Red Bird Mission, Kentucky – Red Bird Mission, in the heart of the Appalachia, serves a remote area in Bell, Clay, and Leslie counties in the Cumberland Mountains in the Southeastern part of Kentucky.

Access to the region is sometimes difficult depending on the weather and/or time of year. Public services and infrastructure are virtually non-existent. The small towns that are county seats range from 25 to 35 miles away. Public water is inadequate; there is no public sewer. And telephone and electricity service is unreliable during bad weather.

Courtesy Appalachian Ministries

According to the 2005-2007 American Community Survey by the U.S.Census:

• In Clay County (the poorest county in Kentucky), 36% of all children live under the poverty level, and over 78% of single mothers and their children live in poverty.
• 39.1% of Clay County households have annual incomes under $15,000.
• In Bell County 85.7% of families with children under 5 live in poverty.
• Leslie County is similarly distressed economically. There are no economic development initiatives in the area.

The 2000 Census found that the three-county area is also undereducated; nearly 50% of adults over 25 did not complete high school.

Red Bird Mission is the local coordinating agency that refers local families in need and distributes groceries purchased by Family-to-Family donating families. Red Bird Mission is a national mission institution of The United Methodist Church. Since 1921, it has provided educational, medical, and community outreach programs for residents of the Red Bird River Valley.

Family-to-Family serves Red Bird Mission families through its local grocery donation program.