Did you know that every year in Paducah, there are many children who have no bed to sleep on?
What if I said the number of children was actually greater than 1,000?
What if I said that Starfish Orphan Ministry annually receives nearly 1,200 requests for beds for children in our area? These children who often are living with single mothers or fathers, are being raised by grandparents or cared for by other family members, or are in the foster care system, have no bed of their own to sleep on.
It’s staggering, right?
Now, imagine this: Starfish Executive Director Laura Roberts says the organization is only able to fill about half of these requests each year. Nearly 600 mothers, grandparents, or caregivers are told that there is no bed available for their child that year.
It’s enough to make you want to raise your hand and help, right?
The numbers were enough to get the attention of the 2019-2020 Paducah Area Chamber of Commerce Leadership Paducah Class, who annually engages in a philanthropic project designed to help bring awareness and bolster efforts for a local need.
“It really was a very difficult decision, as the nonprofits here in Paducah do amazing work to support those in need, but when we heard the presentation from Starfish, it really was a collective decision that became evident very quickly that’s the way our class would lean,” recalls Brent Housman, Leadership Paducah class participant.
“To know that Starfish receives approximately 1,200 requests per year for children that don’t have a bed of their own to sleep in hit our group hard.”
The 33rd Leadership Paducah Class, an annual chance for the Chamber to bring together the talents of local business leaders, set about quickly trying to come up with a way to help Starfish Orphan Ministry close the gap between requests and beds. To be successful, they knew they would need to lean on the core strength of the program itself—its diversity. It’s the reason the model has proven successful for more than three decades and the reason why each class has been able to better the community in a tangible way.
“There is an obvious benefit to the nonprofit organization when you have the collective talents of 35 people from a broad array of backgrounds and industry experience coming together to pool their talents for the betterment of the organization,” Brent says.
“The Chamber’s Leadership Paducah, through the many years and many different class projects, has had an immeasurable impact on our community.”
For this year, to benefit Starfish Orphan Ministry, the group pulled their collective talents and knowledge areas toward a multi-faceted goal.
“Laura Roberts and her staff are unsung heroes in our opinion, so our original plan was twofold: first, to raise money to build beds and second, to help raise awareness surrounding their organization and what they do.”
“We originally planned an event of celebration to highlight the amazing work that Starfish Orphan Ministry does in Paducah,” Brent says.
When it became clear to the Leadership class that COVID-19 restrictions would not allow their event to happen as planned, they could have given up.
But, they knew that if they did, there would be more children sleeping on floors or with others in the coming year.
So, they shifted focus for their efforts to simple fundraising asks rather than event sponsorships. And Brent says they saw success because they were able to adapt quickly to the climate around them.
“Fortunately, our fundraising team hit the ground running, literally, the day that we were allowed to begin requesting support,” he says.
“Due to their early efforts, a large amount of money was raised prior to the pandemic hitting and stalling many businesses and other nonprofits in their efforts. Our class has continued to raise funds, while meeting remotely and taking advantage of technology and social media to raise more support.”
As it is said time and time again when community members seek help, once again, Paducah has delivered.
“The community has responded in an amazing way and has bought into the vision of our project and has seen the need that Starfish has presented to us,” Brent says of the fundraising efforts.
“We are so thankful, impressed, surprised even, at the graciousness of our community!”
For Brent and the Leadership Paducah class, they are confident that the money spent building and buying beds for Starfish this year will do more than simply provide a safe place to sleep for children.
“We are hoping that by getting kids up off the floor and into their own beds, it will raise their morale by letting them know that they matter and that someone cared enough to contribute, build, and deliver a bed for them,” he says.
“We hope that that child and family will remember this and turn around and help someone else in need as well.”
“The awareness we are bringing to Starfish Orphan Ministry, we hope, will bring more financial resources and more boots on the ground to fight poverty right here in our area.”
For Laura and the staff and volunteers at Starfish Orphan Ministry, they are simply grateful that the efforts of the Leadership Paducah class will allow them to say more yesses than nos this coming year.
“Because of what Leadership Paducah has done, our hope is to be able to meet all the bed requests for a year,” she says.
“We are so grateful to be able to go for a year and not have to explain to a mom that we don’t have a bed for her child.”
“That’s the very best part.”
Fundraising Continues…
If you can help Leadership Paducah reach their goal for Starfish Orphan Ministry, please visit:
www.leadershippaducahproject.com
If you can lend your hand helping Starfish build beds, visit www.starfishorphanministry.com and click the “how to help” tab at the top of the page.
If you’d like to participate or learn more about a future Leadership Paducah class, visit www.paducahchamber.org/leadershippaducah.
Members of the 2019-2020 Leadership Paducah class Include:
Jessica Asbridge, Community Financial Services Bank; Leigh Ann Ballegeer, Mercy Health Lourdes; Chris Beal, Paducah Bank; Lakilia Bedeau, Paducah Public Schools; Jeremi Bumpus, West Kentucky Community & Technical College; Joel Cauley, Relevant Church; Sheryl Chino, HDR Engineering; Stephen Chino, City of Paducah; A.J. Collins, Edward Jones; Anthony Copeland, Paducah Police Department; Lora Croley, Baptist Health Paducah; Travis Drake, Mercy Health Lourdes; Cade Foster, Jim Smith Contracting; Nora Gipson, Peel & Holland; Bradley Haas, U.S. Bank; Jessica Hammonds, L. A. Miller CPA, PSC; Jacob Hayes, Swift & Staley, Inc.; Bridgette Heflin, FNB Bank; McKell Hillebrand, City National Bank; Tommy Hollimon, Jr., Housing Authority of Paducah; Brent Housman, RW Baird; Jayme Jones, McCracken County Public Schools; Bradley Kale, Michelson Jewelers; Tiffany Looper, Strawberry Hills Pharmacy; Lauren Martin McKenty, Keuler, Kelly, Hutchins, Blankenship & Sigler, LLP; Jennifer McIntosh Lasher, University of Kentucky College of Engineering Paducah; Garrett Rackley, Williams, Williams & Lentz, LLP; Darren Ramey, Darren Ramey State Farm; Chris Reck, Paducah & Louisville Railway; Marianna Romero, McCracken County Public Schools; Ciara Sauer, Kemper CPA Group, LLP; Abbey Shelton, Rose Garden Florist; Magen Tinsley, Independence Bank; Colton Tockstein, Harper Industries; Ashley Turner, Jackson Purchase Energy Co-Op; and Tee Vinson, Paducah Water.
