Patty Berry learned an important lesson while working with impoverished kids this summer: “Joy and love does not cost a lot of money.”

Berry was one of 23 members from the Mattapoisett Congregational Church who spent the week of June 21 to 28 serving children in the town of Ellijay, Ga.

The church teamed up with The Craddock Center, a nonprofit organization in nearby Cherry Log, Ga., on a pilot program called The Road Show.

Marc Anderson described the concept as “taking the summer camp to the kids instead of bringing the kids to the summer camp.”

Each day, the church members split up into teams for the traveling camp that brought meals, music and stories, arts and crafts and the Story Express, a mobile library, to kids.

“[The Craddock Center] wants to figure out a way to get that to the kids who are not in a central population,” said Pastor Amy Lignitz Harken.

Situated in the mountains of Southern Appalachia, the region is known for being one of the most impoverished in the country. Through The Road Show, The Craddock Center hopes to feed and provide educational opportunities for kids during summer months.

With each section of the camp arriving as the previous one finished, the church members gave kids at three locations the full camp experience. But the best part, was the library.

“The Story Express van would come down the hill. The dirt would be flying. [The kids] dropped what they were doing. They were so excited. It was beautiful,” said Berry.

Getting to Ellijay took a lot of preparation for everyone involved.

There were bake sales, barbeques and a bluegrass concert among other fundraisers that brought in more than $15,000 for the trip.

"Everybody was so generous. There was a lot of support," said Claire Keene.

The mission trip was a first for many on the team, and there was some trepidation.

“We haven’t really spent 24 hours together. We didn’t really know what the mission was. It was definitely some faith. Definitely God was present,” said Berry.

Everyone put aside their fears once they got there and hit the ground running – playing with kids and singing songs with them, helping them pick out books and building custom book shelves at The Craddock Center.

“The kids were great icebreakers, and the grandmothers kept everybody in line,” said Anderson. “I was struck by the resourcefulness and the spirit of this group. We just tackled this thing head on. Everybody brought their best selves.”

Lignitz Harken agreed.

“I think a lot of people surprised themselves on what they could do,” she said. “There were a lot of people who went into a situation, even going on the trip period, who said I don’t know that I can do this.”

The group found that they could indeed hang out with each other for a week ... and enjoy it.

“I didn’t know this person was fun and silly, and I didn't know that person was fun and silly,” Berry’s daughter, Maggie, told her on the plane ride home.

Lignitz Harken believes the new bonds formed among the church members, and their experience in Ellijay, will be “transformational” to the congregation as a whole.

“My hope is that this kind of ignites our current missions efforts,” she said. “We do a lot of mission work in the community… and this will kind of breathe some fresh air into that program and maybe give us some creativity and new ideas and new commitment into what we can do locally.”

Many who were on the trip are also asking if they can go back to The Craddock Center next year.

Lauren Keene said, “It took me to the end to make a decision whether it was a worthwhile trip or not. But they’re kids with a need. What more do you need to know?”