The Friday Finish - "You learn humility, gratitude..." - Clothing, Shoes Needed - DD = More Veggies - Staying Fit Easier
- Tim Crawford
- 1 day ago
- 5 min read
June 26, 2026
“You learn humility, gratitude, and resourcefulness…”
Sue and her husband, Craig, retired back in 2008 and came down from Indiana to volunteer. She had never met me before and had no idea who my family was—she just knew me from my stories. But as we sat there talking about her very first visits here, we uncovered a little piece of history.
On Sue's first few visits volunteering, she was supposed to work in the library with Phyllis Crouse. But plans changed at the last minute, and she was told they desperately needed a bus monitor for the preschool instead. So, Sue hopped on the bus. The woman driving that preschool bus, and still driving that bus to this day? My mother, Amy.
When I told Susan that Amy was my mom, the connection instantly shifted. Susan started telling me about how my mom drove her through these hills, and how she looked out at the sun coming through the trees and told my mom,
"My gosh, you live in heaven. You just live in the most gorgeous place in the world."
If you grew up in these mountains, it’s as normal to you as breathing. You take it for granted until you leave. But hearing Susan talk about my mama—who has been pouring her heart into these preschool kids for over thirty years now—filled me up completely.
Susan is the kind of volunteer who rolls up her sleeves and gets right in the middle of where the need is. She joked with me that she quickly learned she didn't have much of a talent for power tools, but she found her absolute joy in our outreach programs, working close with the women and children here.
Over the years, she has stepped in wherever the mission is short-staffed. This week she has worked with her granddaughters along her side to help get our local kids ready for school, personally picking out shoes, socks, and filling backpacks so our babies can walk into the classroom with a sense of excitement.
She’s been found in the baby pantry, assembling bags to support new moms, and organizing donations in the Christmas room. When the big delivery trucks roll in, Sue is right there helping move inventory, packing up senior food boxes, and getting those heavy commodity boxes ready for our elderly neighbors.
What makes Sue and Craig's story so special is that they aren't from here. They came as outsiders, but they stayed long enough to grow beautiful roots right alongside us. They didn't just volunteer; they became friends and neighbors.
Susan spoke so lovingly about the people who became her family down here, those people happen to be mine too. She talked about Joyce Sizemore, a faithful and devoted neighbor whose deep devotion to this valley has been a constant source of inspiration and friendship.
And she laughed remembering the smart as a tack, resilient spirit of folks like Mark Smallwood, who once famously hooked up a musical keyboard straight to his truck battery just to make sure a local wedding had music.
"People come here thinking they are going to help,"
Susan told me, as she looked into my eyes.
"But they end up being the ones transformed. You learn humility, gratitude, and resourcefulness from the people who live here."
These powerful experiences teach a lesson that volunteers carry back into their own everyday lives. That is the real secret of the Red Bird Mission. Folks come from all over the world to serve, but they end up learning from us, loving us, and realizing they just want to be with us.
- Kayla Smith, Development Gifts and Media
Clothing Vouchers and Shoes Still Need Funding
In less than a month, 100 children and youth will be lining up at Red Bird Christian School to pick up a new backpack at the Summer Family Fun Event. Donors and volunteers are providing new backpacks and school and classroom items that all students are expected to bring at the beginning of the 2026-27 school year. The Back to School Assistance Program administered by Red Bird Mission (RBM) Community Outreach serves children living in low income families that wouldn’t be able to purchase the supplies and backpacks needed to start the school year.
Each backpack also contains new socks, shoes and a clothing voucher for each student qualifying for Back to School Assistance. We still need funding to complete the purchase of shoes needed and to cover the clothing vouchers. You can help a student by making an online donation today, or mail a check today payable to Red Bird Mission, Inc., 70 Queendale Ctr, Beverly, KY 40913-9607 marked “Back to School Assistance”.
Double Dollars = More Veggies
Sixty-five (65) shoppers turned out last Friday for the Red Bird Farmers Market to buy fresh produce and homemade baked goods and items. They spent $745 with 10 different vendors that were selling honey, kohlrabi, onions, green beans, banana peppers, cauliflower, potatoes, green tomatoes, blueberries, eggs, cakes, fudge, parfaits and more!
Tracy Nolan, Red Bird Mission Community Outreach Director and Farmers Market Manager, reported that Double Dollars granted from the Community Farm Alliance are still available this week for those participating in the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program (FMNP) and WIC FMNP. The Farmers Market Nutrition Program grants an amount to each person/household that meet low income guidelines that can only be redeemed for fresh fruits and vegetables from vendors at a Certified Farmers Market.
Tracy has also assisted a couple of WIC families in neighboring counties get permission to shop at today’s Red Bird market to access Double Dollars. One county has run out of WIC FMNP funds and another is not participating in the WIC FMNP.
Staying Fit Just Got Easier
Staying fit is a challenge anyplace, but it’s a little bit more difficult if you live in the rural mountains of eastern Kentucky. There’s plenty of hiking trails available around Red Bird River but the winding roads with no shoulders make walking for fitness dangerous. However, the Queendale Campus at Red Bird Mission has a walking track and the streets in the center of campus typically don’t have much traffic after business hours.
There’s been more folks walking around Queendale for the last couple of weeks because the Clay County Extension Service launched the Walk Your Way Challenge this summer. Sixteen (16) people in the Red Bird community accepted the challenge this summer to walk 150 hours each week for 12 weeks. Many of the Red Bird Mission and Red Bird Clinic staff from Community Outreach, Red Bird Christian School, the Community Store, Community Health, and Administration are meeting up in the evenings with other community members to walk (and talk!) as they lap around Queendale.
The Walking Track around Red Bird Christian School had been damaged from flooding and beaver dams backing river water into the field, but Shelbi Simmons (former Red Bird Broadband Coordinator) returned to volunteer this summer with Community Outreach and wrote up a Red Bird Mission Work Camp project to rehab the track. This week, a Work Camp team cleaned the track and repaired the bridge.
Students, volunteers, and community members rely on this track to get back and forth from the center of Queendale campus and the school. The track also makes up part of the RBCS Cross Country Course and students use it to walk to the softball field or other activities across the Red Bird River on the Queendale Campus. Residents living in Red Bird Mission Elderly Housing have easy access to the track for socializing and exercise and community members are frequently walking. Nursing students volunteering with Red Bird Community Health regularly update the health education displays and storybook walk placards along the walking track for families strolling with their children.
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