By Jessica Isaacs
Ready to make a difference in your community? Join Bethel Baptist Church for a dinner and benefit concert on Sunday evening for live music, a home cooked meal and a chance to help a local family in need.
The event will feature dinner cooked on site, a bake sale, a performance by local contemporary Christian artists Bethel Road and chances to win a variety of great prizes. Every penny raised will directly support the Presnell Family Home Remodel Project — an ongoing summer effort of the Bethel Baptist mission team.
ABOUT THE PROJECT
The Presnells, a family of six, live on the backside of Beech Mountain in Watauga County, and the small place they call home is in desperate need of repairs.
Mission team member Debbie Isaacs began orchestrating the remodel project when she spent time with the family and visited their home during the Christmas season last year. Having traveled the world for mission work on many occasions, Isaacs said the Presnell family helped her realize that there’s God’s work to be done right here in Appalachia.
“Every year, I go somewhere else on a mission. But I realized that my mission needed to be here and that I needed to be helping them,” Isaacs said. “The Lord just laid it on my heart.”
After a lot of prayer, she cancelled an out-of-state mission trip she’d planned for the summer and put all of the designated funds toward helping the Presnell family instead. Her friends and church family at Bethel Baptist got behind the project immediately, and together they’ve been working hard to make renovations possible.
During the week of July 19, a group of more than 60 volunteers from across the state will come together to completely remodel the home, making it a safe, comfortable place for the family to live and grow. Contractors and engineers have donated their services to create the plans and oversee the project.
In the mean time, the team is in the process of raising funds to cover building supplies and to furnish the home once the renovations are complete.
ABOUT THE EVENT
Bethel Road is performing at no cost to the church and generous contributors are donating all food products — that means that 100 percent of the proceeds will go directly to the home remodel project.
Dinner starts at 5 p.m. on Sunday, and each $10 ticket will include a quarter chicken grilled on the spot, green beans, corn on the cob, coleslaw, a dinner roll, a drink and admission to the 6 p.m. concert. If you can’t make it to dinner, donations to the project will be accepted as admission to the concert.
An assortment of dessert items will be available for purchase at the bake sale, and raffle tickets will give you a chance to win gift cards and prizes that have been donated by artists, entrepreneurs and businesses in the area.
Prizes up for grabs include:
- Gifts from Green Mother Goods, the Mast General Store and Cornerstone Christian Books
- One-of-a-kind pieces from Traditions Pottery
- Two free cuts and colors with products from Serendipity Hair Studio and Boutique
- A manicure/pedicure from Natural Nails
- A fall family portrait photo session from Kelsey Barrier Photography
- A fall family portrait photo session from Timeless Treazures Photography
- Free passes to the Boone Bowling Center
- Personalized monogrammed gifts
- Gift cards/certificates to Los Arcoiris Mexican Restaurant, Bella’s Italian Restaurant, Jimmy John’s, The Rock Sports Bar and Grill, Chipotle Mexican Grill
The dinner and concert will be held at the church, 123 Mountain Dale Road in Vilas, 28692, and will take place outside if weather permits.
HOW TO GET TICKETS
Tickets will be available at the door as long as food supplies last, so purchase your tickets in advance to guarantee a plate at dinner. Get yours early in one of two ways:
- Stop by Serendipity Hair Salon and Boutique (220 Postal St. in Boone) to purchase tickets
- Reserve tickets by contacting a mission team member at presnellfamilyfundraiser@gmail.com.
OTHER WAYS TO HELP
To contribute to the home remodel project, make a secure donation online through the project’s fundraising website on GiveForward.com. Checks made payable to Bethel Baptist can be mailed to the church with “Presnell Family Mission 2015” in the memo.
Contact the mission team at presnellfamilyfundraiser@gmail.com for details on how to volunteer or an updated list of items being collected (which includes building supplies, new or gently used furniture and housewares, nonperishable food items and more).
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