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Betty Cutts, President, and Founder
Betty is a housewife and community volunteer with a Master’s Degree in Elementary Education. She has taught as a volunteer teacher in an English as a second language (ESL) program, and three summer English camps in China. She has also served as a volunteer court-appointed special advocate (CASA). Betty served as secretary for Morehead Sister Cities and spearheaded the Morehead exchanges with Morehead's Sister City - Yangshuo, Guangxi, China. She is a Rotarian and past President of the Morehead Rotary Club. She and her husband David, a retired physics teacher, have two sons, who are engineers with national companies, and four grandchildren. |
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Eric Zhang, Vice President
Eric Zhang came to the US from the Yunnan Province of China in 1990 as a Chinese native speaker to assist the Chinese Language and Culture Program at Whitman College in Washington State. He then completed his Master's degree in Control Systems Engineering at West Virginia Institute of Technology. During his studies, he worked as an adjunct instructor for the Department of Mathematics. There he met his wife, Destiny, who was born in China but grew up in Chile. The couple has three children; Christina, Sophia, and Nathaniel. Professionally, Eric has worked as a control systems engineer and senior engineer. While living in Lexington, KY, he taught a Chinese Language and Culture Class to middle school students at Sayre School. |
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Xiaomin Oney, Treasurer
Xiaomin Oney taught English for fourteen years at Guangxi Normal University before she became a visiting scholar at Morehead State University in 2010. She then pursued Master's degree of Higher and Adult Education at MSU. After that she taught Chinese at MSU for five years. She is the mother of Maiqi, now a University student in Boston. She is married to Phillip Oney, an American businessman. Xiaomin has been a board member of Blessing Hands since 2011. Her connections with family, friends and former students at Guangxi have opened many doors for Blessing Hands’ different projects. |
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Kayla Mitchell, Secretary
Kayla joined our board in June 2020 as our board secretary. Kayla has a passion for international travel and the humanitarian field. She holds a B.A. in International Studies from Morehead State University. She has volunteered in numerous countries from teaching English as a second language to desert wildlife conservation. She was a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (RPCV) as an English Literacy Specialist in Uganda before being evacuated due to covid. Kayla has visited China with Blessing Hands in 2015 to witness the work that the organization accomplishes and fell in love with the culture and people. |
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Jill Hill, Board Member
Jill Hill attended high school in Morehead, Kentucky, then graduated from Morehead State University with a degree in speech communications. She married Steve and moved to Texas where they began their family. After 15 years in Texas, the Hills then moved to Manila, the Philippines, where they helped Blessing Hands serve children there. Steve and Jill now reside in Covington, KY with their eight children. Jill has authored two books and currently teaches middle school students in history and English. |
Malan Cai, Board Member
Malan Cai is an English teacher at Guangxi Normal University in the Guilin Prefecture of the Guangxi Province of China. She came as a visiting scholar to Morehead State University and stayed to get her Master’s Degree in Communication and taught Chines. Malan was one of the founding members of Blessing Hands in Yangshuo, China. She was our first administrator there, and has assisted us since 2005 with translating, supervision of scholarship students in her university, traveling with our team, and advising on key issues. She is married and has one son.
Malan Cai is an English teacher at Guangxi Normal University in the Guilin Prefecture of the Guangxi Province of China. She came as a visiting scholar to Morehead State University and stayed to get her Master’s Degree in Communication and taught Chines. Malan was one of the founding members of Blessing Hands in Yangshuo, China. She was our first administrator there, and has assisted us since 2005 with translating, supervision of scholarship students in her university, traveling with our team, and advising on key issues. She is married and has one son.
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Joshua Barker, Board Member
Joshua Barker has been involved in Christian service since 2012. He works as a plumber and has helped to build a church and orphanage in Hyderabad, India. He also worked to encourage local pastors there. After traveling to India by himself first, he took his wife, son, and a group of sponsors on the next trip. Presently he feels called to preach, and he and his wife Amanda are assistant pastors at Mt. Pisgah Christian Church. They welcomed twins in March of 2021. He says, “I look forward to working with Blessing Hands in this new journey that God has placed us on.” The Barkers are from Morehead, KY. |
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Matthew Kanneberg, Board Member
Matt is currently the Director of Medical, Ergonomics & Home Offices within the corporate Health & Safety Team at WstRock. Matt has had a 30+ year career within the pulp & paper industry. In addition, he has worked/volunteered within the construction, public and private sectors. He was an active board member of the Pulp & Paper Safety Association (PPSA) from 2011-2023 and was Board-Chair in 2015 and 2016. He has held additional board positions as Disaster Chariman for a chapter of the American Red Cross, Board Chair of the Franklin Center for the Arts, and currently a board member for Blessing Hands a registered 501(3)(c) public charity. Matt has received numerous awards including a letter of appreciation from former Governor Sonny Perdue of Georgia & the Governor's Office of Highway Safety and WestRock's 2013 Culture Award. Matt resides in Rincon, GA with his wife Karin and son Evan. |
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Jessie Mansfield, Assistant Director in USA
Jessica Mansfield joined the board in December 2017. She is a trained child and youth leader focused on children in crises and has a great interest in international travel to help marginalized people. Her husband, Aaron Mansfield, pastors Methodist Churches, and they have three children two of whom have graduated from high school. She has a college degree in Urban and Cross-Cultural Ministries from Greenville College and an MA in Intercultural Studies from Asbury Theological Seminary. Her work experience includes radio broadcasting, teaching, children's pastoring, and program management. She is excited to become an Assistant Director for Blessing Hands and is looking forward to traveling for Blessing Hands.
Jessica Mansfield joined the board in December 2017. She is a trained child and youth leader focused on children in crises and has a great interest in international travel to help marginalized people. Her husband, Aaron Mansfield, pastors Methodist Churches, and they have three children two of whom have graduated from high school. She has a college degree in Urban and Cross-Cultural Ministries from Greenville College and an MA in Intercultural Studies from Asbury Theological Seminary. Her work experience includes radio broadcasting, teaching, children's pastoring, and program management. She is excited to become an Assistant Director for Blessing Hands and is looking forward to traveling for Blessing Hands.
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Tim Liao, Assistant Director in China
Tim Liao lives in Nanning city, Guangxi, China and is from the Zhuang minority. He was introduced to Blessing Hands by Betty's photos on WeChat, and his heart was deeply touched. Tim received his English Education degree in 2005 and his Medical degree in 2018. He taught English in school for 2 years, worked for International Health Resources NGO, led public health training, and counseled others in family education and spiritual health for his local church and community. He experiences great joy when using his talents for the good of others. Caring and helping people in need allowed him to find the meaning of practice in his faith and continues to inspire his faithfulness and commitment to God. |
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Alvin Luk 陆启荣, Program Administrator
Alvin lives in Guilin China. He works as a Program Administrator for Blessing Hands. He graduated from Guangxi Normal University in Guilin Prefecture in Guangxi Province. After changing a few jobs, he settled on a charity career and works now with a charity called Agape where he is in charge of the foster care and medical mission in Guangxi, Henan, Jiangxi, and Xi'an. He happened to meet Betty Cutts during a visit she made to the poor kids in a rural area of Guilin. He finds students who have family problems. Once he found just the right student that a sponsor really identified with because they had similar stories. The first student he sent us was in danger of dropping out of school because her mother had cancer and could not afford school expenses. Her schoolmates were collecting money to keep her in school. She was an excellent student. He takes a special interest in students and often checks on them. We are blessed to have Alvin work with Blessing Hands.
Alvin lives in Guilin China. He works as a Program Administrator for Blessing Hands. He graduated from Guangxi Normal University in Guilin Prefecture in Guangxi Province. After changing a few jobs, he settled on a charity career and works now with a charity called Agape where he is in charge of the foster care and medical mission in Guangxi, Henan, Jiangxi, and Xi'an. He happened to meet Betty Cutts during a visit she made to the poor kids in a rural area of Guilin. He finds students who have family problems. Once he found just the right student that a sponsor really identified with because they had similar stories. The first student he sent us was in danger of dropping out of school because her mother had cancer and could not afford school expenses. Her schoolmates were collecting money to keep her in school. She was an excellent student. He takes a special interest in students and often checks on them. We are blessed to have Alvin work with Blessing Hands.
