Stories of Impact

Richard and Deborah White made a quick trip from middle Tennessee this week to drop off a donation for the school and donations of needed items at Community Outreach on Tuesday morning. Deb was excited to share how God had worked to help fill the UHaul truck.

Patty Vance, Red Bird Mission School Alumna and Red Bird Christian School Elementary Teacher, goes beyond the expected to give our students opportunities leading to excellence in careers and life after graduation. One of her passions is involving our students in the 4-H Communications Competition because she knows successful people need to be effective communicators. Following is her Facebook post reporting the outcomes at this year’s 4-H Communications State Championships.

Work Camp volunteers oftentimes bring a double blessing to campus because they bring needed items from their hometown and spend four days doing home repair for someone living below the poverty line. Monday, the Wet Feet Ministries Work Camp team unloaded a trailer full of durable medical equipment like walkers and shower benches that is needed but unaffordable by people living here in the mountains.

Work Camp volunteers oftentimes bring a double blessing to campus because they bring needed items from their hometown and spend four days doing home repair for someone living below the poverty line. Monday, the Wet Feet Ministries Work Camp team unloaded a trailer full of durable medical equipment like walkers and shower benches that is needed but unaffordable by people living here in the mountains.

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.

Before it was over, I told her I could have easily stayed right there and talked to her all day. It’s just that special kind of feeling you get when you’re sitting down and talking with your mamaw—In the mountains, comparing someone to your mamaw is the absolute highest compliment you can give—it means instant safety, warmth, and home.

From June 15-18, the folks at Rural Up hosted their STEM Explorer Camp, and let me tell you, it has been something truly special for our community.

The vision of providing opportunities for training and working from community that Red Bird leadership began to put on paper six years ago is taking a huge step forward with this week’s public announcement of a major grant award. Red Bird Mission, Inc., has been awarded $1.9 million by the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) for the Red Bird Mission Connected Campus Initiative that will bring reliable, high-speed internet to its campus in Clay County, Kentucky.

For a lot of elders in our hills, “going to the garden” used to be as normal as breathing. They were raised on beans, corn, and tomatoes they grew themselves.

Red Bird was in a similar mode since last week celebrating commencements across the campus that draw our families and community together to mark the accomplishments of our children and youth during the 105 years of education at the Red Bird Mission.

After discussing for years the dilemma requiring every student pay tuition between $100 and $610 to offset the annual education cost of approximately $7,000 per student at Red Bird Christian School (RBCS), the Red Bird Mission Board of Directors took action yesterday to eliminate the tuition requirement beginning with the 2026-2027 school year.

Last Friday, the Red Bird Christian School (RBCS) Appalachian Studies and Ag Science classes made a trip to the Sheep Shearing Days at the Museum of Appalachia in Clinton, Tennessee.

Storytelling is an art that is perfected with time, and most Appalachians have been entertained by Jack Tales for generations. Joel Brashear has been telling stories for over 20 years, and Thursday he captured the attention of students that filled the Red Bird Christian School (RBCS) Chapel.

Paul grew up in Perry County, Kentucky in a hardworking family that struggled at times. He was not averse to tell people his motivation for hunger relief, saying, “I know what it means to grow up hungry as a kid.” He worked tirelessly to resource, pack and transport thousands of food boxes for the Red Bird Mission Crisis Emergency Food Pantry.

Easter is a time for hope and Wednesday’s chapel services at Red Bird Christian School sent students home for Easter break with the message of hope.

Not everyone in the Class of 2026 at Red Bird Christian School (RBCS) was able to make the week-long Senior Class Trip to Gulf Shores in October, but a day-trip to the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area in Tennessee last Friday included them. The class travelled as a group to Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies, Dolly Parton’s Pirates Voyage Dinner and Show, and Wonderworks, an indoor experiential attraction that was also educational.

Old Man Winter threw another round of snow and cold on Monday, but there was plenty of warmth spread throughout Red Bird Mission Community Outreach on Monday and Tuesday. Eight (8) audiology student volunteers from the University of Louisville (U of L) School of Medicine welcomed 72 community residents to assess hearing and provide critical maintenance on hearing devices.

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.

The colorful logo depicting green mountains, a rainbow and the name of the organization, Mission of Hope, on the side of the box truck just warms the heart when it pulls onto the Red Bird Mission Queendale Campus. And, the love from the volunteers bringing needed items to the families in these Appalachian Mountains personifies hope.

Saturday in Madisonville felt like one of those moments where everything lines up and you just know you're looking at something that matters.