harvest sheets emphasizing that production records is the key to continuing Red Bird GA funding. Last year, Red Bird GA reported production of 5 ½ tons of vegetables and fruit recording over $16,000 in food distributed via market vouchers for low income elderly and WIC recipients.
The meeting adjourned with families picking up onion sets and pea seed from the front of the room before heading out to line up to load bags of seed potatoes and organic fertilizer. Normally, a line seen backed up at God’s Storehouse represents food coming from another community for hunger relief, but Tuesday night’s line was all about the Red Bird GA families providing hunger relief by growing food in the community for their community.
What Makes Them Come Alive
Call me old fashioned, but I still believe middle school should feel a little bit like a test run for life. This year’s 8th grade STEAM rotation at Red Bird did exactly that. Before these kids ever pick a high school pathway or start talking about careers, they had to roll up their sleeves and try on three very different worlds: Agriculture, Culinary Arts, and Aerospace.
Instead of just reading about things in a book, they got a crash course in actually doing them. “We got to do a lot of things that we haven't done in any other class before,” said 8th grader Bryan Smith. “I'd recommend anyone to do it and I would do it again.” That’s the heart of STEAM here: giving our kids chances to try new and different things they might not ever see otherwise.
In Agriculture, they didn’t just hear about plants—they became gardeners. Students planted different seeds in “greenhouse milk jugs” and watched them push up through the soil week after week. Some grew carrots, some grew wildflowers, all of them grew a little patience. They learned what a seed needs to grow properly, how to lay out a garden, how to cultivate food, and why good food matters so much for their bodies. “I never knew how to grow anything before,” said Hallie Pennington, “but now I understand it better.”
In Aerospace, their classroom ceiling basically turned into a launch pad. Students learned about the wonders of space and the rockets that get us there. They assembled their own rockets and then took them outside to send them into the sky, along with the science behind how hot air balloons and planes take lift off. “I learned how to build a rocket and about Artemis II, a big rocket that was built for years that went around the moon,” said Dalton Whitehead.
Culinary Arts might have been the tastiest part of the whole rotation. Students learned how to responsibly and safely prepare meals on their own, starting with basics and working their way up to dishes that would make any Appalachian mamaw nod in approval. Homemade jelly, mashed potatoes and biscuits were just a few of the things they made. “The class was fun and the best part was eating!” laughed Liam Marcum.
As this year’s 8th grade STEAM classes come to an end, it’s less about saying goodbye to a class and more about carrying these new skills and memories into whatever comes next. Some kids discovered they love being outside with their hands in the dirt. Some lit up talking about rockets and the moon. Some realized cooking didn’t have to be scary—it could be fun and independent. That’s the gift of STEAM at Red Bird: out here in these hills, our kids get room to experiment, mess up, try again, and find out what makes them come alive.
- Kayla Smith – Development Gifts & Media
Board Member Kicks Off Phase II
Dozens of students, teachers and parents were excited to hear this week that the crane and chiller delivery is scheduled for Thursday of next week. The 40-year old chiller will be removed and the new chiller set in place so that contractors can begin installation in advance of warmer temperatures.
Our Cool the School campaign now moves to the next phase, replacement of the air handlers for classrooms, hallways and stairwells at Red Bird Christian School. These units have also been in service since the school building first opened in 1983. They have been repaired and maintained over the years, but are in need of replacement before they completely “die” leaving students without heating or cooling in classrooms. Teachers are using screwdrivers to adjust the temperature of the 40-year old units where plastic knobs rotted years ago.
Yesterday, after the Red Bird Mission Board of Directors received a status update on the chiller delivery and installation from Sylvester Nolan, Red Bird Mission Maintenance Director, board members heard Tim Crawford, Development Director, share the plans to open Phase II for the funding of the units by making an appeal to have individuals, alumni groups, businesses, organizations and churches sponsor the units required for each classroom. One board member that has volunteered as the Kindergarten classroom aid, raised his hand and said, “I’ll be a sponsor for the Kindergarten room.”
The average cost to buy and install each classroom unit is $10,000. Sponsors donating a minimum $1,000 for a classroom unit will have their name placed on a recognition plaque mounted in the classroom. Units in hallways and stairwells must be replaced and in rooms like the library and STEAM classroom that are larger, will need more than one unit.
Any contribution helps, but you can join our board member/volunteer by donating to complete the funding for the Kindergarten room. Simply enter Cool the Kindergarteners in the comment box when you make an online donation, or add that in the memo of your check. Click the link to donate now online, or mail your check to Red Bird Mission, Inc., 70 Queendale Ctr, Beverly, KY 40913-9607 marked “Cool the School”.
Come and See
Like a New Testament believer who’s been touched by Jesus calling someone to “come and see” the Messiah, Red Bird Mission is blessed with volunteers and visitors inviting others to “come and see” how Red Bird is touching people today for Jesus. This week, Virginia Young, was back for the 13th year to volunteer bringing another first time volunteer, Jenna, to help.
They jumped in to help like others doing whatever was needed - working in the food pantry pushing out boxes for people coming for food, unpacking boxes and organizing items in the Baby Pantry or Christmas Room, and preparing for special clinics hosted by Red Bird Mission Community Outreach. When we caught up with Virginia and Jenna on today, they were helping set up for the Humanitarian Hearing Health Clinic coming in Monday and Tuesday and the KYNECT health insurance representatives and Kentucky Homeplace Diabetic Shoe Clinic coming Tuesday.
Virginia first came to Red Bird in 2011 when her husband, Franklin, attended a United Methodist historical society meeting during the 90th anniversary year of the Mission’s founding. She took DVD’s and other promotional material about Red Bird Mission back to her church in Boone, North Carolina to share with her pastor. Her pastor’s response may have surprised her because he said,
“I'd like you to start a mission group to go to Red Bird.”
Virginia credits the Disciple Bible Study strengths survey for her long term volunteer service at Red Bird. That survey revealed caring for people and compassion as her strength which also ties back to her successful professional career as a nurse before retirement.
When asked what keeps her returning, she said,
“I just enjoy coming here and doing different things.
“People ask me what Red Bird Mission does, and I say, well, just look around at your county and all the organizations that your county does [to help others] and Red Bird will do them, and if they can't, they know where you can go to do it.
“You just look at their [Community Outreach] board out there [reception and hallway], the different [programs], and meeting the different people run all those different [programs] like that water. You [community residents] can fill up with water for people who don't have enough water, good drinking water.”
Virginia often brings someone, like Jenna, who’s never been to Red Bird Mission. Jenna was helping Virginia pack up after a fundraiser in a local church when Virginia began telling her about Red Bird. Jenna was captured with the idea of coming to Red Bird and scheduled this week off from work to see what Red Bird does to help the community.
If you’ve never visited us before, come visit us to see for yourself what is happening at Red Bird Mission. Every area of Red Bird Mission needs volunteers throughout the year. You might just wind up getting caught up in caring for others and sharing your compassion here at Red Bird like Virginia first discovered 13 years ago.
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