Daniel McDonald
The Crossroads Pregnancy Center will hold its annual banquet at Freedom Church Thursday evening.
Crossroads Pregnancy Center Director Judy Butler told The Union-Recorder that the local pregnancy resource center is holding the annual event to celebrate fellowship among the center’s staff, volunteers and their families, to raise awareness about the center’s mission in the area and to appeal for additional support from area residents and organizations.
“We’re trying to help people see what happens at the center…because there are still a lot of people just learning about what we do in Milledgeville,” Butler said. “At the banquet we’ll have speakers, including volunteers and clients, and we’ll feature a ‘day-in-the-life’ of the center video.”
Butler said the banquet will also feature the stories of the Wood-Barker family, whose volunteerism spans four generations of their family.
“The great grandmother, Mildred Wood, is our receptionist, her grandson, Mike Wood, is on our board of directors, his daughter, Charis Wood-Barker, helps put our banquet together and her son, Seth Barker, comes in to volunteer on office projects,” Butler said.
The Crossroads Pregnancy Center’s mission is to support women from pregnancy through child rearing by providing access to counseling, testing and advice for the mother and her child. The center also runs a store where mothers are able to trade “mommy dollars,” which they earn by attending the center’s mothering classes, for baby items at the Stork’s Nest store. And Butler said the center is about to start a fatherhood ministry to help expectant fathers as well as mothers.
“We exist to glorify God by encouraging woman to choose eternal life through Jesus Christ for themselves and physical life for their unborn child,” Butler said.
Crossroads Pregnancy Center has reason to celebrate in this, its 17th annual banquet. The center is in its second year in its new facility at 451 S. Wayne St. just outside of downtown Milledgeville. The land and building that house the center were provided through a single donation, and is furnished using grant monies.
And just recently, Butler, the center’s staff and volunteers were able to open the center for an additional day each week. Crossroads Pregnancy Center augmented its regular hours, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, with additional hours between 3 and 7 p.m. Monday.
“All of our services are free, we don’t turn anyone away and we don’t push anything,” Butler said. “We are simply trying to minister to [mothers and fathers] in their time of need. We’re here to help.”
To learn more about the Crossroads Pregnancy Center or its annual banquet, call (478) 452-7376.
