Community Bulletin
For more than 120 years, the Elkins hospital now known as Davis Medical Center has been where the Potomac Highlands turns for care. Today that includes expert kidney care close to home — sparing many patients a drive out of the region. Read more →
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A corkboard by the door at Whistle Stop is papered over with receipts, and every one of them is a meal somebody else already paid for.
“All these meals have been generously pre-paid for and are up for grabs to anyone who may appreciate a warm meal right now,” the restaurant said in a Facebook post.
The board is one of several places around Buckhannon where anyone who is hungry can get a free meal over the coming days, as the community works through the damage from Tuesday’s flooding.
Free meals available Sunday through Friday
Traveling Dawgz will provide free meals beginning at 11 a.m. Sunday, July 26, in the Tractor Supply Co. parking lot.
First United Methodist Church in Buckhannon will serve a Micah Meal at noon Sunday. The menu includes chicken, baked beans, macaroni salad and desserts.
Chapel Hill United Methodist Church will serve meals from 3 to 5 p.m. Monday, July 27, Wednesday, July 29 and Friday, July 31.
A handwritten sign in the middle of the board lays out how it works: the meals have been paid for ahead, anyone who is hungry can pick a ticket and hand it to a server or bartender, and customers who want to add to the board can ask an employee how.
Whistle Stop, at 23 N. Spring St., said it has taken in more than $300 worth of meals and nearly $500 in cash donations to keep the program going for the foreseeable future.
“Help us get some of these meals to hungry folks that may be in need,” the restaurant said.
Operation BBQ Relief is serving lunch and dinner at the community support site Walmart has established at Walmart Supercenter, 100 Buckhannon Crossroads, and will continue while the need does.
Additional resources expected at the site in the coming days include mobile showers, mobile laundry service, charging stations and Wi-Fi.
Feed My Sheep Food Outreach will hold a food giveaway Saturday, July 25, at the corner of Brushy Fork and Stoney Run Road. Numbers will be given out at 9 a.m., and food distribution begins at 10 a.m.
To get a number, people must be parked in a lot by the outreach’s parking attendants. No parking is allowed on the grass at the hall or the church, which is reserved for volunteers.
South Buckhannon Mission Church, 144 Randolph St., is offering free take-out meals for anyone in need beginning at 9 a.m. Saturday.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 179 S. Kanawha St., served hot meals Friday until 9 p.m. or until the food ran out, and will serve breakfast at 9 a.m. Saturday. Hot lunch and dinner from Operation BBQ Relief will be available for pickup.
The church gym, stocked with supplies and clothing, will open at 9 a.m. Saturday for donation drop-offs and handouts.
“We have so much and are receiving more tomorrow,” the church said in a social media post Friday. “Please come take what you need.”
The Upshur Parish House, 68 College Ave., will be open Saturday, July 25, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. with hot meals, flood relief kits and food pantry services.
A free community meal will also be served at the Parish House from 4 to 5 p.m. Saturday. The meal is usually held at First Presbyterian Church but was moved because of flooding in the church basement.
“No matter what you need today — even if it’s just a place to be — you are welcome here,” the Parish House said in a Facebook post Friday. “We’re neighbors helping neighbors.”
The Parish House served breakfast, lunch and dinner Friday and had Mountain CAP and the West Virginia Coalition to End Homelessness on site to connect residents with other resources. On Thursday, it served roughly 50 families with food packages and cleaning supplies and handed out about 200 meals, according to a post from the organization.
Community Care of West Virginia hosted a free lunch Friday in the Upshur County Senior Center parking lot, where a visiting Kentucky health center served hamburgers and hot dogs beginning at noon.
Mountain Comprehensive Health Corporation, a fellow federally qualified health center serving Eastern Kentucky and Southwest Virginia, traveled to Community Care to donate much-needed supplies for residents affected by the flooding, and its team fed anyone who was hungry until the food ran out.
“We are thankful for their generosity and willingness to travel to our community to lend a helping hand,” Community Care said in a social media post. “This is what compassion and community are all about.”
Gingrollsandpancit and Moon Flower served free meals of pancit, lumpia and bottled water starting at 11 a.m. Friday, available for pickup inside the Moon Flower shop until they ran out.
South Buckhannon Mission Church served free take-out meals Friday as well, and Fish Hawk Acres donated all of its grab-and-go items and bakery goods to the church, skipping its usual afternoon discount on those items so the food would go directly to people who need it.
Community Care is also offering free walk-in tetanus shots and collecting cleanup supplies for residents, first responders and volunteers working in flood zones. A fuller list of relief services is in My Buckhannon’s latest flood updates, and officials are seeking donations at the Buckhannon Fire Department and West Virginia Wesleyan College.
