Ashe Really Cares, a mission of Ashe Baptist Association, was organized in October 1998 to meet the physical, spiritual and emotional needs of people in the county who are in crisis. Its purpose is to provide a fully staffed and functioning facility for the distribution of food, clothing and other basic necessities to those who find themselves in need. The ARC is doing just that, said David Blackburn, director of missions for the Ashe Baptist Association.

In the past year more than 65 volunteers working out of the ARC were able to help 2,482 families (an additional 167 families over last year) with food and clothing. Asking the community for help and making use of the food bank brought in over 68,000 pounds of food and 6,230 cans of soup. Providing assistance to families for electricity expenses, fuel assistance, clothing, furniture and more is all in a regular day for the ARC, Blackburn explained.

Although the current home of the ARC at Family Central in Jefferson has been a “God sent” over the last years, the ARC has outgrown its space and is in desperate need of larger quarters in order to serve the growing numbers of families and individuals seeking assistance during these difficult economic times, Blackburn said.

The time has come for the ARC to move to a space, land and or building that is “theirs” thereby eliminating the cost of renting a space. This would allow the association to use the funds now being spent on rent to increase the resources needed to help more families.

The goal is to begin work at identifying property and seeking out cost to purchase and or build a new home by June. Hopefully, individuals will step forward to help the ARC reach that goal, Blackburn said. Last year 6,859 individuals came to the ARC. Unfortunately, that number is expected to rise in 2011. As many of their resources as possible need to go directly to those people and not into rented space, Blackburn noted.

The dictionary describes ARC as a “Spark Across A Gap…” This is an apt description of “The ARC,” Blackburn said, because that is exactly what Ashe Really Cares is…a spark of hope, care and assistance filling the gap for families in Ashe County during these hard times of no jobs, starving poor wages and hopelessness. Join them in making a difference.

For more information, contact Ashe Baptist Association at 336-846-5631 or e-mail David Blackburn at domdblackburn@yahoo.com.