Red Bus Project Rolls into Mississippi College

Red Bus Project supporters visited Mississippi College on October 2. The Tennessee-based group is raising awareness of the plight of orphans worldwide.

A bright red double decker bus parked at Mississippi College in early fall to spread a message about the needs of orphans worldwide.

Leaders of the Tennessee-based organization note there are more than 140 million orphans around the globe in need of hope.

On the bus, there were shoes and other articles of clothing on sale at bargain prices. Money raised by the mobile thrift store will go towards orphan care advocacy.

“This project is cool,” said MC nursing student Margaret Frautschi of Shreveport, Louisiana. She planned to tell her friends about the affordable shoes she spotted on the upper deck of the bus, as well as the cause being promoted.

The October 2 visit on the Clinton campus was among many Red Bus Project stops on college campuses around the South.

The University of Mississippi and Mississippi State University were stops earlier in the week. The red bus also pulled into schools like the University of Louisiana- Lafayette, Texas Christian University, Baylor and the University of Alabama early this fall.

“With the mobile thrift store we want to get college students involved with millions of children,” says Amber Hurm of Owensboro, Kentucky, a Red Bus Project connections intern. A student at Campbellsville University in Kentucky, Amber told MC students about some of the grim statistics about the plight of orphans.

Only about half of the orphans in America are ever adopted, Red Bus Project supporters say.

With alarms sounded about the deadly Ebola virus stretching from West Africa to the USA, growing fears about terrorism spreading worldwide, and longtime concerns about hunger problems around the globe, Red Bus Project staffers say the needs of orphans are often overlooked.

Some Mississippi College students like Rebecca Turner of Memphis say she’s glad to see the Red Bus Project visit the campus, and promote awareness about orphans.

“It is our job to care for them because God said to,” Rebecca said. “I’m just finding out about this. It’s cool they are on campus.”

Prices of shirts, pants and other items were selling for as little as $1 at the Baptist-affiliated university.

A 2013 MC graduate, Hallie Darphin of Jackson was happy to welcome the Red Bus Project on its first visit to Mississippi College. The bus was parked for several hours just outside Nelson Hall. “I run a small business that funds an education for kids around the world,” she said. “ We are invested in the orphan crisis.”

For more information on the cause of orphans worldwide go to redbusproject.org