wfn.org | Soup maker nourishes Red Bird Mission through label program

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Jan. 16, 2004  News media contact: Tim Tanton7(615)742-54707Nashville, Tenn.
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A UMC.org Report
By Heather Peck Stahl*

For more than 30 years, United Methodist churches have supported Red Bird
Mission in rural Kentucky by donating Campbell's Soup labels. 

Through the Campbell's Soup Co.'s Labels for Education program, Red Bird
Mission can exchange soup labels for much-needed equipment and supplies that
help support its ministries.

Since 1921, Red Bird Mission in Beverly, Ky., has helped meet the spiritual,
educational and health needs of those living in the southeastern part of the
state. The ministry exists in large part because of the support of churches
of various denominations, but programs like Campbell's help fill the gaps. 

The 14,000 labels collected in 1974, the program's first year, are a far cry
from last year's 1.25 million labels. Over the years, the mission has earned
seven minivans, 15 passenger vans and various school supplies. 

More than half of the adults in the mission do not have a high school
education, and 50 percent of the labor force is unemployed, according to
Brian Barker, director of mission giving for Red Bird Mission.

"The fact that people from at least 35 states, mostly United Methodists, are
mailing us their Campbell's labels illustrates the power of the connectional
church," Barker says. "A bunch of people joined together to do a simple thing
to make a huge difference in our community.

"The labels allow us to buy items we would otherwise not be able to afford;
and (the program) frees us to use financial donations for community outreach,
such as food, clothing and shelter," he says.

The vans, which cost between 1 million and 1.5 million Campbell's Soup labels
each, are used for school-related trips for the church-sponsored Red Bird
Mission School. They also provide transportation for those who can't drive,
for volunteers to deliver meals to senior citizens and for medical
caregivers. 

In addition, the vans transport crafts made by Red Bird residents to raise
money for the mission, and they ferry supplies for volunteers who are
repairing homes or serving Red Bird residents in other ways.

"Most people don't realize how critical these vans are to us," says Tracy
Nolan, director of community outreach. "Without the vans, we would have no
means to conduct most of our ministries. In just home delivery of meals
alone, we must drive 160 miles each day; and that's only a fraction of what
we use them for.

"Each time someone sends in a label," she says, "he or she is helping provide
transportation for a meal to a family, a homeless person to receive shelter,
a sick person to see a doctor or pick up medications, an adult to get to GED
classes, or a shut-in to find friendships at a senior center."

Nolan recalls how one of the vans was recently used for more than
transportation. While delivering groceries to a local couple, a volunteer
learned that the couple's trailer had no water, electricity or bathrooms. "If
it weren't for our transportation ministry, we wouldn't have known this
couple needed help because they never once mentioned it to us. We were able
to help them get a septic tank, electricity and a new trailer." 

In addition to the vans, Campbell's Soup labels have helped the Red Bird
Mission School receive much-needed supplies that the school otherwise could
not have afforded, such as an aquarium, library books, balls, videos and
cassettes.

Tara Saylor, who has been teaching high school business education classes for
six years at the school, recently received a TV-VCR for her classroom. 

The TV-VCR allows her students to watch subject-related videos and learn how
to make PowerPoint presentations, she says. "My kids are so excited. The
TV-VCR has opened up all new possibilities in learning, and I'm so happy to
see the students' minds open. I'm so grateful for the Campbell's Soup labels
to have given us this wonderful gift."

While the 250 students at Red Bird Mission School pay on a sliding scale
ranging from $8 to $51 a month, the school has an operating budget of $1.5
million a year. Red Bird relies heavily on financial donations for day-to-day
upkeep.

Every day, one to 10 volunteers sort, count and prepare the labels for
redemption at the Red Bird Clinic. Once a year in the spring, the labels are
boxed in groups of 70,000 and placed on wrapped pallets. Red Bird Mission
then pays between $300 and $500 to ship the labels to the redemption center.

In addition, Red Bird Mission collects General Mills box tops and Tyson
Foods' Project A+ labels. People interested in supporting the ministry can
mail certificates and labels to: Red Bird Mission, Attn.: Fran Woodworth, HC
69 Box 700, Beverly, KY 40913. 

Donations to the Red Bird Mission School can be made through the
denomination's Advance for Christ and His Church. Checks can be made payable
to Advance GCFA, designated for Advance No. 773728-4, and sent to Advance
GCFA, P.O. Box 9068, New York, NY 10087-9068. Credit-card donors can call
(888) 252-6174.

For more information, contact Barker at (606) 598-3155 or
gifts@rbmission.org. 

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*Stahl is a freelance journalist and editor in Nashville, Tenn.

 
 

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