Well, the hot weather has arrived with a vengeance.  In mid-June, twelve hardy souls travelled up to Marion, VA for our annual Hands-on mission trip to Project Crossroads:  Eight adults (Randy Creswell, Joe Dooley, Mark Graham, John McClure, Dean Little, Rebecca Young, Emma Creswell, and myself) and four youth (Ellyana, Abby, Lily and Troy) comprised our team this year.  Rebecca and Emma did an outstanding job of feeding us as well as the Crossroads' staff. The primary project for this trip was to repair a private bridge used for crossing the local creek.  The bridge was originally built with a metal structure topped with railroad cross ties and planking on top. When we got there, much of the planking was in poor shape and dirt filled in many of the cracks.  Upon closer inspection, many of the cross ties were also rotted and   needed to be replaced.  There were no side rails. Fortunately, no one fell off the bridge ...    although I heard there were some close calls.  The finished product was completed on Friday and is much sturdier.  

A secondary project for the trip was to clean out and organize two of the storage areas at the Project House...getting the contents organized and ready for the upcoming summer's mission teams. Many thanks to the Mission Team for all their hard work!

Summer brings an opportunity for gleaning the Knoxville Market Square Farmer's Market to provide fresh produce for our Food Pantry.  Beaver Ridge is a participant in this gleaning under the umbrella of the Society of St Andrew's (SoSA) Tennessee Regional Office. SoSA's Tennessee Gleaning Network coordinates volunteers across the state who rescue food at farms, farmers' markets, and even processing facilities.  Volunteers harvest food straight from farm fields when growers are done for the season, collect food that hasn't sold, or package and    distribute unmarketable but good produce....such as the sweet potatoes we've received from Concord UMC in the past.  Since established in 2010, SoSA has rescued and shared an average of one million pounds of food per year.  By gleaning the Farmer's Market, we receive fresh  produce at no cost, the farmers get a tax write-off, and our Pantry families get to eat fresh food that they would not otherwise have access to.  Talk about win-win-win!  So BRUMC has volunteered to glean the Farmer's Market on the third and fifth Saturdays through October.  If that's something you'd like to participate in, give either myself or Teresa a call....we'd love to spread the joy!

Blessings to all,

Leslie Little, Missions Chair