The 2026 Leigh Ann Bolinskey Memorial 5K Run/Walk raised more than $15,000 to support local individuals and families affected by cancer. Held Saturday, Sept. 12, in Big Stone Gap, the annual event benefits Mountain Empire Older Citizens’ Mountain Laurel Cancer Support & Resource Center. Runners and walkers began at the Big Stone Gap Visitor Center and followed the Greenbelt Trail before returning to the finish line.
Mountain Empire Older Citizens, Inc. (MEOC) has received a 2026 USAging Aging Achievement Award, one of the highest honors presented by the national organization to its members, recognizing its innovative use of technology to connect older adults with health services. The award honors MEOC’s “Employing Technology to Promote Healthy Behaviors Among Seniors in Southwest Virginia” initiative, which expanded access to nutrition education, exercise and health promotion services through telehealth and virtual programming. MEOC received the award in the Healthy Aging category.
A $40,000 grant will help ensure that older adults across Southwest Virginia have access to emergency heating assistance during the winter months. Mountain Empire Older Citizens, Inc. (MEOC) has been awarded a one-year grant from the Richard & Caroline T. Gwathmey Memorial Trust, Bank of America, N.A., Trustee. The funding will support MEOC’s Emergency Fuel Fund for the Elderly, which assists older adults in Lee, Scott and Wise counties and the City of Norton who are facing winter heating emergencies.
Cancer affects entire families, not just the person diagnosed. In this MEOC Impact story, Development Director Liz Daugherty shares her family’s experience during her father’s battle with head and neck cancer and the support they received through the Mountain Laurel Cancer Support & Resource Center.
As an airhorn blast signaled the start of the 50th Annual MEOC Walkathon, Marilyn Maxwell led participants across the starting line. Maxwell, Mountain Empire Older Citizens’ founder and Executive Director Emeritus, was there for the very first Walkathon in 1976. After leading the agency from its founding in 1974 until her retirement in 2012, it was only fitting that she helped lead the way again during the milestone event on May 3.
Personal care aide Mary Wennberg is the recipient of the 2025 Grace P. Davis Award, recognized for her outstanding dedication to the care of older adults through MEOC’s In-Home and Family Support Services department. The award was announced April 15 during an In-Home and Family Support Services staff development meeting at MEOC’s main office in Big Stone Gap.
Older Americans Month is recognized each May as a time to celebrate the contributions of older adults and reaffirm our commitment to supporting healthy aging in our communities. This year’s theme, “Champion Your Health,” focuses on the everyday choices and support systems that help people maintain their health, independence and quality of life as they age.
Mountain Empire Transit won the annual CTAV Virginia State Paratransit Bus Roadeo, marking its sixth consecutive championship. The 2026 competition was held April 25 in Alexandria and brought together transit operators from across Virginia to test their skills in safety, precision and passenger care.
Mountain Empire Older Citizens will host its 50th Annual Walkathon on Sunday, May 3, at Bullitt Park in Big Stone Gap, marking half a century of neighbors coming together to support older adults across Southwest Virginia. Registration for the 5K walk along the Greenbelt Trail will begin at 1 p.m., with the walk starting at 2 p.m. A free picnic for participants will follow, along with a live concert by If Birds Could Fly at approximately 3:30 p.m.
Mountain Empire Older Citizens, Inc. has been honored with a 2025 Aging Achievement Award from USAging for its Expanding Telehealth Access for Rural Older Persons initiative, which brings broadband and telehealth access to isolated older adults in Southwest Virginia.