On the Road
Growing Up Too Fast
Teenagers in Bath County, Kentucky are already having to learn how to take care of themselves
Bath County, Kentucky is known historically for the mineral and medicinal springs from which its name was derived. Unlike many other counties in Eastern Kentucky, Bath County is not a coal-producing area, and the main cash crop there used to be tobacco. This crop provided small farmers with a decent living with the help of the federal Tobacco Price Support Program, in which the government purchased surplus tobacco from farmers to ensure a yearly income […]
Many Reasons to Be Thankful
Our CEO, Ron Carter, reflects on what he is grateful for this Thanksgiving
Growing up in a fairly average middle-class American family, I never went without food or decent clothing, and I always received birthday and Christmas gifts. My parents weren’t particularly wealthy, yet they were able to pay the bills; we had a solid roof over our heads and a sturdy shelter to protect us from the elements. I, like so many raised this way, took it for granted that everyone was provided for — that all […]
New Schools and More Kids in Need
When the school year starts, our coordinators meet new children who need support
After two days of visiting our affiliated schools in Lawrence County, Kentucky, U.S. Projects Specialist Shelley Oxenham and I traveled about an hour south to Floyd County to meet with a new Volunteer Coordinator, Scott Shannon, as well as to visit with a long-term coordinator, Sharon Collins, who had recently been transferred to a new school. Although Scott was brand new to the Children Incorporated program and Sharon was not, since they were both new […]
A Family That Gives Back
Meeting the Sawyer Family in Kentucky
When Shelley Oxenham, U.S. Projects Specialist, and I met with our Volunteer Coordinator, Brenda Curry, at Fallsburg Elementary School in August, the first thing Brenda wanted to talk about was a very special family that she had arranged for us to visit with that afternoon. Stewart and Carolyn Sawyer* live in a small home in Lawrence County, Kentucky, about a twenty-minute drive away from the school, where their son, Michael*, who is sponsored through Children […]
Home Is Where the Heart Is
Why families in Kentucky don’t just leave and start over
Since I first started visiting our affiliated projects in Eastern Kentucky in April of 2015, I have been reporting on the burden of poverty that our sponsored children and their families face every day. With a lack of jobs and scarcity of resources for people in need in this region of the United States, I often get asked when I return home: Why don’t people in need just move somewhere else? It is a question […]
A Lack of Transportation in Kentucky
In Lawrence County, many children and adults don’t have the means to leave their homes
In late August, Shelley Oxenham, U.S. Projects Specialist for Children Incorporated, and I traveled to Lawrence County, Kentucky to visit Louisa Middle School and Lawrence County High School. The two schools are located in the Eastern Kentucky Coal Field region in a very rural part of the state. The county is one of the largest in the state, meaning the distances between stores, homes, schools, and businesses are vast. There is no quick trip to […]