‘Building Our Future’ Disaster Relief Fundraising Banquet
May 30 @ 3:30 pm - 7:30 pm EDT
Disaster Relief is one of the most powerful ministries that BRN churches do together. To accommodate this growing ministry, we have taken a step of faith to plan a facility to house our ministry assets, train our people, and accelerate Kingdom movement.
About the Banquet:
In January of 2024, the Baptist Resource Network’s Disaster Relief began to promote a big, bold campaign that we call Building Our Future. The purpose of Building Our Future is to engage all of our churches and Disaster Relief volunteers in raising funds to build the BRN Response and Relief Center to:
- be a Northeast U.S. hub for staging materials and supplies for rapid disaster response and relief needs, thereby supporting communities affected by natural disasters and community crisis
- house, maintain, and shelter Disaster Relief equipment and assets from the BRN and its partners
- train churches and mission teams in compassion ministry and rapid disaster response, preparing them for designation as a Ready Church
- utilize space for training and mission team lodging
BRN Disaster Relief cannot exist without the personal and material support of BRN churches. So far, with minimal participation, we have raised $140,000, which gets us almost halfway to building this facility. We also have matching gift commitments of over $75,000 if the same amount is raised at this banquet. An additional $50,000 above the matching gifts will help us complete the building.
In summary, our goal for this fundraising banquet is to raise a minimum of $125,000 in donations to support the development and enhancement of our facility. Your generous contributions will directly impact our ability to serve your community, PASJ, and beyond, and advance our mission for every BRN church to achieve designation as a Ready Church.
Presenter:
Kenton Hunt, PA/SJ Director of Disaster Relief
Kenton Hunt, former associate pastor (1989-2001) and pastor (2001-2015) at First Southern Baptist Church, Williamsport, Pennsylvania, has served as the PA/NJ Director of Disaster Relief since Jan. 1, 2016. Prior to his leadership role, he served as a Southern Baptist Disaster Relief volunteer since 1996.
He previously served as Disaster Relief Coordinator of the Northeast PA Baptist Association; Recovery Coordinator of the Baptist Convention of PA/SJ; and President of North Central (PA) VOAD (Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster), a coalition of nonprofit organizations that respond to disasters as part of their overall mission.
He also vice chaired the Lycoming County Long Term Flood Recovery Committee; and is a member of the Pennsylvania Feeding Taskforce and the New Jersey Mass Feeding Taskforce; the Recovery Committee and the Manual Revision Committee of Southern Baptist Disaster Relief (SBDR), and chair of the Online Training Work Group for SBDR. He currently is President of PA VOAD.
Kenton holds a Master of Divinity degree in church music from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky, and a Bachelor of Church Music degree from Shorter College, Rome, Georgia.
Kenton is the recipient of the 2014 National Distinguished Service Award of Southern Baptist Disaster Relief, and in 2022, received the Shirley Norman Award, which is given annually during the PA VOAD conference to a VOAD member who best exhibits her spirit and commitment of service to others and to the advancement of VOAD throughout the Commonwealth of PA. In addition, the PA VOAD was presented with the 2022 State/Territory VOAD of the Year Award during their National VOAD Conference.
Who’s Invited:
All BRN Pastors and Church Members (especially our current and past disaster relief volunteers and those interested in disaster relief)
Date/Location:
Friday, May 30, Tours: 3:30-5:30 p.m./Banquet: 5:30 – 7:30 p.m., at Winfield Baptist Church (near the site of the new BRN Response and Relief Center)
Cost:
Free, thanks to the generous donations of our partners at Ministry Trust.
Registration:
Questions?
Contact Kenton Hunt, PA/SJ Disaster Relief Director at kentonh@brnunited.org.
