On Saturday, I took advantage of early voting and performed my civic duty. The polling place buzzed with excitement as citizens from all over the county waited to cast their vote. As of the writing of this column nationally 43,440,787 and statewide 80,597 citizens have voted. Early voting continues through November 2nd. I hope our district has a high voter turnout.
Earlier in the week I had the honor of attending Mountaineer Food Bank’s’ campaign kickoff event for the construction of a new production kitchen at its Gassaway warehouse. This expansion was made possible by a $1.5 million grant from Aetna Better Health of West Virginia. Community Care of West Virginia, an FQHC providing services throughout central West Virginia, served as the fiscal passthrough for the donation.
As Mountaineer Food Bank expands its operation and services, they will serve even more families, children, seniors, veterans, and individuals facing food insecurities. Led by their mission “to feed West Virginia’s hungry and empower communities to end hunger,” Mountaineer Food Bank is a powerful, positive force across our state.
Governor Jim Justice introduced the Rural Hospitals Grant Program, allocating $40 million to improve healthcare services in West Virginia. This funding will enable rural hospitals to carry out essential projects such as facility upgrades, purchasing new equipment, and enhancing patient care. The funds were allocated during the latest special session. Rural hospitals are invited to submit funding proposals by November 15th, which will be reviewed to ensure they meet the program’s objectives of enhancing rural healthcare.
There is some good news for North Carolina and West Virginia. A group of West Virginia coal miners from Alpha Metallurgical Resources recently traveled to North Carolina to rebuild a road in Chimney Rock that was washed out by Hurricane Helene. The miners spent the week using various pieces of heavy equipment to create a drivable road and clear debris. Alpha Met. Resources CEO Andy Eidson mentioned that A&P contributed additional equipment and manpower to assist the miners.
The West Virginia workers involved included Charles Dunbar, Darrell McCune, Jimmy Wood, Stephen Boone, Jeff Barnhouse from Rock Solid Construction, Ben Harris, Derek Butler, Bobby Thomas, and Jon Campbell. This is one of many stories of people showing up from all over the country to lend a hand and provide hope during the disaster relief recovery.
Gassaway Baptist Church, through Samaritans Purse, will help with relief work in Boone, North Carolina, the week of November 17th-22nd. If you are interested in going or learning more, please call the church office at 304-364-8843.
November Interim Meetings are scheduled for November 10th-12th in Charleston. The schedule has not been released yet.
Congratulations to the Braxton Middle School Knights who will be playing for a conference championship at 6:30pm on October 31st against Clay County Middle School. The game will be played at the Nicohlas County Football Stadium.
Congratulations to the Braxton County High School Girls Cross Country Team for their Regional Championship and a trip to the State Cross Country Meet being held on Saturday, November 2nd. Runners will take off at 3:00 pm at Cabell Midland High School.
The Gilmer County Volleyball team will start tournament play this week. It’s an exciting time for our athletes from both Braxton and Gilmer counties. Their hard work and dedication to representing their schools and communities is commendable.
“Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice, and most of all, love of what you are doing.”
(Pelé)
I am proud of our student athletes and wish them the best in their competitions! If you can, show up and support them!
I look forward to hearing from people in the district and hope to see you out and about enjoying all the great things our area has to offer. I can be contacted at [email protected] or 304-701-8600.
Devoted to Braxton County, West Virginia