BEVERLY — The First Baptist Church is showing a movie about the environmental impacts of the coal industry in Appalachia to raise money for a service trip there.
About 40 people have signed up to go to Oak Hill, W.Va., in August, where they'll be repairing houses for "people struggling from chronic poverty," minister Beth Loughhead said.
And what's not helping that poverty, she said, is the effect the coal industry has had on basic needs such as drinking water.
Kim Stone, a member of the church's social concerns committee, put the documentary "Burning the Future: Coal in America" on their radar.
The screening is free, but there's an $8 dinner beforehand that anyone is welcome to attend.
The movie focuses on "mountain topping," which involves using dynamite to remove the top of a mountain to access the coal, instead of drilling.
"They just blow up the mountain now," Stone said. "What used to be a vista is gone, and it leaves these big, open pits. Not only have they destroyed all the trees, but when it rains, the slag from the coal mining is running down into people's water supplies."
The service group is focusing more on rebuilding homes, but "we're showing it to make people aware of what it's like down there," Stone said.
Loughhead said they're working with a local United Methodist Church and will go into houses and do whatever needs to be done — like restoring walls and roofs. On another trip, she said, there was a house that was falling in on itself, so they poured a new foundation.
The First Baptist Church takes a service trip every two years. The last couple have been to Louisiana to help with Hurricane Katrina cleanup efforts, but they decided to go to Appalachia this year.
"Because there's been so much focus on the hurricane devastated areas, some of the other areas that are struggling have seen less help," Loughhead said.
They'll be going from July 31 to Aug. 7. Members pay for their own travel, but the church is looking to raise several thousand dollars for supplies.
Staff writer Cate Lecuyer can be reached at clecuyer@salemnews.com.
If you go
What: Dinner and a movie to raise money for a service trip to West Virginia.
Where: First Baptist Church
When: Tonight. Dinner at 6:30 featuring baked ham, scalloped potatoes and all the trimmings. Screening of "Burning the Future: Coal in America" at 7:15.
Cost: $8 for the dinner. The movie screening is free, but donations are accepted.
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