Founded in 1964, CAP is a Kentucky-based interdenominational, non-profit Christian organization “committed to serving people in need in Appalachia by providing physical, spiritual and emotional support through a wide-variety of programs and services.
As the 161st largest charity and the 13 largest human services charity in the nation, and the largest charity exclusively serving Appalachia, CAP has been committed to improving the lives of residents in eastern Kentucky, including residents of Johnson, Floyd, Magoffin, Lawrence, Martin, Knott, and Pike counties.
It all began with a young northern Kentucky priest. Reverend Ralph W. Beiting. After being assigned to pastor in Appalachian Kentucky, he realized that aside from the need for spiritual guidance, the people of Appalachia were in great need of physical support as well. With the help of family and friends, he was able to bring provisions, clothing and other goods to area residents.
In 1957, as an addition to this growing ministry, Reverend Beiting and his associate pastor purchased land on Herrington Lake to offer summer camps for boys from the families he helped care for. His efforts were achieving such great success that in 1964, the name and organization, Christian Appalachian Project, came to be.
With the help of donors, volunteers, staff and the communities it serves, in its most recently completed fiscal year, CAP served directly 20,537 program participants and had a total of 161,564 participant contacts through 21 hands-on human service programs. Today, programs and services include child development centers, disaster relief, elderly visitation, family counseling, housing, respite services, domestic violence shelters, summer camps and Operation Sharing. Through Operation Sharing, a gift-in-kind program, CAP helped more than 1.5 million individuals indirectly with $105 million in redistributed donated goods from corporate America. The goods were redistributed with the help of more than $1,400 partner nonprofits, agencies, and churches in all 13 states with federally designated Appalachian Counties. In 27 years, Operation Sharing has collected and redistributed more than $1.3 billion in products from corporate American.
CAP’S mission is to help people in need in Appalachia. As much as possible, we do this in a way that promotes self-help and self-reliance,” said, Guy Adams, president and CEO of CAP. “Our goal is to be the hands and feet of
Christ, offering hope and help to people in need. Our broad focus is Appalachia and our specific focus is eastern Kentucky. We are grateful to God that individuals across America, including folks in the areas of our primary service, embrace our mission.”
Christian Appalachian Project is headquartered in Hagerhill Kentucky. For more information about CAP, visit us online at www.christianapp.org or follow us on Facebook/Christian Appalachian Project or Twitter at @chrisappproj.