Living on a fixed income, 96-year-old Magdalene Stipe says increased heating costs in the winter months means she may have to do without something else she needs. So she was appreciative when her MEOC personal care aide told her about the Emergency Fuel Fund for the Elderly. “I was so thankful she told me about it,” said Stipe.
Mountain Empire Transit veteran driver Jon Lovell brought home the top award from the 2022 Community Transportation Association of Virginia’s Paratransit Roadeo, and MET’s four-member team earned the overall highest score in the competition. MET driver Jeff Whisman placed third in the best driver competition, giving MEOC two of the three top awards, and all MET team members earned the highest score in at least one category. The event was held on Saturday, April 2, at Salem Civic Center and tested competitors on various skills, focusing on safety and passenger sensitivity.
Mountain Empire Older Citizens has added two new freezer trucks to its vehicle fleet that will allow the agency to be more efficient in meal delivery to the region’s elderly. Purchase of the trucks follows a year during which the agency served a record number of people through its home-delivered meals program due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services (VDARS) provided funding for the specialized vehicles.
PHOTO: Dianne Morris (center) is the 2021 Mae French Outstanding Older Worker Award recipient. The annual award recognizes a Mountain Empire Older Citizens employee at least age 55 who demonstrates exemplary service, kindness and commitment in the workplace and community. With her are MEOC Executive Director Michael Wampler and Older Worker Program Director Carrie Stallard.
Participants are needed for the 2021 Leigh Ann Bolinskey Memorial 5K Run/Walk on Dec. 11 in Big Stone Gap to benefit the Mountain Laurel Cancer Support & Resource Center. This year’s 5K will be a night race, starting and finishing at Big Stone Gap Visitor Center and taking participants through three miles of holiday lights and decorations on the town’s Greenbelt Trail. Registration will open at 5 p.m. The race will begin at 6 p.m.
A $500 hunger and poverty grant from the United Methodist Appalachian Ministry Network will provide liquid nutrition to about 20 cancer patients served by Mountain Laurel Cancer Support and Resource Center. Center Coordinator Dianne Morris was recently notified of the award by UMAMN Executive Coordinator Angela Kirtdall. “This grant will help support the special nutritional needs of cancer patients who are awaiting or receiving treatment. We are so thankful to receive the award,” Morris noted.
Mountain Empire Older Citizens’ 45th Annual Walkathon, which raises money for the agency’s Emergency Fuel Fund for the Elderly, is set for Sunday, Aug. 29, at 2 p.m. at Big Stone Gap. Registration will begin at 1 p.m. The 5K walk will start at 2 p.m. at Bullitt Park and proceed along the Greenbelt Trail. A hamburger picnic for participants will follow the event. The fundraising goal is $165,000, and the community’s support is needed to reach it.
Fifteen teams participated in the 10th Annual Harold Lester Memorial Golf Tournament on June 18, raising more than $12,000 to assist local cancer patients and their families. 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. MLCC 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.
Mountain Empire Transit (MET) will launch a new on-demand transportation service in and around the Town of Wise and City of Norton on Monday, June 28. METGo! will be part of the first microtransit services in Virginia. Mountain Empire Transit is one of two public transit systems chosen by the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT) for the 18-month pilot project; Bay Transit in eastern Virginia is the other system. The project will explore how microtransit technology can improve service efficiency and rider experiences in rural areas.
Ninety-one-year-old Anna Duncan is uncertain how she would pay for some of her needed medications without assistance from Pharmacy Connect of Southwest Virginia. The free program saves her about $1,500 monthly in prescription medication costs, she said. Duncan, a Lee County resident, is among thousands of individuals who receive free or low-cost prescriptions through Pharmacy Connect each year. The program serves the uninsured and under-insured of all ages in the counties of Lee, Wise, Scott, Dickenson, Buchanan, Tazewell and Russell and the City of Norton.