It was 1995, and Billy Thistlewood, one of the original ministry founders, had received a call from someone saying that they needed a way to get in their house, as they were unable to use the steps anymore due to being in a wheelchair. When Billy reached out to volunteer Joe Burkhead, fellow founder and now Director of the ministry, to ask his thoughts on the request and whether or not that was a doable task for them, Joe confidently said, “Yes!” They studied code, did the work, finished the ramp, and came away having fulfilled a deep need for their caller. And then, word started to spread. Another request came in for the group two to three months later, and they ended up doing four ramps the first year and moving on to eight to ten the second year. The work began to build up slowly, but steadily. For while the builders were still managing other projects, fulfilling other needs as Reidland Methodist Helping Hands Ministry, onlookers from life’s sidelines saw what they were doing, and saw that the ramp builds were ones of quality. Fast-forward from 1995 to the early 2000s, and the group was then doing 25-30 ramps a year. “And then it continued to increase,” Joe says. “We went to one a week probably starting 2005 or 2006. By and large, we were at a full load of 55 or so per year by 2010.” This being the ministry’s 31st year, they have now built over 1,200 ramps. An admirable number, which the group never anticipated. “We were building them one at a time,” Joe humbly says. “I never imagined that we would get any further than the ‘next’ ramp for a year or two years.” In the background, records were kept of their builds for material and finance purposes. But Joe didn’t take note of the magnitude of the number of ramps built until he realized they were coming up on ramp number 1,000. A notable number that called for a notable celebration. That momentous build on January 11, 2023, for recipient Jimmy Stoddard garnered the attention of local and national news outlets, including WPSD Local 6, KFVS 12, The Paducah Sun, the national publication The Christian Post, and even Christian radio station K-LOVE, who ran a spot with the ministry’s commentary and interviews on the build for months. The humble group (never looking for accolades for themselves) kept their church updated of their work, but didn’t know that the word had, in Joe’s words, “spread like wildfire.” And while the 1,000th ramp was large in physical size, with a staggering 65 feet in total length, it was even larger in heart. “I invited everybody who had ever helped on a ramp to come by and put a screw or two in that ramp so that they could say they helped on it,” Joe says fondly of the celebratory build. That action of inclusion commemorated with a large, celebratory poster that Joe invited the helpers to sign – collecting over 60 signatures. It was then around this time that the inaugural men changed the name of the ministry to Reidland United Methodist Men & Friends Ministry, as about half of the group’s regular builders are from other churches. Faith backgrounds such as Catholics, Baptists, Presbyterians, and Church of Christ, to name a few, all come together to do the rewarding work of fulfilling these community needs in mobility assistance. To culminate the 1,000th build celebration, Joe then invited all of the men outside of their church to come to a church service at Reidland United Methodist. Since their group spanned various churches and denominations in the area, it was a kind gesture that allowed people in the church’s congregation to see who was doing the work that they were regularly hearing reports of. You may ask what it is that keeps these hard-working volunteers returning to this work? What gets them out of the house to come together to build something that they will never use, and may never see again until they move it on to its next home? “It’s rewarding, there’s no question about it,” Joe says of the work. “I don’t think there’s a single guy that’s pompous about it. And everyone I can think of on the ramp ministry helps with some other ministry – some significant other activity, or at least has.” And when Joe recently received a call with a request to build a 133-foot ramp, he had much to consider – cost, materials, doable-ness, and the hearts, minds, and willingness of his volunteers.
