Glasgow, KY – T.J. Regional Health held its third annual Day of Giving as a way to show the communities we serve that we are thankful for the opportunity to provide them with high-quality healthcare and to show how much we appreciate their continued support of our organization.

At least fifteen different departments within T.J. Regional Health chose various charities and organizations in which to make donations including money, non-perishable food items, toiletries and other basic living necessities. Recipients in multiple communities included churches, local food pantries, the Boys and Girls Club, area schools and nursing homes to name a few. Overall, hundreds of community members will be impacted by the Day of Giving.

Mallie Boston, Unit Director at Boys & Girls Club stated, “The donations provided by T.J. will be a tremendous support in providing inclusivity to our members. Providing a new space to serve our youth in a multitude of ways with sensory therapy and one-on-one mentorship. We are so thankful for community partners like T.J. for continuing to help our youth.”

Neil Thornbury, CEO of T.J. Regional Health explained, “I am humbled by the generosity our employees show on a daily basis. Not only in the health care that they provide to our patients but to open their hearts and wallets to help those in need. It’s truly a blessing to work side by side with these individuals every day.”

A Quarter Auction will be held on Friday, Dec. 6 at 5:30 p.m. at the Trinity United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall. All proceeds go to Peggy Lawson following the recent loss of her husband and a small house fire.

Bidding paddles are $5. Contact Steven Baker at 270-250-4560 for more information.

The Adair County Extension Homemakers will ring in the Christmas season with their annual Holiday Bazaar on Saturday.
From 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., shoppers can browse arts and crafts items, holiday décor and gifts, desserts, candies, jellies, relishes, breads, and more from the 20 different vendors signed up for this year’s bazaar.

One of those vendors is mother-daughter duo Pam Grant and Amanda Abbott.
The pair has been attending the Holiday Bazaar for around 15 years and although their crafts differ from each other, talent and creativity definitely run through the family.
Grant makes a wide variety of hand-sewn items such as rag dolls, stuffed animals, snowmen and Christmas ornaments, which are her personal favorite.

She also uses as many unique fabrics that she can get her hands on such as fake fur and old clothing.
Grant admits that she wasn’t aware of her talent until later in life and it has become a form of therapy for her.

“I do a lot of sewing with my hands. I have Parkinson’s disease so that helps my hands,” said Grant. “I’ve had three surgeries on my knee and I’m not able to walk very much, so I do a lot of crafts to keep my mind occupied.”
Abbott says her artistic abilities came from her mother, but instead she uses her skills in painting and baking.

She plans to bring painted ornaments, primitive wooden items, candies and cakes to the bazaar, and has also tried her hand at some jewelry pieces with the help of her daughter, Aliza.
Her two girls, Aliza and Mahaylie, also have some artistic talent and have grown up attending the bazaars with their mother and grandmother.

“My kids have always looked forward to it,” said Abbott. “Momma especially, she looks forward to it every year.”
There’s no doubt that memories with each other is why the family loves the bazaar, but Grant and Abbott both agree that seeing the community come together is what makes it special.

“I like meeting all the people,” said Grant. “You see people you’ve not seen for a long time.”
“There’s a lot of crafters here and everybody is different in their own way. I think it’s amazing that this little town can come together and support each other. Even though we make a lot of the same stuff, we’re still here to support each other and encourage each other.”

Abbott feels that it’s important for crafters to stick together for events like this in the days of Amazon prime and online shopping available at our fingertips.
“I think the arts and crafts is kind of dying out in a way because everything is made commercially. There’s so much creativity in our little town that I just think it’s awesome that we have people that come out and support us and we can support each other.”

By Anna Buckman
Assistant Editor
anna@adairvoice.com

As we enter upon the Thanksgiving holiday, food is on a lot of people’s minds.
However, there are a number of people who always have food on their minds and they most likely won’t get to enjoy the same food as others on Thanksgiving.

That’s the 15.4 percent, or 2,980 people in Adair County’s population that are food insecure, meaning they do not have sufficient food at least part of the time.
More than a fifth, or 810, of those people are children.

“Adair County is actually higher than our full service area,” said Jamie Sizemore, Feeding America Kentucky Heartland executive director.
These numbers come from the 2017 Overall County Food Insecurity study conducted by Feeding America.

According to the organization, food insecurity refers to USDA’s measure of lack of access, at times, to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members and limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate foods.
“Food-insecure households are not necessarily food insecure all the time,” states Feeding America. “Food insecurity may reflect a household’s need to make trade-offs between important basic needs, such as housing or medical bills, and purchasing nutritionally adequate foods.”

Senior hunger is another major issue in Kentucky, as 8.4 percent of seniors in the state are considered food insecure. Kentucky is ranked the highest state for food insecurity in older adults (age 50-59) in the United States.
“We see a lot of seniors who, based on their limited income, can’t pay for their medicine or their electricity,” said Sizemore. “Some of them still have rent or mortgages, so food is last on the list.”

There are multiple organizations in Adair County that are partnering with Feeding America as well as doing their own work to eliminate the heartbreaking food insecurity issue in the county.
The Adair County Senior Center serves hot, nutritious lunches at no cost to seniors Monday through Friday.

Seniors can receive free transport to and from the center and lunches can be delivered to those who can’t get out. They currently serve a total of 35 seniors – 15 in house and 20 get deliveries.
The lunches come prepared from the Lake Cumberland Area Development District’s central kitchen and they also offer food boxes to seniors who qualify for Feeding America’s Commodity Supplemental Food Program.

To qualify for the program, a senior must be at least 60 years of age and have a specific income threshold. They will receive a box of nutritious, nonperishable USDA foods once a month.
J.O.Y. Ministries also provides CSFP to needy seniors and the program serves 204 seniors between the two centers.

In addition to this, J.O.Y. Ministries provides bags of dry foods containing three to four meals that individuals and families with or without homes can receive every other week, giving out an average of 250 bags a month.
Lindsey Wilson College’s Food Recovery Network Chapter (formerly Campus Kitchen) now brings unserved foods from the Cranmer Dining Center to J.O.Y. to give out when available.
Kentucky Hunters for the Hungry supplies donated deer meat to J.O.Y. Ministries when available and also gives to the Adair County Food Pantry.

The Adair County Food Pantry serves around 300 people, both individuals and families, once a month and along with the occasional deer meat, provides a variety of non-perishable items.
They receive food from Feeding America through The Emergency Food Assistance Program government commodities and help supply for Feeding America’s BackPack program.

Teachers and family resource coordinators identify children in need and the food pantry provides 12-15 easy to prepare food items every Friday to consume over the weekend.
The Garden Church is yet another Feeding America partner in the county and Trinity United Methodist Church, Glensfork Nazarene Church and the Columbia Church of Christ also provide their own food pantries.

The Adair County Food Pantry supervisor, Michele Fruth, says that the clientele grows quickly.
“We get half a dozen to a dozen new clients weekly,” said Fruth.

Donations from the community could come in handy for these organizations, but Sizemore recommends monetary donations rather than actual food donations.
“We appreciate food drives, but we can take $1 and acquire nine pounds of food with that. With the agencies that are in your area, a dollar goes a lot further than if you go to the grocery store and buy food because of the buying power we have. By working with the partner agencies, we can help them stretch their dollar on extra stuff that they need,” said Sizemore.

Donating is easy – simply take the donation to any of the agencies or visit donatenow.networkforgood.org/feedingamericaky.
In the last 12 months as of Sept. 30, Feeding America, Kentucky’s Heartland, with the help of the four partner agencies in Adair County, has distributed 212,967 meals to residents of the county.

In this time of giving, consider helping those in your community have plenty on their plate this season.

By Anna Buckman
Assistant Editor
anna@adairvoice.com

 

A new lumber company is set to start operation in Columbia.

H&H Lumber will be a concentration yard, which means that wood will be brought in and stacked outside for air drying, and then will be put into a kiln to be dried.
“We will also be planning wood for our customers, as well as other specialty jobs that may come along,” said Mike Pierce, administrative manager.

The company is looking to be up, running and turning out product within 30-45 days.

“We are initially planning to hire three to five full and part-time employees and as the business grows, also will our need for employees,” noted Pierce.

The business is owned by Randy Huff from Indiana, who worked originally as an ironworker for fifteen years. He then started a multi-state vending company and it became one of the largest vending companies in the state of Indiana.

Huff became involved in the lumber business in 2007 with a large wood chipping operation and then moved on to air and kiln drying of wood, initially on a custom basis.

“We are excited to be doing business in Columbia, “said Pierce. “It reminds us of our hometown of Sullivan, as the people we have met and done business with are very friendly and cooperative. Our hopes are to build a successful business here in Columbia, expand and hire more people, and add to the economy.”

“We are extremely pleased that H&H Lumber will be located in Columbia,” said Pamela Hoots, Mayor of Columbia. “We welcome them to our community.”

According to Bobby Morrison, chairman of the Columbia-Adair County Economic Development Authority, “This will assist our local logging and milling operations with a local market outlet for their products.”

H&H Lumber will be located on Industrial Park Road 200 in Columbia across from Circor.