With just a week to turn a plot of mud and rocks into an activity-filled Fostering Bulloch campground that can house dozens of children in foster care, at-risk youth and other hard-to-serve demographics. Fostering Bulloch teamed up again with Builders for Christ, working every day this week to get the 7th Mile Farm ready to entertain.
Builders for Christ is an Atlanta-based Christian mission organization that coordinates large building projects, as mission projects, all over the southeast. Think “Extreme Home Makeover” type event where they build an entire house in a week. Instead, they complete their projects in four weeks.
The 7th Mile Farm's construction plans detail four cabins and a dinning hall.
"There's quite a few seemingly impossible barriers we have to go through to get there, but it won't be the first time," said Chris Yaughn, who leads Fostering Bulloch and 7th Mile Ranch.
"The 7th mile project started over a year ago, being put together solely through donations and volunteer labor which allows them to operate debt-free," said Yaughn.
Builders for Christ made a return to the site after starting the project last year, something unprecedented for the organization. In addition to their help, Chris recognized the many local volunteers, contributors and business partners who made this all possible.
Now that the project is back in action, the 70-something volunteers on the site are working each day to get the campground ready for a Teen Reach Adventure Camp slated for later this June.
"Our Teen Reach Adventure Camps (T.R.A.C.) are kind of our first love, and we're building a facility focused on them," said Yaughn, "But it'll give us the capacity to host a half a dozen other camps over the course of the summer that will allow us to reach out to a number of different demographics of kids."
Yaughn extended his campground invite to individuals who might not thrive in a traditional camp setting with disabilities or developmental issues, making accommodations for everyone to feel welcome.
"It's not just camp for the sake of camp," said Yaughn. "It's about building relationships that can affect change in the lives that come through this camp."
