Fundraiser planned for jail ministry
A committee of volunteers is sponsoring a dinner to re-launch the Christian Good News Jail and Prison Ministry at Washington County Correctional Facility.
The event is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Oct. 25 at Valley Brook Country Club, 425 Hidden Valley Road, McMurray, with a reception and silent auction. With an annual budget of $95,000, the committee hopes to raise $60,000 for the jail chaplain’s salary and benefits, Bible studies and related materials. The committee also seeks commitment from corporations and churches for underwriting the program at various levels between $10,000 and $250.
Individual tickets to the dinner are $50.
Jon Evans, president of Good News Jail and Prison Ministry of Henrico, Va., near Richmond, said his organization hopes to have a chaplain at Washington County jail by the first quarter of 2017. “Once upon a time, we did have a presence in Washington County,” Evans said. “We’ve been invited to return.”
The jail is also seeking volunteer teachers and mentors whom a chaplain would train to work with the more than 300 inmates, plus jail staff members.
“One person can’t tend to the needs of all individuals,” Evans said.
Warden Edward Strawn said of volunteers, “More is better. The key word is volunteer. It’s hard to find people who want to volunteer in this type of setting. The goal is to build a greater pool of volunteers.”
The facility pays $36,000 a year to Chaplain Stanley Albright, who just turned 80, from the proceeds of the inmate welfare account at no cost to taxpayers, even though providing a chaplain is a service required by law.
Good News Jail and Prison Ministry, founded in a 1961 by an inmate who later received a full pardon, recruits, supervises and trains chaplains who serve in 22 states and 25 countries.
The core committee of volunteers for the Washington County jail chaplaincy are Chairman Buzz Gardner, Nick Borgfeldt, Dr. Stuart Broberg, Nancy Lee Cochran, DeDe MacTaggart, the Rev. John Miller, Lou Motter, Patrick O’Brien and John Smith.
More information from Gardner is available at 724-413-1735 or buzzyg1@verizon.net.