The Baptist Children’s Homes of North Carolina (BCH) celebrated volunteers’ repairs to its beach cottage recently. McNeill Home at Atlantic Beach needed repairs after Hurricane Irene damaged the cottage Aug. 27, 2011.
|
Contributed photo Volunteers from Green Level Baptist Church in Cary work on the McNeill Home’s deck. |
BCH held a time of thank you Aug. 18 for the volunteers and for those who donated money. Throughout the years, the cottage has provided an opportunity for countless children to experience a beach vacation.
“Many of our residents come into care with some very deep hurts. Because of their past circumstances, the memories they carry with them are often painful,” explains Blake Ragsdale, Baptist Children’s Homes’ Director of Communications. “One of the most important things our houseparents and staff do is giving residents opportunities to create incredible, new memories. The beach cottage plays an important role.”
Transportation Impact, a spend-management firm based in Emerald Isle, donated $10,000 to aid with sea wall repairs. “Understanding what these kids have been through can be both heartbreaking and inspirational,” said Travis Burt, co-founder of Transportation Impact.
Churches provided both funding, time and labor. A group of nearly 50 volunteers from Cape Carteret Baptist Church worked inside McNeill Home replacing old ceilings. Volunteers from Green Level Baptist Church in Cary spent a week rebuilding a second level outdoor deck and installing new interior lighting.
“We wanted to help … because a lot of the kids have never seen the beach,” says Lycrecia Sutton, a member of Cape Carteret Baptist. “It’s amazing to see the joy in their faces when they see the ocean. When you spend time with the children you just fall in love with them.”
First Baptist Church in Morehead City collected money toward the cost of repairing the sea wall.
“It means so much to these boys and girls that there are adults out there who want to do something special for them,” Ragsdale said.