Packing BackPacks for the Race Track

For the second time, The Mission Board took on the project of providing backpacks full of school supplies to children and youth of workers on the back of the track at Parx Race Track in Bensalem, PA. On Sunday, August 20, under the leadership of board chair Lynda Mansfield, and having enjoyed a light lunch, members of the Mission Board and volunteers met to pack 25 backpacks with school supplies that had been donated by members of The Baptist Church in the Great Valley. This project was initiated from a need revealed to us last year by Rev. Rick Bunker, an American Baptist Chaplain to the families and workers at the back of the track. We thoroughly enjoy this outreach to the children and youth of these workers, many of whom are far from home, working for low wages and struggling to provide for their families.

Each backpack contained all the supplies required according to the schools, including calculators needed by the middle and high school students and a $25 gift card to a local retailer so the families could purchase any additional necessities.

The entertainment company that runs the Parx Casino and Race Track provides the chaplaincy with a multi-purpose building that serves as a community center for the people who work in the barns and with the horses. It has laundry facilities, a kitchen, a chapel, and an office for Rev. Bunker. The backpacks were delivered to the Community Center on Monday, August 21, to be distributed to the children.