Greetings From The Appalachian Poverty Project November 2007
We returned from another mission trip to
McDowell County, WV on November 5. The purpose of this trip was to begin filming
a documentary about poverty in the area. We may have actually gotten enough
footage to complete the documentary but won’t really know until we are well
into editing which will take several months minimum.
While there, we interviewed five families who
had been served by the School For Life in Gary. These families were chosen only
for their availability and willingness to be interviewed on camera. Each of these families had either a parent
or child that was disabled – two families had more than one member disabled.
One of the families had two children born “crack addicted” and are suffering
long term consequences. Other child disabilities include autism, blindness
caused by glaucoma at birth and severe developmental problems. (Although we
didn’t interview her, we did meet a neighbor that had a boy with a severe
congenital heart defect.)
The Census Bureau publishes a disability rate
for McDowell County that exceeds 40%. When I first visited the area, I felt
that a large part of these ‘disabilities’ were from drug and alcohol abuse. But
since I’ve met so many sick children, my thoughts are that many problems are
from environmental pollution. We are very interested in testing for mercury,
lead and bacterial contamination of water supplies, so if anyone has any
knowledge of these processes, please let us know. We need to know about costs
and what companies supply services.
Mr. Tom Metzbower has provided the answer to
the problem of water testing. Taylor Technologies in Sparks, MD will donate
water testing supplies that will detect contamination by heavy metals. This
type of testing is recommended for ‘mine run-off”; a common source of drinking
water in McDowell. Chris at Taylor, has
provided us with some insight regarding the health damage done by the environmental
pollution from “coke processing ovens.” These health damages include
neurological damage and gene transmutation. In other words, health effects can
be passed down to subsequent generations.
Some local residents claim that inbreeding is
a major source of health problems, but a logical look at the history of this
area will show reasons that this assumption is not valid.
This month has brought about significant
change. The mission that has been doing our shipping for the past two years,
has terminated that relationship. Within a couple of days of that being done,
another mission appeared to take its’ place. Our new mission partner is Faith
Building Ministries. Although, some arrangements are not yet finalized and all
of their resources are not yet in place, this new relationship enables us to
continue our work uninterrupted and promises to provide even greater
opportunity to feed His sheep. GOD IS AWESOME!
When FBM’s warehouse in Damascus is finished,
we will be seeking donations of furniture and bedding. (Don’t know what that
timeframe is)
There are some folks in Westminster helping
by providing bicycles. We received two today and are expecting 4 more next
week. (Update – we’ve received 12 this month)
Besides working appliances and bikes, we can
also use leftover or surplus building materials, paint, shingles, etc. We received 2 toilets, two vanity sinks and
a wall mounted urinal from Covenent of Grace Church in Reisterstown, MD. We can
use just about anything. Please keep us in mind.
Cars and trucks can be donated and deducted
at FULL FAIR MARKET VALUE, but must be in good condition – no tow-aways. We are trying to implement programs to
encourage kids to stay in school. We will offer on a lottery basis as many cars
as we can get, to kids who finish school. Grades don’t help or count – JUST
FINISH SCHOOL! A 75%+ dropout rate
requires extreme measures.
For those of you that shop ‘online’ please
consider registering with IGIVE.COM. It costs no more and our project will
receive a percentage of your purchase – generally 1%-2% plus a one time $5
reward for registering and using igive.com.
You can also deduct from your taxes the amount of the donation we
receive. Year-end accounting is provided. It’s a good deal for everyone. Please
use this link to register - http://www.iGive.com/AppPovProj
When you register, we will be notified of
your support.
So long for now. God bless you all.
Les and Marie Schaub
Blessed is he that considereth
the poor: the LORD will deliver him in time of trouble. The LORD will
preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and
thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies. The LORD will
strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: thou wilt make all his bed in his
sickness.
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