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Mass Schedule
| Monday: | 7:30am, 9:00am |
| Tuesday: | 7:30am, 9:00am |
| Wednesday: | 7:30am, 9:00am |
| Thursday: | 9:00am |
| Friday: | 9:00am |
| Saturday: | 5:30pm |
| Sunday: | 8:00am, 10:30am, 6:00pm |
Kentucky Project
Information:
The Kentucky Project is a group of individuals dedicated to Christ’s command to feed the hungry. Each month, we send boxes of food to twenty of the most financially distressed families with children in rural, eastern Kentucky, as identified by Sr. Alice Retzner of Queen of All Saints Catholic Church in Beattyville, Kentucky.
To celebrate, we prepared a “Thanksgiving” dinner to share with our Kentucky friends—100 dinners were served! They, of course, are thankful for our help. We, from St. Barbara’s, are even more thankful for the opportunity to meet Christ’s command to feed the hungry “Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.”(Matthew 25:40). In addition to the dinner, we provided each family with a box of perishable food items, including fresh fruit, vegetables, milk, eggs and chicken. This would not have been possible without the generous donations of St. Barbara parishioners. We thank you all so very much, as do Sr. Alice and all of our Kentucky families.
On our visit, we noticed that our Kentucky friends were much more comfortable with us this year. They all seemed to make a great effort with their appearance, and it is obvious that they “shop” at Sr. Alice’s thrift store. Thank you again for your generous donations of gently used clothing and household items that fill the Christian Layman Corps truck that we send to Beattyville each and every month. The clothing and hygiene products that we have been sending regularly for the past four years have made a remarkable difference in the self-esteem of both the adults and children. In addition to our 20 families, Sr. Alice has distributed clothing and hygiene products to over 300 needy families. Please know that your generosity is making a difference!
Of our original “adopted” Kentucky families, none of the children dropped out of school. This was one of ourgoals, to improve the self-esteem and confidence of the children, and it seems that we are meeting that goal. School drop-out rates are very high among the impoverished families of Appalachia. They are teased for their lack of hygiene and poor clothing and many drop out at the middle school age. We have children that began with us at the middle school level that are now getting ready to graduate from high school. Some even plan to attend junior college! Thanks be to God!!!
Our successes are many—we have had eight families “graduate” on to better circumstances, no longer needing our support. When that happens, Sr. Alice finds another family to take their place. There are so many families in this desperately poor part of the country that need our help.
Thank you for your ongoing support. If you would like to help with a financial donation to help defray our shipping expenses, you can make your check payable to St. Barbara’s Church, notating &Ldquo;Kentucky Project” in the memo line.
Project Impact:
The Kentucky Project positively affects lives for the obvious reason of providing monthly food assistance to these 20 impoverished families. We also have regular church-sponsored collections that provide clothing, furniture, bicycles and toys, etc. These items are available to Sr. Alice to distribute to the needy, or to sell in their recently-built thrift shop that provides employment opportunity, as well as low-cost merchandise for sale.
On our end, we have had unexpected benefits that go beyond the satisfaction of knowing that we are positively impacting these families’ lives in an ongoing manner. One of the most significant benefits is the inclusion of children when we have our monthly packing sessions. Many of these children help their parents/grandparents with shopping, sharing and packing for their Kentucky family. This is helping to foster the life-long habit of helping those in need and creating awareness that not everyone is blessed with a comfortable lifestyle. Some of the children have developed pen-pal friendships with their Kentucky counterparts. Many of the Kentucky families have expressed gratitude that people who don’t even know them care enough to help total strangers.
Project Makeup and Time Investment:
Although the Project is made up mostly of St. Barbara parishioners, we welcome non-parish involvement. Several groups are made up of different faith denominations, working together toward a common goal.
This Project encompasses all five of the St. Barbara pastoral goals: Stewardship, Evangelization, Spiritual formation, Fellowship, and Service.
The unique quality of this ministry is that you can help out in many ways.
The Kentucky Project meets once each month, usually the third Wednesday of each month. Packing sessions begin at 6:30 p.m. and usually end by 8:00. Each group is responsible for buying the food and packing the box(s) for their Kentucky family. On average, this probably requires about 1-2 hours per month.
Because the financial commitment to provide food and shipping costs each month is substantial, most Kentucky families are sponsored by groups (friends/family, faith-sharing groups, CCD, Queen of Angels, etc.), although several are sponsored by individual families.
Those wanting to be involved with the Project, but are unable to commit to sponsoring a family, are able to be involved by making financial contributions that are used to pay for monthly fuel/shipping costs. Tax-deductible donations can be made to St. Barbara’s Church, notating on the memo line that it is to be used for the Kentucky Project.
We also welcome one-time or periodic donations of time and talent. For example, we have had Girl/Boy Scout and civic groups volunteer to help with clothing drives and packing sessions. Students seeking service hours are always welcome at our packing sessions! The St. Barbara’s Ladies Guild and Knights of Columbus have been supportive with donations that helped defray our shipping expenses.
The Bushy Run Lions’ Club provided turkey/grocery certificates to all 20 of our Kentucky families last Thanksgiving. We have generous donors who periodically provide boxes and toiletry items (much appreciated because foodstamps cannot be redeemed for things like shampoo, soap and toothpaste).
Because of the ongoing nature of the Project, we are always looking for new members to either sponsor a new family, or join an existing group. Please, come to one of our packing sessions and feel the energy and excitement that is the Kentucky Project!
Kentucky Project Links:
Photo Gallery - 2008: See Photo Gallery
Contact Information:
Al "Skip" and Barb Kustra
Phone: (724) 864-6886
Email: