The Friday Finish – June 21, 2024
Some may have noticed for the past couple of weeks that The Friday Finish wasn’t coming to your email inbox, or you hadn’t seen new posts in the Stories of Impact section on redbirdky.org. The editor was away with the Red Bird Christian School Spanish Club’s Puerto Rico trip June 3-15, but we’re getting back on track. We hope to train up others to keep The Friday Finish releases coming to you without pause in the future.
Puerto Rico Learning and Serving
Mrs. Angela Crawford, Spanish/Foreign Language Teacher at Red Bird Christian School, led her last mission/cultural trip to Puerto Rico as she moves toward retirement in the next few years. Read the blog post that summarizes the experience for the 17 students, family members and staff on that trip.
U of L Humanitarian Hearing Clinic Yields Smiles, Happy Tears, and Gratitude
The audiology needs are so great here in the mountain communities served by Red Bird that Colleen Sturgill, Red Bird Community Health Coordinator, was able to schedule two days of appointments for this week’s humanitarian hearing clinic just a month after the Indiana University clinic saw over 80 people. Following is a brief report from this week’s University of Louisville clinic given to Tracy Nolan, Red Bird Community Outreach Director.
University of Louisville's Student Academy of Audiology sent 8 students and 3 supervisors to work with Red Bird Mission for a Hearing Clinic. We saw 75 individuals, fit 19 pairs of hearing aids, and performed countless hearing tests. Using donations and money from grants, Red Bird, and the University of Louisville, we were able to provide much-needed audiologic care to people who have been waiting for 5+ years for service. We were able to hear the life stories of some patients, and we were able to make a difference in so many lives in just 48 hours. We hope to continue our work with Red Bird Mission in the future to continue serving those in need. The trip was a lot of hard work, but the smiles, happy tears, and mutual gratitude made it worthwhile!
The 11 team members were: Dr. Lauren Pollock, Dr. Brittany Brose, Dr. Hannah Borton, Emily Keller, Clare Fults, Emmy Jones, Phil Friggle, Sophia Turbyville, Josie Kinder, Audie Gilchrist, and Annie Burns.
11,296 – That’s a lot of diapers
It’s an effort that scores of families served by Red Bird Mission Community Outreach are grateful for because diapers are costly for their limited income, but the good folks in western New York State have risen to help again this year. Rev. Dr. Bill Allen of First United Methodist Church of Canandaigua, NY and members Rich and Kathy Welch delivered the trailer load of 11,296 diapers that had been collected by their church. Thank you to all those that donated realizing that a fresh diaper is important to maintain good health for our babies and elderly with medical conditions.
Farmers Market Opens
The Red Bird Farmers Market opened on June 7th this year with some show-stopping music and activities to get the local residents primed for a summer of good food and fellowship on Fridays. Charity Gilbert, Berea College Senior Intern working in Community Outreach, provided a great atmosphere for the day. She shared her original music in song, on banjo and guitar, as well as familiar tunes. The good start is a foretaste of many good markets to come this summer.
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