Category Outreach

The following is an article from the Painstville Herald.

JCSO “Full Baskets, Full Bellies” feeds 300 kids

A Paintsville Herald staff report

For the second year, the Johnson County Sheriff’s Department oversaw the “Full Baskets, Full Bellies” project to ensure more than 300 children in need would not go hungry while they are home for two weeks on Christmas Break.

The sheriff’s office began taking donations as far back as October, with volunteers collecting donations at Walmart and Food City.

“Last year, when we began this project, we weren’t sure how many students we would be able to impact,” said Sheriff Dewayne Price. “This year, we were more prepared and aware of the number of students that we would need to impact...

The Piarist Outreach Program has worked for over 20 years providing clothing, household items, emergency home repairs, school supplies, and more to the families in eastern KY. One of the most important parts of the Outreach Program is the Christmas Drive. Outreach Director Audrey Collins has been working for months with local agencies, local families, and schools across the surrounding five counties to gather names of children living below the poverty line who would not otherwise receive a store bought gift. The project is massive and takes a lot of planning and help from volunteers across the country to carry out.

This year, over 600 kids in the area will be receiving two store bought gifts delivered to them by Santa, Mrs. Claus, and Mrs. Collins herself...

The following is a note of thanks from Outreach Director Audrey Collins. 

2017 was a wonderful year for some families in eastern KY. This year we welcomed a group from Louisiana led by two women. They tore off a porch and replaced it with another complete with a new roof. Thank you for your donation to the camp.

Next we welcomed a group from ‘Helping Hands Ministry’ from Loogootee, IN. They built two wheelchair ramps for families in need and have already rescheduled for next year. Thank you for all of your hard work and for always helping us with Christmas gifts for the kids.

The third group came to us from Fischers, IN. They built two wheelchair ramps and also helped out at the school and camp with various projects. This is one group that has already rescheduled for next year...

The following is a letter from the Youth Minister of  St. Paul the Cross on the impact of their mission trip to eastern KY to work with the Piarist Outreach Program. 

I first came to the Piarist Outreach Mission Trip in 2010 as a senior in high school. We worked on a lady named Mary’s house, completely re-doing her living room, working on her roof, and building a ramp for her. Not only did we give Mary a level floor and solid walls for her living room, we got to know Mary as a person. We heard about her love of family, devotion to Jesus and sadness over the drug epidemic. From Mary, I learned what it means to share your love of Jesus with others and give generously. Even though Mary didn’t have much, she insisted on making us lunch and giving us some of the knick-knacks from her house...

The following is a letter written by Jennifer Bollich, the Youth Minister at St. Mary of False River Catholic Church, on what brought their parish to work with the Piarist Outreach Program and the aftermath of their mission trip to eastern KY.  The volunteers who come to eastern KY to donate their time and efforts do so out of a calling from God to help those in need. These volunteers stay at the Piarist Frontier Camp. This was the old Oddfellow’s Camp and was renamed after Audrey and Ed took over as caretakers and managers of the property. The Piarist School Outreach is eternally grateful for the help volunteers provide. We could not do our work without theirs. 

August 28, 2017

In 2014 Fr...

One of the most important parts of the Piarist School’s mission is our Outreach Program. This summer Outreach Director Audrey Collins has been gearing the program up once again. Currently, she and volunteers have been working with St. Albert the Great and Helping Hands Christian Missions to put together food donation packages for 100 kids in need in eastern KY. St. Albert the Great and Helping Hands Christian Missions generously donated the food items and transported them to the school. From there, Collins has been working with volunteers to separate the items into packages to be delivered soon to the 100 families.

Currently, the Outreach Program is also working with volunteers from New Roads, LA who are donating their time, materials, money, and hard work to assist in emergency home repa...

2015 was very big year for us. As you know, we had to move our school from the building we had occupied since the 1990’s. After a long and uncertain process, we acquired an old alternative school in Johnson County that was in major disrepair. With the new school year looming, we had a strict deadline to meet to get the school ready for students and faculty. There was no way this would have happened without the amazing contributions of several groups who traveled to eastern Kentucky to help us repair and build classrooms, offices, and the outreach area.

We would like to acknowledge the tireless work of Helping Hands Christian Missions from Indiana. 2015 was their 10th year of working with us, and I cannot say enough how much we value their friendship...

Each year we have some wonderful people volunteering to come to KY for their Mission work. This year we were fortunate enough to have several groups volunteering to repair homes in eastern KY.

Helping Hands Christian Missions returned again this year. They are a group of wonderful people from several Parishes in Indiana who give to help others. Together they repaired two homes and built ramps and decks. This group also buys gifts for 100 + children each year. Thank you my friends.

Next we welcomed St. Michael’s group from Greenville, PA. Together they repaired 3 homes and also helped work at our school. This group also shared their ministry with several families and their wonderful cooking with us...