Christian Appalachian Project

The Christian Appalachian Project (CAP) is an interdenominational, non-profit Christian organization committed to serving people in need in Appalachia by providing physical, spiritual and emotional support through a wide variety of programs and services.

CAP was started in 1964 by Father Ralph W. Beiting. It is headquartered in Lancaster, Kentucky.

As the 15th largest human services charity in the United States, The Christian Appalachian Project (CAP) served over 27,000 eastern Kentuckians in the last fiscal year. In addition, CAP’s gift-in-kind program called Operation Sharing, provided assistance in all thirteen Appalachian states, reaching over 1 million people. Following its faith-based principles, CAP employs the help of generous donors, volunteers, staff and the community to provide a variety of programs that have proven successful in helping people help themselves. CAP is committed to stewardship, innovation and excellence in executing its missions and community-based services.

Operation Sharing is CAP’s farthest-reaching mission, giving away over 65 million dollars worth of in-kind donations to 1,600 charities in Appalachia in 2005. CAP receives donations from corporations and individuals and uses the goods to offset costs of its human services missions, to give to other charities and to give to victims of natural disasters. Through Operation Relief, a component of Operation Sharing, CAP gives millions of dollars worth of emergency supplies to those devastated by tornadoes, floods, hurricanes and other natural disasters. CAP’s disaster services also supplies teams of relief workers who assist victims with physical labor involved in recovering from disasters.