BUCKHANNON – The Band of Brothers concluded their calendar fundraiser with a record amount of money raised and distributed eight checks to youth programs Friday, Jan. 17.
The check award ceremony occurred at Stockert Youth & Community Center, with several youth programs in Upshur County.
Band of Brothers member Al Tucker said they decided to focus on Upshur County youth programs for the 2019 fundraiser.
“We raised $32,500 this this year, and that was that’s a record amount, so after we paid for the calendar printing, we had $26,500 to be distributed,” Tucker said. “We’ve already distributed $2,000. Today, as we speak, there was a team flying to Haiti to do work down there at a school for orphans, and we’ve supported that group for a number of years and had one of our Band of Brothers members, Gene Wells, on that trip.”
Tucker said the group’s also already given $1,000 to a prison angel tree ministry that Band of Brother member Tim Rock leads. Director of the Parish House Kristi Wilkerson discussed some of the holiday programs they recently completed.
“We did 691 Thanksgiving baskets, 511 Christmas baskets and then served over 400 at the Christmas Day dinner. Our calculations say that 30 percent of those receiving the baskets were youth from Upshur County,” Wilkerson.
Band of Brothers member Kevin Hawkins expressed his appreciation to Teen Challenge and Victoria Plumley during their check presentation.
“Teen Challenge is near and dear to my heart,” Hawkins said. “As far as I’m concerned, they probably saved my grandson’s life, my daughter Alison’s son, and he’s happily married now to a girl that came out of Teen Challenge also. It’s just special, Victoria and her husband both went through Teen Challenge, too, and she’s an Upshur County girl, so it makes it even more special to us.”
Craig Presar with 4-H said they plan to use the money to help children attend camp this summer.
“We’ll use this to help kids experience 4-H camp this summer,” he said. “It’s important to me because all the studies show that kids who go to camp even for just one week of summer, have a higher chance of avoiding dangerous behaviors, completing school and becoming a successful adult.”
The Band of Brother presented checks to these organizations Jan. 17:
- Stockert Youth Center & Community Center – $2,000
- 4-H program – $1,000
- Brooks Hill Library – $500
- Guatemala Missions – $1,000
- Union Elementary Backpack Program – $1,000
- Teen Challenge – $1,000
- Christmas Store – $1,000
- Upshur Parish House – $1,000
