Dr. Albert Reyes of Dallas, Texas, head of Buckner Charities, based in Dallas, Texas, will be speaking at Albany First Baptist Church on Wednesday, September 25, at 6:30 p.m.

Buckner International is a non-profit international Christian charitable organization, began as Buckner Orphans Home in 1879. Its founder was Reverend Robert Cooke Buckner (1833-1919), a former past of Albany First Baptist Church, with the support of other former Clinton Countians.

Numerous Clinton Countians moved to Paris, Texas as part of a sizeable wave of Kentucky-Texas migration that included several members of Albany First Baptist Church. Reverend Buckner soon followed in 1859.

The Buckner Orphans Home started in 1879 with $27.00. It continues today as an organization with over 100 employees and $74 million in annual revenues. Dr. Buckner’s vision of helping needy children has grown to an organization with adoption and foster care services, family outreach, the Buckner Center for Humanitarian Aid, and an international “Shoes for Orphan Souls” project.

Dr. Reyes is excited to be speaking in the church where Robert C. Buckner pastored in the 1850s.

The public is encouraged to attend. Dr. Reyes’ pastor in Texas was another former pastor at Albany First Baptist, Charles Foster Johnson.