Yadkin Valley News

Food pantries and school lunch programs received a boost from Yadkin Valley Strong as the organization saw an increase in families seeking assistance.

Yadkin Valley Strong formed to provide a local response to income and job loss due to the coronavirus pandemic. The committee raised $45,490 since its start, the Elkin Tribune reported. The Yadkin Valley United Fund jumpstarted the organization with $25,00 in emergency funds.

They received new applications for assistance from nine families and awarded $1,650 to them. That brought the number of families applying to 16.

“That is not a lot of requests considering the number of people who are hurting,” David Steelman, interim president of Yadkin Valley Chamber of Commerce and executive director of Yadkin Valley United Fund, told the Elkin Tribune.

Mercy and Truth Ministries and Tri-County Christian Crisis Ministry (Tri-C) received funding for their food pantries.

Schools that received lunch-program funding included Elkin Elementary, Jonesville Elementary, Mountain Park Elementary, Traphill Elementary, Ronda-Clingman Elementary, C.B. Eller Elementary and Bridges Academy.

Those food pantries and schools received a combined $6,750 in both rounds of funding, the publication reported.

Yadkin Valley Strong formed to help people and businesses in the Yadkin Valley service area. Steelman said bearing that in mind, the qualifications to receive assistance should expand from just living in Mountain Park, Elkin, Traphill, Jonesville, State Road, Ronda and Thurmond. He asked that it expand to also included people who have worked in that area. Many people living outside the service area lost jobs within it due to COVID-19.

The committee changed the rules say a person must reside or have worked for a business in the service area to qualify for assistance.

To qualify, families also must have a combined adult household income of less than $60,000 for possible assistance of $100 for an individual and up to $250 for a couple with two or more children. Apply online.

Yadkin Valley Strong got some additional assistance from Foothills Quilters. Members of the group have been sewing non-medical grade masks for distribution to the public. They are available at the Yadkin Valley Chamber of Commerce’s office at the Heritage Center on Standard Street in Elkin for a donation to Yadkin Valley Strong.

“Our members are busy making masks,” Carol McDowell, who has made between 350 and 400 herself told the Elkin Tribune. “We have distributed them from Sparta to Hamptonville.”

For food and supplies, visit Tri-County Christian Ministries online or Mercy and Truth Ministries.

Donations to Yadkin Valley Strong are accepted online and by check mailed to Yadkin Valley United Fund (YVUF), Attn: Yadkin Valley Strong, PO Box 593, Elkin, NC 28621. (Please include “Yadkin Valley Strong” on the “for” line.) Or you can drop donations off at Yadkin Valley Chamber of Commerce, 257 Standard Street, Elkin, NC 28621, Monday-Friday, between 10 a.m and 2 p.m.