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Church Bolsters Girls Wilderness Camp with $200,000 Gift

Church Bolsters Girls Wilderness Camp with
$200,000 Gift

June 15, 2009

Green Level Baptist Church in Cary made a major contribution towards the creation of a wilderness camp to help at-risk girls. Church members agreed to donate $200,000.00 to Baptist Children’s Homes of North Carolina (BCH), the nonprofit residential child care institution overseeing the forthcoming Camp Duncan in Aberdeen.

“This gift can only be described as a Godsend,” said BCH President Michael C. Blackwell. “It is phenomenal to receive this kind of support during such trying economic times. It is impossible to properly express our gratitude to Green Level for this incredible act of generosity.”

BCH is in the middle of a campaign to raise the funding for Camp Duncan start-up and operating costs. The Gay T. and Haskell A. Duncan Foundation awarded an initial $250,000 grant. The foundation has issued a challenge gift that will provide an additional $250,000 once the nonprofit raises $500,000. BCH hopes to complete fundraising efforts in time to accept the first group of girls this fall.

Green Level’s funds will go towards renovation and building efforts at the camp’s main administrative building. BCH is in the process of repurposing the one-time residential house into an office building for staff members as well as a “chuckwagon” dining hall for the girls in care.

The gift announcement and presentation were made during a groundbreaking and picnic event at Camp Duncan on Saturday, June 13. Green Level Pastor Richard Leader and church members made the presentation before more than 400 attendees.

“Our church has been very blessed by God,” Leader said in regards to the church’s donation. “The members of Green Level have always had a heart for children, and we’ve seen the lifetime impact of the Baptist Children’s Homes ministry.”

The gift is made in memory of Harold Mills Eatmon of Cary. Eatmon was a longtime church member.

“Harold was a faithful member of Green Level,” Leader said. “He loved his Lord, Jesus Christ.”

Green Level is a longtime friend of BCH. In addition to its financial support, missions groups from the church are undertaking volunteer work projects at Camp Duncan to help prepare the property. The church will also assist at BCH’s Mills Home campus in Thomasville. There they plan to refurbish a residential building to serve as a mission house providing housing for visiting volunteer groups.

“Green Level has always stood firmly behind Baptist Children’s Homes undergirding our efforts to bring hope and healing to those we serve,” Blackwell said. “Their efforts and gifts are an investment in the lives of children.”

Since 1885, Baptist Children’s Homes of North Carolina has helped children and families. BCH began with one campus, Mills Home in Thomasville, but now provides services in 14 communities across the state.

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