HURRICANE, W.Va. — The finale of Bill Barker’s busy year meant driving his Dodge pickup truck from his Putnam County home to Alpharetta, Georgia, where he picked up a trailer. He then drove to Brevard, North Carolina, to pick up a new load of 50 donated backpacks for disadvantaged children.
From there, he drove to Grundy, Virginia, where he dropped off the backpacks at New Hope Christian Church.
“It was a full day,” he said. “That was the end of it.”
The final trip of 2016 capped a year in which his organization, Appalachian Regional Ministry, distributed 51,221 backpacks filled with supplies to this region’s neediest children.
That bested the 46,112 backpacks collected and distributed in 2014.
And it’s 10 times what was collected in 2012, the first year for the program, when 5,431 backpacks were provided.
Barker, a 65-year-old West Virginia native, is national director of Appalachian Regional Ministry and also has had Mississippi River Ministry added to his duties. Both are outreaches of the North American Mission Board, which is associated with the Southern Baptist Church.
Barker, who has spent his life in the ministry, mainly in southern states, drives about 55,000 miles a year, spending about 160 to 180 nights a year on the road.
The Appalachian part of his territory stretches from Montgomery, Alabama, north to the Adirondack Mountains of New York.
The ministry notes that 500,000 children in the region live at or below the poverty line.
“The richest country in the world cannot take care of its children,” Barker says.
The zippable backpack, regardless of its contents, is deeply appreciated by young recipients — often for a very sad reason.
Many of the children who receive the backpacks have lives where they anticipate upheaval. They might have to leave their homes and move somewhere else at a moment’s notice, so they use the backpacks to store their belongings and to be prepared to go.
“That is the child’s suitcase,” Barker said. “They keep all their belongings in that backpack.”
The backpacks packed and provided by donors contain a variety of supplies, including a restocking of school supplies, hygiene items, a Christmas gift such as a toy, clothing, non-perishable food, a Christmas story and, often but not always, a Bible. The contents are age- and gender-appropriate.
Including the Christmas story is a requirement because the program needs to not only represent charitable giving but also to have a message. There are also forms where children may elect to participate in a Bible Study program via mail. Only about 3 percent choose to do so, Barker said.
The Christmas backpacks program is just one of the ministry’s projects, but it’s a highlight because many people are in a giving spirit this time of year.
Most of those who give — about 33,000 of this year’s total — reside in Georgia. Many more backpacks are donated by residents of North Carolina and Alabama.
“They want to be hands-on and to know that what they’ve investing in is hands-on,” Barker said. “They know that these are given out between Thanksgiving and Christmas. This is something they can do right now for a child who is going to receive it.”
Almost the moment Christmas ends, it will be time to start next year’s project.
“I have churches already working on 2017,” Barker said. “When the Christmas sales hit, they will go out.”
Next year’s goal is 55,000 backpacks.
“The reality is, if we had a million backpacks we couldn’t meet the needs of all of them,” Barker said.
