Shirray Burnside, Volunteer

At the beginning of 2020, Shirray Burnside was putting her journalism degree to good use, but something was missing. It took a leap of faith for her to leave all that she knew to live with complete strangers. However, that distinct opportunity drew her to Appalachia to commit to a year of service with Christian Appalachian Project (CAP) through AmeriCorps.

Burnside joined CAP in August 2020 and had just begun to settle in when a complicated year became even more difficult. Her mother died of cancer. She left CAP temporarily, but came back to Kentucky soon after the funeral. Although she wanted to stay with her siblings, she said, “Dad raised me to finish what I start.”

Returning to CAP allowed her the space to process her mother’s death. She received support from housemates and CAP’s counseling services which are available to volunteers. This has helped her sort through her grief as well as the stress of volunteering during a pandemic and the lack of diversity that compounds the difficulty of being away from home.

Interacting with participants has also helped with the healing process. At the pantry, Burnside met Brenda who was undergoing chemo for stage 4 cancer and was beginning to lose her hair. “It felt good to encourage somebody even though I’m going through something,” she explained. “I know God put this together for me to meet somebody and for me to see that He still does miracles.”