The United Methodist Church in Fairmont has found a unique way to raise funds for an upcoming mission trip.

Throughout May, “flocks” of pink flamingos will be landing in area yards, most of which belong to church members. Those people then “pay” to have the birds removed, which subsequently funds the mission trip.

Melanie Van Egdom and Joleen Fink explained how the process works, and what the mission trip will entail. Van Egdom is in charge of coordinating the flamingos, while Fink is in charge of the trip itself.

“The mission is to the Appalachia area in Kentucky and is through the Appalachia Service Project,” Fink said. “Fifty years ago, there was a Methodist pastor who traveled to the area and saw the intense poverty, and it became his mission to go out and help people’s homes be improved.

“Their (Appalachia Service Project) statement is that they want homes to be warmer, safer and dryer,” she continued. “They have families that apply for assistance, and in the county that we’re going to almost a third of people are living below the poverty line. So they had over 200 applicants wanting assistance for their homes.”

Fink said a variety of churches and organizations attempt to help families through ASP, but usually can only help one in every eight homes due to time and budget constraints. Fink went on to describe the process for those who are able to receive help.

“These families know that there’s going to be a different group of people coming into their home every week, and doing whatever projects need to be done,” she said. “For some homes it’s just as simple as doing drainage ditches so that their basements don’t get flooded.

“Two years ago, we went and worked on two different homes. In one, the family was literally falling through the floor because the floor was rotted and there were leaks all over. So we had to help with doing some of the roofing, re-siding, putting in new windows and even walls because some of the sheetrock had been damaged from all the rain.

“So it’s just whatever these families need. For some it’s a ramp to make things more accessible, and for others it’s almost a complete rebuild. It also helps families stay together because there are often times where the kids are not safe in the home, so then social services will respond and say that if ASP can help a family then we can keep the kids in the home.”

This year, Fink says there will be 10 adults and four youth going on the trip in the last week of July.

“We will leave early Saturday morning, and get to Hazard, Kentucky, on Sunday,” she said. “A couple of us will meet with the families that we’ll be working with and then we’ll hit it hard. We’ll pick up whatever supplies we need and head to the house and work from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.”

As for the flamingos, Van Egdom says there are four different groups of birds going around Fairmont.

“We have two for outdoors and we have two office groups running around to different offices,” she said. “Those are inflatable flamingos, flamingo pens and stuffed animals.

“What happens is that we started at a house and once the flamingos have ‘landed’ there we have a card that says you have been flocked by the United Methodist Church, and in order to remove these birds, we ask for a donation to the adult and youth mission. Along with the donation, they get to pick the next location where the flock lands.

“We also have what’s called pink flamingo flocking insurance. So this is where you can get ‘insurance’ to keep the flamingos from landing in your yard. It can be anything from a penny to a handshake. We don’t want anybody to feel like they have to put a lot in.”

Van Egdom said people have been gracious with their donations and insurance, though she notes there was a group of birds that got outside the members of the church. In those cases, she says they try to give homeowners a heads-up to let them know what is going on, in case they do not want to participate.

As they travel, the church group will stay in churches and other locations to help lessen the cost. Van Egdom also expects the trip will be an eye-opener for those who go, to see the conditions in which some people live.