Executive director to live in shack for five days

Starting this week, AdventureServe Ministries Executive Director Andy Bathje will be living in the AdventureServe Ministries Shack for five days to raise awareness for homelessness and substandard housing.

Bathje will be staying in the shack from Monday, November 27, through Saturday December 2. The week is set to end with a rice and beans fundraising dinner on Saturday as part of Wilmore’s Old-Fashion Christmas celebration.

All proceeds will benefit AdventureServe as part of Bluegrass Community Foundation’s Good Giving Challenge.

“This week kicks off our Good Giving Challenge, raising much needed support and awareness to address these issues,” Bathje said.  “I wanted to identify more tangibly with the needs of our clients who face the challenges of homelessness and substandard housing daily.”

The Good Giving Challenge is a community-wide effort that unites nonprofits in Lexington and surrounding counties in a fundraising campaign. The campaign launched with a pep rally in downtown Lexington and will end on December 31.

By spending five nights in a shack, Bathje said he is able to understand his clients through experience. This will mark Bathje’s second year living in the ASM shack for a week as part of the challenge.

Kayla Lutes, who works for AmeriCorps VISTA for AdventureServe Public Relations, stated that the ASM Shack is a great way to let the community know about AdventureServe. Through this time it allows Bathje the ability to meet with people as they pass on the street or sit on his porch for a visit.

“The ASM Shack starts conversations within the community that would not happen otherwise,” said Lutes. “It is in the middle of Wilmore so that everyone sees it. The structure itself is a reminder that there are people out there with less.”

Lutes also said that she believes the shack raises questions within the community. For instance, she said it can make people question what they can do to make sure that people in their community do not go without.

AdventureServe is a non-denominational, non-profit organization dedicated to serving local communities and providing Christian wilderness and missions experiences to church groups. AdventureServe leads church youth groups from across the nation in providing free labor for the elderly, widows, single parents, veterans and low-incomes families of Appalachia and South/Central Kentucky.

To support AdventureServe during the challenge, donors can go to bggives/adventureserve.org. Those interested can also follow AdventureServe on Facebook and use #theASMShack to learn more about Bathje’s experience.

For questions or comments regarding donations, home repair assistance, joining our staff or to request an application, contact AdventureServe at P.O. Box 127, Wilmore, Kentucky 40390. AdventureServe can be reached at 1-866-554-8810. Or visit their website at www.adventureserve.org.