Pleasant Hill Waterline Association Receives Grant From Weyerhaeuser

The Pleasant Hill Waterline Association received a $2,000 grant from Weyerhaeuser Corporation which brings them one step closer to providing potable water to over 150 residents in northeastern Braxton County.
The Pleasant Hill Waterline Association Board of Directors have been meeting monthly since 2018 and now bi-monthly in 2023 to keep things moving forward. They have been working with Shane Whitehair and Cary Smith of Region VII Planning and Development to get two Congressionally Directed Spending requests (CDS) into the Appropriations Committee considerations in 2023 Federal Budget. The requests were submitted through the Braxton County Commission and the Burnsville Public Utility Board for $5,976,000 with $1,424,000 coming from other funding sources.
“Unfortunately, we learned in November that we did not receive our CDS approved, and we will have to put in these same requests for funds again in 2024. We know that this will be a long process as other areas here in Region VII have had to wait over ten years to get their water infrastructures in place,” explained Eddie Williams.
“We have learned that it takes a village and a great deal of time and effort to work to get quality water to residents in need here in West Virginia, and over the past five years we have had individuals in-state and out-of-state, churches, the Sutton Moose Lodge, the Braxton/Lewis County Lions Club, First Energy, and Weyerhaeuser Company to name a few make charitable donations to our cause.”, stated John Cobb president of the Association.
“We have met several times with members of the West Virginia Public Service Commission, and they have made it clear that we need to continue to raise local business funds to assure we receive additional local, state, and federal funding that will be needed to complete our waterline extension.
“I recall one of the more memorable donations included one of $500 from Ruth Saltern who is now living with her daughter in Pennsylvania, Ruth told me, “I was Ruth Perkins when I lived in West Virginia, and I was born in Fairmont. I am the oldest girl and I have 5 sisters and 5 brothers, there were eleven of us. My great grandparents lived in Tanner and my grandparents lived in Shock and Rosedale areas off Steer Creek and I recall as a ten-year-old traveling on vacation from Fairmont through Braxton and Gilmer Counties to visit my grandparents. I remember very vividly hauling water by hand up to my grandmother’s cabin on a hill. So, I learned the value of water at an early age. It is still very memorable to me today and that is the reason for my donation today, Mr. Cobb.”
“We are thankful to our local Braxton and Lewis County newspapers for their ongoing support in getting our word of our efforts out to the public. Please support your local newspapers.
The organization worked hard in 2019 to achieve Charitable Status with the IRS and now the Pleasant Hill Waterline Association is a 501C (3) and all contributions are therefore tax deductible. “We are a fully transparent organization, operated exclusively by volunteers!” added Cobb. “We have no paid employees and no overhead costs period! 100% of all donations will be used to bring potable water to our community. We have profiles on GuideStar, Charity Navigator, and Facebook.
“We are very appreciative of this most recent $2,000 donation from Weyerhaeuser Company and they know the importance of their contribution as it will keep us moving towards our goal of quality water and good health in their and our communities.” ended Cobb.