Meet Me at the Crossroads
Crossroads Community Baptist starts summer day camp and shares plans for fall tutoring.
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- Photos by Zane Ross Pastor Grant Hasty poses with an overview of the church’s accomplishments.
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- The computer lab that the Learning Center utilizes for after school tutoring.
The Crossroads Community Baptist church was formed in October of 2011 for a valiant purpose: the building and betterment of the McCreary county community. Over the past six years the church has provided food through the use of the Lord’s Café, as well as providing clothing and other essentials to the community. Crossroad’s Pastor Grant Hasty says that it wasn’t only these items that were missing from the community, but time that was missing from local families.
Hasty says, “My family had been here for nine years before we started Crossroads, I pastored at Whitley First Baptist during that time. We eventually left there and God didn’t let us leave the county. We felt the need to plan a new church and we prayed for God to show us the needs of the community to make this happen. The first thing we saw was food as an issue which was something we could help with by opening the Lord’s Café. Following that was hygiene, baby care items and clothing. Then we noticed the educational system as an issue for families. When kids have to do three or four hours of homework it takes away family time.”
As a result Hasty and the Crossroads community began work on a tutoring program that could be utilized throughout the school year in order to both enrich students who struggled with school work and to allow families to focus more on togetherness. The program has even expanded to include a summer day camp that will begin June 12.
“I remember the first semester we did this,” Hasty continues, “a mother came to me and said, ‘Why are you doing this?’ I told her, ‘It’s for you. It is so you can pick your daughter up, go home and enjoy a dinner together as a family. You don’t have to worry about the stress of homework.’”
Hasty included that in the past their tutoring program was on a volunteer basis, but Hasty assures that they make certain the volunteer tutors have the proper credentials. However, starting in the fall they will be hiring an experienced coordinator, who has graduated from the University of the Cumberlands education program, to oversee their after school tutoring program.
In addition to gaining a new coordinator for the fall, Hasty is also hoping to be able to purchase a handful of shuttle vans in order to help transport children to the Learning Center.
“Having those vans would be a huge asset because it feels like the main hurdle is getting the kids here. We encourage parents to bring their kids if possible, but we know that some don’t have the means to do so. We’ve tried to get the school system to let kids ride a bus over after school, but they aren’t willing to do that,” Hasty explains.
The Crossroads church is a nonprofit organization so it begs the question of where does the funding for these kind of programs come from?
When asked, Hasty responded with, “We get our funding from outside sources such as other churches. We partner with about 60 or so churches throughout the year. This summer we have about 16 churches partnering with us. We also do fundraising and reach out to potential supporters through social media like Facebook. As well as that, people who come through and volunteer here will go home and continue to support us.”
The Learning Center, located at 435 North Highway 27 in Whitley City, will open for the church’s annual summer day camp starting on June 12 from 10 AM to 4 PM. The day camp will include bible study, arts and crafts and outdoor recreation.
