Each year international students converge on the Baptist Collegiate Ministry building one Saturday morning before school starts. They come to receive FREE furniture as a combined ministry effort by the BCM and a group of churches and international ministries. When internationals move to Blacksburg, they usually have NO furniture for their apartments. This initiative helps them get settled in!
All summer, individuals and churches donate furniture, and the BCM staff collects, sorts and stacks it in their large main room in the basement of their building. On this one Saturday, 100s of internationals gather to receive an item or two, and volunteers help them transport their new finds to their apartments in trucks and trailers.
Later that day, a huge meal is prepared by Northstar Church in Bristol, TN and volunteers from all over converge back at the BCM to meet and welcome and socialize with the internationals that come to enjoy a meal with their new American neighbors!
At a glance
- Date: Saturday, August 17; 7:00 a.m. – Furniture Giveaway begins; 5:00 p.m. – Dinner
- Where: Baptist Collegiate Ministry
- Needs: Volunteers
- Volunteers to go through the lines first and plan to sit at tables to engage internationals in conversations over the dinner. These times of relationship building are so important.
- Volunteers to help set up tables in the BCM following the clearing out of the furniture – around 2:00-3:00 p.m.
- Contact: Bob Jackson of International Students Inc.