The Friday Finish - One Spirit Weaves Helping Hands - Hallelujahs for Hope Given

December 5, 2025

One Spirit Weaves Helping Hands

Christmas in Appalachia is tender and complicated. Money is tight most of the year, and it stretches even thinner when parents start picking out gifts and planning Christmas dinners. Around here, we’re known for putting the happiness of others before ourselves. That’s an Appalachia thing. We are stubborn by nature and do not like to ask for help, but at Christmas, I want folks to know they do not have to carry it alone. Life is hard, and most of us are just doing the best we can with what we have. Christmas is heavy for parents living paycheck to paycheck, doing the math in their heads and quietly deciding to let a bill slide so their children can wake up to the Christmas they deserve. These are not people asking for “extra.” These are parents trying to give their kids one bright, holy morning in the middle of a hard year.

That is where Red Bird Mission Community Outreach steps in. It feels like a set of open arms, ready to take your hand, give you a hug, and say, “It’s okay, we’re here to help you.” The Christmas Assistance Program is truly a blessing for so many neighbors. On December 1st and 2nd, 139 families, 254 children, and 547 household members received Christmas Assistance and were able to give their families the Christmas they had hoped and prayed for. As part of that effort, and courtesy of the Wright Family and Macedonia Church of Georgia, 100 turkeys, 100 hams, 50 canned hams, and 100 boxes of stuffing were distributed to families receiving emergency food boxes and TEFAP, making sure there was something special for the table too.

For us on staff, those days felt like “bring your child to work” day. With Red Bird Christian School on Thanksgiving break, our own children and RBCS students helped carry and distribute boxes to families who came to pick them up. They learned, in real time, that giving and helping hands never really rest, even on your days off.

That is what we want to instill in our children here in the mountains: when you have a chance to help, you show up.

Aside from Christmas Assistance, another gift shared with families in our community is something simple on the outside that means a whole lot more on the inside: Christmas shoeboxes. These are packed for ages two through adult, for boys and girls, women and men. Tucked into each box are toys and stationery and small, steady things like socks, hats, gloves, shampoo, and other self‑care and hygiene items. Those are the kinds of everyday things many adults quietly go without, especially at Christmas. Around here, we will wear socks with a hole in them and go one more winter without good gloves just to save a little extra for our kids’ gifts.

I have always thought the name didn’t quite do these boxes justice. They are not just “shoeboxes.” They are a way of saying, “Hey, you matter. Take care of yourself. Merry Christmas.” This year, 34 churches, school partners, aging programs, and more came together to share the joy of Christmas with our little community and as many neighbors as possible through these gifts. One thing that humbles me most is the diversity of the people who give. From New York to Kentucky, from different churches and denominations, folks link arms to love on a holler they may never see. In the end, it does not matter what is on the church sign. We are all one, and deep down we all want to love and give. That is what Jesus meant when he said, “You will know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:16). The fruits of these donors speak loud and clear. They do not have to give out of their own pockets, or spend evenings and weekends filling a cardboard box with care, but they do. And we are so thankful for every giving heart and every helping hand that reaches toward Red Bird at Christmastime.

Speaking of helping hands, we could not do any of this without our volunteers. This Christmas season, they helped process and distribute more than 2,500 Christmas shoeboxes. That is a lot of love packed, counted, sorted, and carried. Volunteers from Frankfort and Georgetown, Kentucky, spent this past week in the Outreach building making sure every single box was ready to go where it needed to go. Cinde Gorbandt, Sarah Knight, Sarah and Terry Klingenberger, and Kent and Becky Snodgrass gave their time, their backs, and their hearts to this work. Sarah and Cinde drove in from Frankfort to serve, and Cinde even took time away from her own bakery, “Cinde’s Cookie Creations,” to be here. If you ever find yourself in Frankfort, stop in and show her some love. She showed plenty to us.

As I look back over this Christmas season at Red Bird Mission Community Outreach, I see donors, volunteers, and staff all woven together in one long line of helping hands. From churches up north to hollers here at home, from children learning to serve on their day off to adults quietly packing one more box, the same spirit runs through it all. We are deeply thankful for every person who chose to give, show up, and care. My hope is that their dedication will stir something in someone reading this, that it nudges you to help a neighbor, write a card, check on a friend, or simply be kind. Because in a world that feels heavy, kindness is still a gift, and it still matters—especially at Christmas.

-Kayla Smith

Shoebox Delivery Video Story

Support Christmas Outreach at Red Bird

Hallelujahs for Hope Given

A generous matching fund challenge and the compelling need to help Red Bird Mission respond to hunger and provide tuition for promising students yielded a successful 2025 Giving Tuesday campaign for Red Bird Mission. Giving Tuesday calls on people around the world to give generously online to charitable organizations the day after Cyber Monday which comes after Black Friday in the United States. Many organizations launch their Giving Tuesday campaigns earlier in November.

Red Bird Mission announced the purpose of this year’s Giving Tuesday with the subtitle, “Stop Hunger! Give Hope!” Supporters met the $10,000 matching fund challenge to fund Elderly Meal Delivery at Red Bird which has been without government funding this fall. Donations for hunger relief beyond the $20,000 for elderly meals have been allocated for food pantry and food distribution needs during the upcoming winter weeks. A number of donors rose to the call to “Give Hope!” by providing support for student tuition at Red Bird Christian School. At this writing, more than $7,000 additional funding has been received online, or through gifts mailed for Giving Tuesday.