The Mid-Tidewater Baptist Association (MTBA) had 29 churches participate in an association-wide project Saturday, Feb. 18 at Hermitage Baptist Church in Church View to pack “Hope for Appalachia” care boxes for the school children of McCreary County, Kentucky.
These boxes will be distributed by the Hope for Appalachia Virginia Inc. organization to the most poverty stricken area in the Appalachian mountains in Kentucky in March.
Because of coal mines being shut down and thousands of jobs lost, the region was left without hope. The Hope for Appalachia coordinator, the Rev. Mike Dodson, was at Hermitage Baptist Saturday and addressed the crowd.
The boxes contain school supplies, hygiene items, fun items, toys, etc. The shoeboxes are delivered to children in schools from pre-kindergarten to 18 years old. McCreary County has a poverty rate triple the national rate and unemployment rate is 10.6%, much higher than the national average.
