Two Leechburg churches are combining forces to help others.

Members of Cross Roads Community Presbyterian Church and First Evangelical Lutheran Church have begun raising money to go on a mission trip this year to aid those affected by last year’s hurricanes.

While the trip is definitely happening, the Rev. James Arter of Lower Burrell said some details are still up in the air. The trip’s planners have reached out to organizations in North Carolina and haven’t heard much back yet.

“I know a lot of the reason for that is they’re really struggling to get the basic infrastructure back in some kind of working order so things like this can be planned,” Arter said.

He said the trip will be happening in the spring or fall depending on when details are nailed down.

In the meantime, both churches are raising money for transportation, food and accommodations for a week. Arter said people going on the trip will be driving their own cars to North Carolina.

About 30 people from both churches are signed up for the trip.

“The goal is for everybody who wants to go, to be able to go without cost,” Arter said.

First Lutheran has begun a hoagie sale for their first fundraiser. They’re hoping to match $5,000 raised by an annual charity golf outing hosted by Cross Roads in August, Arter said. People can buy a 14-inch Marrianna’s hoagie or a 12-inch pizza for $10 at First Lutheran until Feb. 2. Pickup is scheduled for Feb. 11.

“It’s fundamental to our faith that we help those in need,” Arter said. “We’re putting aside daily life and we’re really focusing on the work of Christian discipleship full time for that week.”

In the coming months, First Lutheran is planning to host a chili cook-off and a soup sale.

This will be the second mission trip the congregation has gone on. The first was after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Cross Roads member Gary Cockroft, of Leechburg, has played an integral part in coordinating plans between the churches and Lend a Hand, a nonprofit local disaster response and assistance program.

“Our church has done, probably, 10 to 12 mission trips in the past,” Cockroft said.

Members of the congregation have completed mission trips in many states, among them Indiana, Iowa, New Jersey, New York, Tennessee and Texas.

“What I’m expecting to see (in North Carolina) is not a whole lot of things standing,” Cockroft said.

He said there are religious groups helping to rebuild private bridges and building tiny houses to give those displaced shelter in the areas affected by the hurricanes.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime disaster,” Cockroft said. “Nobody’s seen anything like this before.”

The plan for the mission is to lend assistance in whatever way they can.

“It’s going to be completely different than what we’ve had to do before,” Cockroft said.

“We have people that do painting. We have people that do drywall. We have a couple gentlemen that do HVAC, some electrical work, some carpentry work, some roofing work — we’re hoping that we have a big group of skilled people that we can do a lot of things down there to help them out.”

He said Cross Roads has some saved money to help with costs since the church hasn’t completed a mission trip since the pandemic. Throughout the year, members of Cross Roads host soup and flower sales along with its golf outing.

“We don’t know how much it’s going to cost us to go yet,” Cockroft said. “We’re raising as much as we can.”

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)