Island Church & BeachBilly Foundation sponsor holiday crockpot program

Island Church & BeachBilly Foundation sponsor holiday crockpot program

A local non-profit, the Beachbilly Lifestyle Charity Foundation, has wasted no time making a difference in the community it serves.
Launched by Beachbilly Josh Brown and Mark A. McBride, the charity is going forward this Christmas season with its Cooking From Work Crockpot Program for single parents in partnership with the OBA Island Church.
“This launch will be the first of many to follow and we plan to take this program nationwide to address the same need that exists in every city across the country,’’ McBride said. “It’s a perfect marriage with food pantry giving programs.’’
McBride, owner of Perdido Key’s Playa del Rio RV Resort, was helping Ben Kilborn of The Island Church market and promote the many local area food pantry programs that Kilborn organizes back in 2019 when he came up with his crockpot idea. He said the revelation occurred during a family dinner gathering at his RV park that included numerous crockpots.
“That’s when it hit me that one of the simplest while most challenging things for families is having the time to juggle work, school, after-school events and sports with home life,’’ he said. “It is hard enough for a two-income married couple with children, but for a single parent, it can sometimes be overwhelming to do all things a family has to do during a normal day of life. At that moment, the crockpot program was born.’’
By the end of the summer of 2020, the two men and other volunteers had amassed over 100 donated crockpots ready to give away to single parents. Unfortunately, the plan coincided with Hurricane Sally‘s direct landfall in September. The hurricane destroyed McBride’s RV resort and washed away all the crockpots.
“It was devastating and, at the time, it seemed like it was the end for the program before it even got started,’’ McBride said.
During the two years it took McBride to rebuild his RV park, he met and became business partners with Brown of Beachbilly Lifestyle, and the two started the Beachbilly Lifestyle Charity Foundation as part of Beachbilly.com.
Also during that period, McBride was led to Island Church Pastor Fred Franks, who loved the idea and saw it as a perfect for Island Church’s already thriving food giveaway program.
“We are giving away the first 100 crockpots planned for distribution this Christmas at the Island Church in December,’’ McBride said. “This program is to help bridge the burden of single – parent families with food preparation, and is sure to be a success wherever we go with it.’’
McBride, said his goal is to give away 1,000 crockpots through the program, and he is also planning a crockpot gifting event in his hometown of Decatur.
“If you are a working, single parent with children and would like to be considered for a crockpot so that you can cook your family dinner at home while you are actually at work during the day, please email us (CookingFromWork@gmail. com) and tell us your story,’’ McBride said.
Also, Island Church will gladly and thankfully accept crockpot donations at 25550 Canal Rd in Orange Beach. (Info: 251-967-4840)
Pictured: Mark McBride, also founder of the Perdido Key Music Festival, presented a check for $80,000 to the Frank Brown Music Foundation during the Nov. 3-13 FBISF. “That $80k donation was a year of hard work involving many projects coming together. Of course, that is with the help of many folks supporting and helping every little cause we do to help others,’’ McBride said during the presentation ceremony at the Flora-Bama
McBride and Josh Brown, his business partner with Beachbilly Lifestyle, (pictured above with FBISF director Andy Haynes and local songwriter Darrell Roberts), said he will continue to support the local music community, the Frank Brown and Perdido Key music festivals, local schools, churches and outreach programs, and non-profits such as the Autism Assn., ACS and others through the Beachbilly Charity Foundation, which has been a part of raising over $100K for great causes in the last year
“We are setting a challenge and a goal to see how long it takes for us to raise and donate $1 million to worthy causes,’’ McBride said.
“It is going to be a very exciting part of the future of Beachbilly Lifestyle as well as the next chapters of my life now that I am retired from the Playa Del Rio RV Park and working full-time with Beachbilly Lifestyle.
“Stay tuned for many great things to happen.’’