Spring 2020
buildingfutures A GLIMPSE INTO MOUNTAIN OUTREACH
ARCHERY TEAM HELPS PRESERVE WILLIAMSBURG HISTORY In August, the UC archery team took on a community service project for a historical landmark in our community -- the L&N Depot building, which houses the Whitley County Historical & Genealogical Society and Museum of Whitley County, Kentucky. The group of 35 archers and five Mountain Outreach student volunteers spent the day painting the exterior of the old train depot. This building has needed a dress-up and preservation effort for some time. The community is thankful for the service of these willing students.
SWEET DREAMS
This year, Mountain Outreach (MO) partnered with B-Squad, a local non-profit organization, to construct beds for underprivileged children in our local area. The B-Squad identifies children who do not have a bed to sleep in and provides them with brand-new beds. They also provide a new mattress, sheets, pillows, blankets, pajamas, clothes, and some toys. All items are given to each child just before Christmas. The B-Squad launched this program in 2018 with 25 children, paying more than $300 for each bed to be constructed. Unable to continue funding that expense,
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the B-Squad approached MO in 2019 to see if they could help. The student volunteers at MO researched, designed, and developed a construction plan for a sturdy twin bed that could be assembled easily and bunked if needed. The beds are branded with the B-Squad logo and “Psalm 139:13-14.” Through their partnership with MO, the B-Squad paid approximately one-fourth the original cost for each bed. These savings allowed the B-Squad to more than double the number of children they were able to give beds to in 2019.
ROLE MODELS AT KIDS' GIFT DAYS
When college students walk into an elementary school, they may as well be celebrities. That’s what it feels like to the kids at the local schools where Mountain Outreach (MO) comes in for Kids’ Gift Days. “It’s all about our students engaging as role models for these little kids,” said Marc Hensley, Director of Mountain Outreach. “We want our students to really invest in them while we’re here.” Kids’ Gift Days hold special meaning for Luke Wohlfarth, a freshman baseball player who volunteered this year. Wohlfarth used to be one of the excited elementary kids. Now, he’s the “celebrity” he looked up to as a child. “It’s neat coming back to where I came from,” he said.
“As kids, we never saw someone compete at that level. The students opened my eyes to what I could do.” Kids’ Gift Days provided gifts for 1,265 children this year at Whitley North, Whitley East, Pleasant View, and Boston Elementary Schools. According to the principal at Boston, sometimes the kids are so excited about the gifts they can’t wait until Christmas; they tear open the bags that afternoon at parent pick-up, saying, “Look what I got you!” It’s an exciting time of year. It’s part of the Christmas magic: decorations, gifts, snow, and the college students who encourage the kids to work hard, to dream big, and, of course, to have a very merry Christmas.
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THE SPIRIT OF GIVING CHRISTMAS GIFT DAY 2019
Some find the spirit of Christmas in the colorful glow of the lights on their Christmas tree. Others prefer getting cozy under a warm blanket with a good book and a steaming mug of hot chocolate. For some, all it takes is tapping along to Christmas classics on the radio, and they know the Christmas season has begun. For Mountain Outreach (MO), ushering in the holidays means getting into the spirit of giving. The annual Gift Day helps the MO volunteers do just that. More than 100 volunteers served 141 families this December. They walked families through the MO warehouse helping them choose toys for their children, handing them diapers and baby wipes if they have an infant in the house, and loading food into their vehicles. Toys for Tots went above and beyond in providing high4 Ι UNIVERSITY OF THE CUMBERLANDS
quality, well-thought toys for all ages, as well as giving of their time to volunteer at Gift Day. The families’ gratitude was evident. The moment they came in from the cold, they began smiling. Their faces then became thoughtful as they decided which toys would suit their children best, and sometimes solemn as MO volunteers prayed with them, but their faces always ended up cheery as the families watched their cars fill with food for the holidays. Approximately 20,000 pounds of kid-friendly foods like hot dogs, ravioli, applesauce, pudding cups, and cereal, along with staple items like cooking oil, flour, pancake and cornbread mix, beans, rice, vegetables, canned fruit, fresh fruit, breads, and potatoes were stuffed into cars on Gift Day. Brennan Shortridge, a freshman football player at
Cumberlands, helped prepare the warehouse before Gift Day. He did not realize the event would be so large. “It’s a lot more, and a lot better, than I expected,” Shortridge said. “It’s cool interacting with the people here. Working with MO has really opened my eyes to what I have, how blessed I am, and what I can do for other people. I just want to see people go home happy today, that’s it.” The majority of student volunteers were from the Cumberlands archery team, who has volunteered at this event for several years now. Archery Coach Kris Strebeck helped at Gift Day once and believed the event would be a good opportunity for his archers to bond as a team while simultaneously serving the community. It’s now an annual tradition for the team. “We love doing stuff like this,” said Strebeck. “It’s kind of funny because the ones who have done this year in and year out are excited for it, and meanwhile the freshmen are kind of like, ‘What’s going on?’ But after a bit, they jump in and give an extra hand any way they can.” Gift Day opens the students’ eyes to the need around them and provides glimpses into other people’s lives. The event is usually held the Saturday before students take their final exams for the semester, so as a bonus, it can be refreshing for them to get outdoors and do something besides study. This was senior Tara Currie’s fourth year helping with Gift Day. She says it’s one of her favorite events.
“I think it gets us into the spirit of giving, and it helps us integrate into our community,” she said. “The spirit of giving is an important part of our team. I think it reminds us what Christmas is all about. It incorporates that gratitude into our daily lives as well. And,” she laughed, “we’re stressed going into finals week, so doing this reminds us there’s a light at the end of the tunnel!” Students nearby smiled in agreement. Some of the families served by Mountain Outreach may not have had a real Christmas otherwise. But now, with their cupboards stocked and presents under the tree, they can relax and enjoy the holidays. The MO volunteers can enjoy them too, knowing that their spirit of giving made a real difference this holiday season.
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NEW BEGINNINGS FOR YOUNG FAMILY IN LAUREL COUNTY
In summer 2019, Mountain Outreach constructed its 151st home for a local family in need. Christopher and Bridgett Dezarn of London, Kentucky, had never heard about Mountain Outreach (MO) before. The family of seven had outgrown their two-bedroom trailer, and the list of problems that needed fixed was just too long and expensive for the young family to handle on their own. “We were looking at different places, trying to do something, but nothing ever worked out,” Christopher explained. The new house, consisting of three bedrooms, a kitchen, living room, and two bathrooms, sits on the Dezarns’ property in Laurel County. Once construction was finished, MO fenced in the backyard so the Dezarns’ five daughters have a safe place to play. Mountain Outreach raised the house’s foundation high enough to avoid potential flooding and used the best materials and equipment possible to ensure the home was high-quality. “You need to account for the value of a home,” said Marc Hensley, Director of MO. “You can build a house with low-quality materials, but if the family can’t pay the bills to keep up the house, you haven’t done that family 6 Ι UNIVERSITY OF THE CUMBERLANDS
any good. We find bargains when we can, but we make sure the home has real value.” Additionally, secret blessings are hidden inside the houses MO builds. Once the interior framework of an MO house is complete, the workers write prayers on the studs. Jenna Hensley, Marc’s daughter, said, “My dad always says, ‘It’s not about the projects, it’s about the people.’ Thinking about these girls growing up in the home we’re building makes you feel like you’ve done more than just build a house.” The MO team, which consists of MO staff and Cumberlands students, “fell in love” with the family. The work was tough, but seeing the Dezarns move into their new home made it worth it for the MO team.
SPRING BREAK 2019 Armed with toolbelts, safety goggles, a lot of knowhow and even more heart, Mountain Outreach (MO) got right to work completing construction projects at multiple sites around Letcher County during Spring Break. The most in-depth project was an outdoor classroom for Letcher County Central High School. The new classroom includes birdfeeders, flower boxes, and other similar features for students to learn more about nature and farming. With the decline of the coal industry, teachers in the area have been looking for ways to teach children skills, like farming, which can help provide the kids with more future career options. Other projects included renovating a building on Calvary Campus, which has hosted the MO team during Spring Break the past few years; constructing a wheelchair ramp for a 20-year military veteran; another ramp for an elderly gentleman named Mr. Potter; and repairing gutters and a pre-existing wheelchair ramp at another home. In all, seven construction projects were completed during the week. This years’ team consisted of 16 students, 10 faculty and staff, one local high school student, and six community members. There were a lot of familiar faces on the team. Yet just like every year, new faces joined the group and enjoyed the opportunity to impact others' lives.
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VOLUNTEERS
VALUE
MOUNTAIN OUTREACH INVOLVEMENT IN
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A GLIMPSE INTO MOUNTAIN OUTREACH Spring 2020 . VOLUME 6 Mountain Outreach is a non-profit service organization operated by University of the Cumberlands. Since the organization’s inception in 1982, students and volunteers have built 151 homes from the ground up in Southeastern Kentucky and have completed renovations on hundreds more. The program’s outreach also includes numerous service projects that help children, the elderly, and financially-struggling families with critical and urgent needs. For more information about how to help, please visit ucumberlands.edu/mountainoutreach