Mountain Empire Transit earned the top team award for the third consecutive year at the annual Community Transportation Association of Virginia’s Paratransit Roadeo. The team has won the competition’s top honor for eight of the past 10 years.
Mountain Empire Older Citizens is accepting applications for the 2023 Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program from those at least age 60 in Wise County and the City of Norton. Recipients must be at or below 185 percent of the federal poverty level. For a one-person household, the monthly income limit is $2,248; for a two-person household, it is $3,040.
A friend asked Lee County resident Dorothy “Dot” Carter (pictured above, second from right) for a simple favor about 35 years ago: Would Carter walk in her place at the Mountain Empire Older Citizens Walkathon? Carter was happy to help. She went to the Walkathon, which raises money for a program that provides emergency heating assistance to older adults in Lee, Scott and Wise counties and the City of Norton, and fulfilled her friend’s commitment to participate.
Does a good family health history, consistent exercise and a healthy diet make colorectal cancer screenings unnecessary? Judy Willis thought so, but she was proved wrong. In her role as director of care coordination at Mountain Empire Older Citizens, Inc., Willis promotes cancer screenings as a presenter of Understanding Cancer workshops, which provide education on cancer prevention, screenings, treatment and resources to groups and individuals in the community. She also encourages her friends and family to get screened.
Mountain Empire Older Citizens is asking area churches and individuals to participate in Hearthwarming Sunday to provide a midwinter boost for the agency’s program that annually assists about 1,000 older adults with emergency heating expenses. The annual fundraiser, held on the Sunday closest to Valentine’s Day, benefits MEOC’s Emergency Fuel Fund for the Elderly. This year’s Hearthwarming Sunday is Feb. 12. It comes at a critical time for the fuel fund, which assists older adults in Wise, Lee and Scott counties and the City of Norton.
The 2022 Leigh Ann Bolinskey Memorial 5K Run/Walk will be on Saturday, Oct. 15, in Big Stone Gap. Mountain Empire Older Citizens hosts the event to raise money for the agency’s Mountain Laurel Cancer Support and Resource Center. Bolinskey was the center’s director from 2004 until 2014 when she died of leiomyosarcoma, a rare cancer. The 5K will begin at the Big Stone Gap Visitor Center and follow the Greenbelt Trail. Registration will open at 8 a.m. The race will start at 9 a.m.
The 11th Annual Harold Lester Memorial Golf Tournament raised $12,500 to assist local cancer patients and their families. Nineteen teams participated in the June 17 tournament. The event, held at Lonesome Pine Country Club in Big Stone Gap, benefits the Harold Lester Memorial Fund of the Mountain Laurel Cancer Support and Resource Center. The center is operated by Mountain Empire Older Citizens, Inc., the local Area Agency on Aging serving Lee, Scott, and Wise counties and the City of Norton.
Proceeds from a June 17 golf tournament in Big Stone Gap will provide direct help to local cancer patients throughout the community. The 11th Annual Harold Lester Memorial Golf Tournament will begin at 8:30 a.m. at Lonesome Pine Country Club. Registration opens at 8 a.m. The event supports the Harold Lester Memorial Fund of MEOC’s Mountain Laurel Cancer Support and Resource Center.
The 46th Annual Mountain Empire Older Citizens Walkathon has brought in more than $123,800 so far, and every cent will help heat an older adult’s home in our area this coming winter. Held Sunday, May 15, on Big Stone Gap’s Greenbelt Trail under beautiful blue skies and great weather, the event was a fundraiser for MEOC’s Emergency Fuel Fund for the Elderly.
Mountain Empire Transit is pleased to announce fare-free service to all riders in Lee, Scott and Wise counties and the City of Norton. MET will provide free transportation for at least the next four years with a commitment from the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation and Mountain Empire Older Citizens Board of Directors. “The last few years have been difficult for all of us. MEOC and DRPT recognize this, and we are working hard to help our local communities,” said MET Director Mitch Elliott. “With the cost of everything increasing, especially fuel, it is now more important than […]