Second Sack Lunches for Seth slated for April 22; Orders due by April 14

Beth Christian Broschart
April 8, 2021

BUCKHANNON – As the days become warmer, many people are taking to the outdoors to spend their lunch breaks, and an upcoming event offers the opportunity to have a delicious sack lunch in the sunshine delivered to your work – all while helping raise funds for a neighbor in need.

The Sack Lunches for Seth will be Thursday, April 22 and those supporting the cause will have the choice of a turkey/cheese/lettuce or baked ham/cheese/lettuce sandwich, a bag of chips/a pickle and a homemade cookie donated by Fish Hawk Acres of Buckhannon.

All proceeds from the sale will benefit former Buckhannon resident Seth Poling who suffers from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, or ALS. The lunches cost $10 and if five or more orders come from one business, the Sack Lunches for Seth can be delivered to your business.

Singe or multiple orders with less than five are available for socially distanced pickup anytime from 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., Thursday, April 22, outside of Mt. Hermon United Methodist Church, located off U.S. Route 33 Childers Run Crossover and the Old Elkins Road. Deliveries will be made between 11 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. on Thursday, April 22.

Buckhannon resident Mary Alice Poling, Seth’s mom, is organizing the event and she asks that orders be pre-paid and made by Wednesday, April 14, 2021. Checks should be made payable to her, Mary Alice Poling, and questions or orders can be made by calling or texting her at 304-406-2909.

This is the second time the event has been offered, and Poling said the funds will be raised for medical expenses not covered by Seth’s insurance and to help defray the cost of medical equipment and nursing help.

“We are doing this to raise money for some of Seth’s medical equipment or to help pay for aides who come to the house,” Mary Alice Poling said. “He does not qualify for aide help and will soon need them around the clock.”

Mary Alice and her friends have organized the event, and some of the committee members include Gini Jeran, Robin Williams, Becky Williams, Donna Woody and Cindy Gooden along with many volunteers who help pack the lunches.

“We appreciate how kind everybody has been,” Mary Alice said. “The sandwiches are great.”

Seth Poling grew up in Buckhannon before moving to Morgantown. He is the son of Holt and Mary Alice Poling and has a sister, Brittany Alden. He graduated from Buckhannon-Upshur High School in 2005. He and wife Erika have two sons, Liam Seth and Bayler Michael Poling.

Seth received his ALS diagnosis in June 2017 after suffering from symptoms for four years prior. ALS, or Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a progressive nervous system disease that detrimentally impacts nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, resulting in loss of muscle control.

ALS affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, leading to muscle weakness, a loss of motor function, paralysis, breathing problems and eventually death. Most people with ALS will live between three and five years after symptoms appear. The exact cause is unknown, but environmental and genetic factors may be involved. There is currently no cure and treatment aims to relieve symptoms, provide social and emotional support, and possibly slow the disease progression.

Mary Alice Poling said with the Sack Lunches for Seth, she will include a sticker with additional educational information about ALS and she wanted to thank everyone ahead of time for their support during this fundraiser.

In October of 2020, Mary Alice coordinated a hugely popular Sack Lunches for Seth fundraiser that sold more than 660 sack lunches to assist in covering the cost of Seth’s medical expenses. The benefit was a full-time enterprise operating out of Mt. Hermon United Methodist church and involved more than 30 volunteers over the span of several days.

Businesses and organizations in Upshur and surrounding counties rallied around Poling. Preparations for this year’s sale been in the works for week – even months – and last year’s fundraiser saw sack lunches distributed to businesses and professional offices across Upshur County. A slew of sack lunches even made the trip to downtown Elkins, where they were delivered at the Randolph County Courthouse and other professional office buildings.

For more information about how to order, click here.

If you are unable to participate the sack lunch sale, here are two other ways you can help by educating yourself about ALS and/or supporting efforts to provide resource to ALS patients: