The Summers County Commission has decided how to use the $100,000 received through a Governors Block Grant.
Commission President Jack David Woodrum said there were many restrictions on how the money could or could not be used, and now that it is all been sorted out, the commission is able to provide money to support food banks, personal protective equipment (PPE) for first responders and disinfecting equipment for every school bus in the county. The deadline to disperse funds the end of the year, the same time Woodrum leaves the commission to join the State House of Delegates.
First, 10 different food banks will be receiving assistance from the commission. Woodrum says the first nine of the food banks will receive $2,000 and the last one, the Summers County Council on Aging, will receive $6,000.
Woodrum commends all the operations for working so hard feeding people this past year. “Each entity,” he said, “will receive a letter explaining how the funds are to be used.”
The food banks are as follows: First Presbyterian Food Pantry, Lifeline Church food distributions, Loaves and Fishes, REACHH, Catholic Charities of West Virginia, The Hang Out on 3rd Avenue, The Ministry Place and Yummy Bags.
Woodrum clarified these funds “will get the different entities through a little while. This is a one-time grant, but there may be some more money available to them in the future.”
To provide for the acquisition of personal protective equipment, Woodrum explained $3,000 is going to each of the county’s six individual volunteer fire departments, The City of Hinton Fire Department, The City of Hinton Police Department, the Summers County Sheriff’s office and the Summers Emergency Medical Service (EMS).
In addition to spreading the funds out for food and precautionary health safety equipment, Woodrum says the county is providing several agencies with disinfecting tools. “RYOBI electrostatic guns, (disinfecting sprayers), are being purchased for the county to issue to each Summers County school bus driver to keep every school bus clean and disinfected.
Electrostatic guns literally disinfect or charge particles. The charge surrounds the particles and wrap disinfectant around them,” Woodrum explained.
“The school bus garage has a total of four, but this funding allows us to provide 25 more.” Woodrum continued by saying “we will have some extra disinfecting tools if needed. Larger 1-gallon backpack sprayers are $429 each, and the ones school buses will use are $399.
Each gun comes with fluid, but after that, entities with county-issued equipment will have to buy their own. Disinfectant fluid will be needed to clean places in the county with high rates of infection, places like all government buildings, fire departments, nursing homes, Hinton House apartments, for example, and the Council on Aging.
