2021 Christian Appalachian Project Annual Report

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2021
ANNUAL REPORT
2 CONTENTS Building hope, transforming lives, and sharing Christ's love through service in Appalachia. christianapp.org 03 President’s Letter 04 Financial Statement 08 By the Numbers 12 Area of Service 16 Our Donors 16 Total Expenses 19 Board of Directors

Susan Jones had been in her home for just five months when historic flooding hit Eastern Kentucky. Her Appalachian home on the Rockcastle River was elevated 14 feet, but the water line in her home after the flood was still at least 2 feet from the floor. You made it possible for Christian Appalachian Project (CAP) to answer the call and help our neighbors, like Susan, when the unthinkable happened.

CAP staff and volunteers did all they could to help save as much of Susan’s wood flooring as possible. When they pulled up the boards, at least a quarter inch of mud coated everywhere they stepped. Although her home sits about 30 feet from the edge of the river, on the day of the flooding, it was like her home was built in the middle of a lake. Susan had to climb over a rail into a kayak to escape. Her small rental cabin floated over her neighbors’ fences and landed nearly two miles away. Your generosity helped so many families like Susan’s to rebuild after losing nearly everything.

It has been nearly a year and news of flooding in Eastern Kentucky may have faded into the background, but residents in Central Appalachia are still struggling to put their lives back together. With the economic fallout of the pandemic still impacting communities, layered onto generational poverty, families found themselves at the mercy of a succession of winter storms including, ice, snow, and historic flooding. Strategic community partnerships with churches, businesses, and mission groups make this work possible, and when we add that to the blessing of your donations each month, we see first-hand how lives are transformed. You make the difference.

CAP programs such as Disaster Relief, Housing, and Operation Sharing have worked together to address the ongoing needs of families who, even now, are still trying to replace a lifetime’s worth of work, sweat, and tears, washed away in minutes. Your compassion during the pandemic and generous response during appeals following the ice storms and flooding enabled staff and volunteers to continue to meet needs of Appalachian families who needed aid immediately and consistently. You make this work possible.

On their behalf, on behalf of our staff and volunteers, and truly from the bottom of my heart, I say Thank You. This has been a difficult year in so many ways, and yet, you did not waver in your commitment to build hope, transform lives, and share Christ’s love through service in Appalachia.

We are grateful!

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LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT
4 The financial summaries presented here were compiled by management. A copy of the FY21 Audited Financial Statements can be obtained by contacting Guy Adams, president or Brian Stiefel, chief financial officer. Christian Appalachian Project is a 501 c(3) not-for-profit corporation qualified to receive tax-deductible contributions. FINANCIAL STATEMENT Statement of Financial Position as of Aug. 31, 2021 Assets $37,011,244 Liabilities $2,794,330 Net Assests $29,095,251 Revenues, gains, and other support $168,080,071 Expenses $159,511,437 Actuarial adjustment on annuity obligations Total expenses and losses $159,680,458 Change in net assets $8,399,613 Net assets, beginning of year $20,695,638 Net assets, end of year $29,095,251

EMMA KRALL

Each year, St. Anne’s-Belfield School in Charlottesville, Virginia brings its entire freshman class to Christian Appalachian Project (CAP) for YouthFest, an alternative spring break service trip. Emma Krall took that trip in 2014. That first experience led to her committing as a one-year volunteer with CAP.

That first trip she spent a week with 10 classmates on a jobsite where they built an addition and a deck and installed a shower.

“That was my first experience of any kind of construction, but the experience was so rewarding because of the amazing team leaders we had from CAP,” Krall said. “For our senior mission trip at my church, I begged them to come to CAP because of the time I’d had as a freshman.” Their team came to Eastern Kentucky and spent a week renovating a bathroom and a kitchen for a family in need.

On that trip, Krall learned about additional service opportunities with other CAP programs, and she set her heart on being a counselor at Camp Shawnee. She spent five weeks

“I knew right away that I would have an amazing experience,” she said. “I was originally supposed to stay for three weeks, but as soon as I got to camp, I begged my parents to let me stay longer because I fell in love with the experience. It sounds dramatic, but my time at Camp Shawnee literally changed my life. I learned so much about myself, my faith, and what I wanted to do with my life. Spending the summer on the mountain was the best summer of my life, and I am so grateful I had the chance to experience the pure love and service that Camp Shawnee embodies.”

During her first summer, she met another long-term volunteer who shared stories about her experience, Krall knew right away that she wanted to spend a year at CAP after she graduated college.

“I am so happy that I am here,” she exclaimed. “I’m so grateful for my first service trip in 2014 for showing me what an amazing organization CAP is.”

5 VOICE OF IMPACT
in the summer of 2018 investing in the lives of campers and building relationships with CAP staff and volunteers.
Spending the summer on the mountain was the best summer of my life, and I am so grateful I had the chance to experience the pure love and service that Camp Shawnee embodies.
– Emma Krall

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH MT. VERNON

First Baptist Church (FBC) in Mt. Vernon, Kentucky strives to share Jesus’ love with the people of Rockcastle County. The church has partnered with Christian Appalachian Project (CAP) to be the hands and feet of Jesus and serve the needs of children, their families, and seniors in the community through service.

“We work with CAP because Christ commands us to feed the hungry, clothe those without, even offer a cup of cold water in His name,” said Dennis Wilder, pastor of the church. “CAP is already organized to do such, so we wanted to come alongside and offer help to our community.”

The church is a strong supporter of CAP’s Grateful Bread Food Pantry in Mt. Vernon and has offered food donations, hands-on service, and its campus to host CAP’s large community food distributions of USDA Farmers to Families food boxes and fresh produce from God’s Pantry Food Bank.

When COVID-19 restrictions limited the size of CAP’s 10th annual Hunger Walk event in Rockcastle County, members of FBC continued to show their support by collecting food donations and walking on the church’s campus to raise

awareness about food insecurity. With the support of the church, Rockcastle County Schools, Lexington Christian Academy (LCA) in Lexington, Kentucky, Texas Roadhouse, the event sponsor, and others, nearly 14,000 pounds of food was collected to fight hunger in Appalachia.

“When we live in a community for so long, we can become numb to the needs around us,” Wilder said. “The Hunger Walk is an awareness day. I don’t want people to forget our neighbors who are in need.”

Even when disaster struck Eastern Kentucky in early 2021 with a destructive ice storm followed by historic flooding, the church answered the call for help and delivered donations of food and cleaning supplies and offered hands-on aid in cleaning mud, debris, and wet materials out of flooded homes alongside CAP’s Disaster Relief Program staff and volunteers.

“We are blessed to be able to participate in many events with CAP. FBC is reminded that we are here to be a blessing to others and serve others,” Wilder said. “Our mission is to share the gospel with everyone, so they may know the forgiveness only found through a relationship with Jesus. CAP allows us to do that through service.”

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OF IMPACT
VOICE

We work with CAP because Christ commands us to feed the hungry, clothe those without, even offer a cup of cold water in His name.

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– Dennis Wilder

BY THE NUMBERS

12,455

participants received direct service through 17 human service programs in Eastern Kentucky.

2,424

people received critical, emergency, and familyoriented community service through the Family Advocacy Program.

6,309

participants served at the Grateful Bread Food Pantry and partner pantry, Water Into Wine. 206

homes repaired and/or rebuilt.

6,264

students received in-school curriculum, tutoring, mentoring, and leadership training. 38

at-risk children received educational support through pre-school, infant/toddler, parents are teachers, and after-school programs.

1.5 million

individuals impacted by corporate gifts-in-kind donations valued at $129 million and distributed by CAP's Operation Sharing Program in 13 Appalachian states, plus the Ozarks region of Missouri and Arkansas. 136

participants received home visits, transports, and inhome respite in our Elderly Services Program.

229

children and adults trained in disaster relief preparedness. 435

low-income or at-risk family members received professional counseling services. 399

people volunteered their time and talents to the mission of Christian Appalachian Project.

*CAP Programming was impacted in 2021 by COVID. There are no statistics for Grateful Threadz Thrift Store for 2021. The store has been closed due to COVID restrictions, but there are plans to reopen soon.

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*

CESO

Afamily of five needed renovations to their home and an addition, but the repairs were too expensive and extensive to do alone. Employees from CESO, a comprehensive firm, headquartered in Dayton, Ohio, that provides surveying, civil engineering, environmental, land planning, and architecture services, partnered with Christian Appalachian Project (CAP) to get the job done.

“These connections with corporate partners are truly transformational,” said Bryce Haneline, manager of CAP’s Corporate Relations. “CESO’s commitment to finance the project as well as provide a team of highly-skilled staff to do the work allows CAP to meet the extensive home repair needs of this family.”

Larry Lafferty, a Floyd County bus driver and sheriff’s deputy, has done his best to make improvements to the home. His wife, Brittney, also a Floyd County bus driver, had to retire after a series of health issues made it impossible to work. These challenges contributed to the difficulty of getting the needed repairs complet-

ed. CESO brought staff from five of their seven offices around the country to volunteer with CAP and spent the week installing new flooring, windows, and doors, plus completed the preliminary work on the addition. The doublewide needed a porch on the front and back to provide safe access in and out, as well as insulation, kitchen and ceiling repairs, a step-in shower, and a new septic system.

“We value an attitude of service in our company and working alongside CAP just fits our culture,” said David Oakes, senior principal with CESO. “We were looking for a faith-based organization to serve and to do projects in the United States that were going to be impactful.”

Marlena Santana, an architect and landscape architect from the Charlotte, North Carolina office, is originally from the Dominican Republic. “Coming from a developing country, I saw a lot of people in need there,” she said. “It has always been in my heart to try to help and do as much as I can from the professional perspective as well as from the human perspective.”

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We value an attitude of service in our company and working alongside CAP just fits our culture.
VOICE OF IMPACT
David Oakes

STEVE TATE

Steve Tate believes that all you need to do is look around and see where God is working and then join God in that work. That is what led him to get involved with Christian Appalachian Project (CAP) and to bring a team of volunteers twice a year to be a part with him.

“A long time ago, I looked for opportunities where God was working and obviously, He’s working here with CAP,” said Tate, a CAP donor and a volunteer. “We come here to do whatever CAP needs done. We work mostly on infrastructure so the organization can reallocate resources it needs to serve a lot of people.”

The group of 20 volunteers that joined Tate in November for a service trip to Appalachia were from Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina. The groups that Tate brings normally join with CAP’s Facilities Management staff to complete capital improvements that free up funds that CAP can then use for direct human service programs. This year, they helped build a pavilion and remodeled some dormitories at Camp Shawnee and

helped make substantial progress on the expansion of the Eagle Food Pantry in McCreary County which expects to have at least 800 families that need help addressing food insecurity.

“The kind of poverty that is in Appalachia, we have seen in different parts of the country. There is hope that people have,” Tate said. “I keep getting more and more people that want to join us to do another infrastructure project for CAP. The Christian fellowship is outstanding. We have people that watched us on other projects at CAP and asked if they could join our group. Now, we have people also on our team from Minnesota and Wisconsin. We are all working together for God.”

CAP opened the Eagle Food Pantry in June 2021. The expansion will include a 2,760 sq foot facility that will have offices, a covered area for drive-thru service, a shopping area that will provide participants the opportunity to select what they need for their families, freezer space for perishable items like meats, and a loading dock to accommodate large deliveries for the pantry.

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A long time ago, I looked for opportunities where God was working and obviously, He’s working here with CAP.
VOICE OF IMPACT
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12  Primary County  Secondary County  Gap County Grateful Bread Food Pantry Eagle Food Pantry Water Into Wine Food Pantry Partner Housing Program Grateful Threadz Thrift Store Family Advocacy Family Life Counseling Services Elderly Services In-Home Respite Services Camp Service Area In-School Services Child and Family Development Center In-Home Infant/Toddler Services Volunteer Housing Disaster Relief O ces and Warehouse Operation Sharing Warehouse Operation Sharing Community Partner Lee C G E W S E R D I FA FC OS OP V Wolfe McCreary Whitley Knox Laurel Clay Pike Owsley Jackson Rockcastle Knott G C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C G D FA FA FA FA FA FA V V V V V R R R R R R D D D H H H H H H H H H W OP OP OP OP OP OP OP OP OP OP OP OP OP OP OP OP OP OS OS S S S S S S S E E E E E E E E FC FC FC FC FC FC FC FC I I I Breathitt Floyd Johnson Martin Magoffin E AREA OF SERVICE 12,455 people were served through 17 direct human service programs in Eastern Kentucky.

TEAGAN M c GUIRE

Since she started camp at 8 years old, Teagan McGuire knew she wanted to be a part of Christian Appalachian Project’s (CAP) Camp AJ long after she was too old to be a camper. As she grew through her camp years and into her teens, she became a part of the Teen Leadership program to start her long-term journey with being a part of CAP’s Youth Empowerment Services (YES) Program. YES encompasses CAP’s youth programs with three components: summer camps, teen leadership, and in-school services which aim to inspire spirit and empower Appalachian youth.

“Camp AJ has had a huge impact on my life,” McGuire said. “The people there have always made me feel welcomed and included, and it will always be one of the best parts of my childhood.”

As part of Teen Leadership, teen leaders attend events where workshops allow the teens to meet new people, learn about themselves, and grow as leaders in their communities. Because of COVID-19 restrictions, McGuire was

part of a group that served as AmeriCorps members at Camp AJ during the summer. The group cleaned and organized the camp, discussed and planned the structure of a camp day and week, and traveled to schools in the area to run day camp activities for students.

“Teen Leadership has helped me grow as a leader by giving me more experience working with a team, teaching me about my own work styles and how I can use them to complete tasks more efficiently, and allowing me the confidence to speak up when I have an idea as well as listen when others have ideas,” McGuire said.

McGuire looks forward to the summer when she will take on the role of camp counselor at Camp AJ and give back to the program that has given so much to her. “Camp is the place I learned how to make friends as a camper and the place that offered me the best opportunities to serve my community as a teenager,” she said. “CAP has shown me so much love since I have known it, and I could not be more grateful for everyone there.”

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Camp is the place I learned how to make friends as a camper and the place that offered me the best opportunities to serve my community as a teenager.
McGuire
VOICE OF IMPACT

TOYS FOR TOTS DISTRIBUTION

For the second consecutive year, Christian Appalachian Project’s (CAP) Operation Sharing Program partnered with Toys for Tots and Good360 to provide toys, books, and snacks to children in Appalachia. Over the summer the distributions impacted 13 Appalachian counties and put smiles on the faces of 6,097 children.

“The Toys for Tots distribution is what the children in our area needed to lift their spirits. The pandemic has created a great need and stress among our families,” said Lynn Wilcox, a Youth Services Center director in Johnson County, Kentucky, one of CAP’s service areas. She worked with Operation Sharing staff to coordinate a distribution in the county.

One way the pandemic has put stress on students and their families is virtual schooling. The Toys for Tots distribution trememdously helped the mental stability of students by giving them a chance to interact with people, Wilcox said. The distribution also helped bring some relief to families who face challenges on top of the pandemic’s impact.

“This event helps us, and it makes my daughter feel good knowing that the schools are doing something like this for

her and her peers,” one mother told CAP staff during the distribution. “We lost our home a month ago to a fire, and my daughter lost almost all of her things. The youth services coordinators have really supported us as we try to get our lives back together. We are grateful that they helped coordinate this event to help these kids feel happy.”

Wilcox said this event would not have been possible if organizations like Good360 and Toys for Tots did not take the time to think of how they could make an impact in Appalachia. She is thankful they partnered with CAP to help spread joy to children and families facing poverty.

“By working together with our partners, we can do so much more,” Wilcox said. “One person alone can’t get a lot accomplished, but when we can work together as a community, we can make much more of a positive impact.”

In addition to the Toys for Tots distribution, Operation Sharing helps provide supplies and essential items to school districts like Johnson County. The program provides snacks, clothing, and other basic needs to students and their families, allowing Wilcox to focus the grant funding she receives on impactful youth opportunities and programming.

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OF IMPACT
VOICE

One person alone can’t get a lot accomplished, but when we can work together as a community, we can make much more of a positive impact.

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– Lynn Wilcox
16 TOTAL EXPENSES OUR DONORS 14.28% FAMILY SERVICES 13.95% EDUCATIONAL SERVICES 61.54% COMMUNITY SERVICES 3.17% MANAGEMENT AND GENERAL 7.06% FUND DEVELOPMENT 89.77% OF FUNDS GO DIRECTLY TO CAP PROGRAMS GEOGRAPHIC LOCATIONS OF CAP’S DONORS ALL 50 U.S. STATES, 7 U.S. TERRITORIES, 2 CANADIAN PROVINCES 298,220 DONORS CONTRIBUTED TO CAP IN FY21 112,449 FIRST-TIME DONORS IN FY21
17 2,300 walkers 13,676 pounds of food collected $36,000 raised

CAP hosted its annual Christmas distribution. Annie F. Downs also took part by donating copies of her children's book, "What Sounds Fun To You?" to staff and all students at Sand Gap Elementary and CAP's preschool.

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Each member of Christian Appalachian Project's Board of Directors contributes significant amounts of time, talent, and charitable support to ensure we stay focused on our mission of building hope, transforming lives, and sharing Christ’s love through service in Appalachia. We are grateful for their service.

Jackie Collier Chair Berea, KY

Jon Lett Vice Chair Ashland, KY

Guy Adams President/CEO Lexington, KY

Deann Stivers Allen Manchester, KY

Mona Baker Lexington, KY

Nancy Horn Barker Winchester, KY

Mark Barrens Louisville, KY

Alan Cornett Lexington, KY

Joyce Taylor Cummins Mt. Vernon, KY

Lula Bowling Ford Pikeville, KY

Frank Heaberlin Prestonburg, KY

Bob M. Hutchison Staffordsville, KY

Holly James Lexington, KY

Rob Lawson Lexington, KY

Tina Terry Pikeville, KY

Liz Toombs Lexington, KY

Andrew Wegrzyn Kirkland, MO

Judge B. Wilson, II Berea, KY

CAP Legal Counsel

John Rhorer Lexington, KY

Corporate Officers

Anita Seals VP of Human Services Mt. Vernon. KY

Phyllis Caudill VP of Philanthropy Lexington, KY

Gloria Jordan

VP of Administration Paintsville, KY

Brian Stiefel

Chief Financial Officer Mt. Vernon, KY

Recording Secretary

Carolyn Schlappi Mt. Vernon, KY

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

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485 PONDEROSA DRIVE PAINTSVILLE, KY 41240

DONATIONS OFFICE OF PHILANTHROPY

Christian Appalachian Project P.O. Box 55911 Lexington, KY 40555 1.866.270.4CAP (4227) capinfo@chrisapp.org

VOLUNTEER PROGRAM MISSION GROUPS

Christian Appalachian Project 310 Beiting Lane Mt. Vernon, KY 40456 1.800.755.5322 volunteer@chrisapp.org groups@chrisapp.org christianapp.org

ORGANIZATION U.S. POSTAGE PAID
NON-PROFIT
CHRISTIAN APPALACHIAN PROJECT
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