BUCKHANNON—The Band of Brothers has set a goal of raising $50,000 through its annual West Virginia Scenic calendar fundraiser.
Band of Brothers member Al Tucker attended the Oct. 17 Upshur County Commission meeting to officially kick off the group’s 10th annual fundraiser.
“There’s still only about 12 of us; we started with about a dozen, and we have some people that have moved away or passed away, but someone always comes to fill that seat,” Tucker said. “We’re still going strong. This month is the the12th anniversary of our group forming, and it’s 10 years of doing the Band of Brothers ‘Help Us, Help Kids program.’”
Originally, the Band of Brothers pooled their own funds to purchase presents and food for underprivileged children, but the growth of the program required them to find a source of revenue.
“We printed 500 calendars that first year, and they sold really well; we thought we wouldn’t be able to sell that much, but in the past few years, we’ve been making $50,000, and last year we targeted $45,000, and we made $52,000, which is absolutely amazing,” Tucker said. “It’s gone beyond our ability to do it ourselves, so we reached out to the organizations that know the people in need, and they do the hard work of finding those people and providing food and presents. They do a great job.”
The calendars feature photos from around the state, taken by Tucker.
“We get a lot of support from around the county and the state, a lot of expatriates from West Virginia, people that have found out about us and they love West Virginia, and they liked to get something from home,” Tucker said. “I was one of those people who lived away for a long time, so any time I got anything from West Virginia, I thought it was neat. A lot of people buy these for Christmas presents, especially for people who live out of state.”
The Brothers plan to work with several food pantries, a group that builds accessibility ramps and the Underprivileged Children’s Foundation in Charleston.
“We haven’t forgotten about the kids in Upshur County; we used to work through the school system, but now we work through Stockert Youth and Community Center,” Tucker said. “They were able to bring Christmas to about 75 kids last year, and I think we’re going to help about 100 kids have presents and have Santa Claus this year.”
The brothers will also plan several missions and help the Seth Project.
“We’re going to do a $1,000 scholarship in honor of several founding members of the Band of Brothers through Appalachian Impact,” Tucker said. “We’re reaching at-risk children as best as we can, so there’s a whole bunch of other things; I think we have 25 target areas for that.”
The Band of Brothers printed 1,000 calendars, which will be sold for $15 each.
“We’re able to do that because there’s a generous couple in Upshur County that pays to print those; it’s going to cost $7,000 to print those 1000 calendars, but it allows us to put every penny into where the needs are,” Tucker said.
“Part of the funds also comes from our chicken dinner,” Tucker said.
The Band of Brothers is hosting its annual BBQ Chicken Dinner to support the Christmas campaign. The dinner is set for 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Oct. 26 in the Chapel Hill UMC parking lot across from Poling St. Clair Funeral Home. The cost is $15 and includes 1/2 chicken, baked potato, baked beans and bottled water.
Pre-orders, which are recommended, may be placed by sending Al Tucker an email at alanandliva@aol.com, texting at 304-704-4292, or sending a Messenger message on Facebook. Calendars may also be purchased by reaching out to Tucker or other members of the Band of Brothers.
