A project to raise money for 10 counties of the Black Belt region was kicked off with the aim of relieving medical debt.
The effort, called Project Empathy Fund for Central Alabama or Project Empathy, is a partnership of the Presbytery of Sheppards and Lapsley and RIP Medical Debt, Inc.
Participants of the project seek to raise $50,000 for Wilcox, Perry, Sumter, Greene, Pickens, Macon, Hale, Dallas, Lowndes, and Chambers counties.
“In February, 2020, two members of the Advent Sunday School class at Southminster Presbyterian Church called the Presbytery of Sheppards and Lapsley with the proposal to raise money to eliminate the medical debt in the Black Belt,” a press release from the Presbytery stated.
Citing the U.S. Census, the press release said that the poverty rate in the 10 counties was estimated to be 18.7% to 35.3% with a population of approximately 173,000. There is an estimated $13 million in debt for these regions.
“The Presbytery’s Executive Council unanimously agreed to sponsor Project Empathy,” the release states. “Our goal is to raise $50,000 in order to eliminate $5,000,000 of the medical debt. Hopefully we will exceed our goal.”
To contribute to the project, visit ripmedicaldebt.org and click the link in the Campaigns heading.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.