Pregnancy Life Line holds 10th annual ‘Babies, Bluegrass and BBQ’

I interviewed Barb Garlich, the program director, and here is our visit about the program center. 

1. How long have you been doing this event? 

We have served clients for 21 years and have had a fundraising banquet for many of those years. We started our “Babies, Bluegrass & BBQ” banquet format in 2015 at First Christian Church in Kimberling City. We outgrew that location and moved to First Baptist Church of Kimberling City in 2018. And we moved to New Testament Church in Reeds Spring this year, allowing us to fit all of our guests at one location.

2. What are the plans for the banquet next year/time, date?

Our Babies, Bluegrass & BBQ banquet is scheduled for next year on Thursday, April 23, 2026, at New Testament Christian Church in Reeds Spring from 6-8 p.m. The event is free but an RSVP is required because we have limited space.

3. What happens with the funds and are there any other fundraising events?

Funds raised are used to provide services to women and men with an unplanned pregnancy, and also to assist people in the community who might need testing or treatment for sexually transmitted infections (specifically gonorrhea and chlamydia – we offer free testing and treatment for these). Our focus is to work with pregnant women throughout their pregnancy and through the first years of their baby’s life. We offer prenatal, parenting, life skills, health and safety and many other education classes. Our clients earn points for attending classes, which they then can use to “buy” baby supplies (diapers, wipes, formula, clothing, etc.) each time they come to PLL. 

Other major fundraising events include

·       Baby Bottle campaigns through local churches; if interested in participating, email: gina@pregnancylifeline.com 

·       Bless a Baby at Christmas program; to get on the mailing list for this program, email: gina@pregnancylifeline.com

4. What is the history and basis of Pregnancy Life Line?

PLL is the only pregnancy center in Stone County and reaches over 100 clients each year. Client progress is measured quantitatively through surveys and achievement of client objectives as well as qualitatively through case management analysis. We also reach over 300 middle school and high school students with our Sexual Health Education Program.

PLL was founded in 2004 with a donated ultrasound machine and the first set of prenatal and parenting curriculum. We have steadily grown since then in terms of clients served, staffing, resources and impact on the community. Since opening we have served over 1,620 women and men. Most of our clients are Stone County residents, but we also serve clients from Taney, Barry, Greene, Christian and Carroll counties. 

We now own our own facility and offer over 200 classes on pregnancy, childbirth, parenting the first year, parenting toddlers, health and safety, fatherhood, discipline, life skills and more. We offer a Man2Man Program specifically for fathers. We also provide concrete resources such as gently used maternity and children’s clothing, diapers, car seats, Pack-n-Plays and gas cards.

For many years we have offered Sexual Health Education at the Reeds Spring School District. All of this has been accomplished through community support and extremely dedicated volunteers. PLL is an affiliate of Heartbeat International.

For more information about our services, go to pregnancylifeline.org. We have a donor Facebook page: Friends of Pregnancy Life Line 

or donor YouTube channel: youtube.com/@FriendsOfPLLBransonWest or donor website: pregnancylifeline.org