Clint Heffern, 26, was hired by Fort Scott High School to be the new head basketball coach, high school social studies, and physical education teacher.
Heffern has spent the last three years teaching and has been an assistant football, basketball, baseball coach at St. Mary’s Colgan in Pittsburg, KS.
He graduated from Iola High School in 2012, Allen Community College in 2014 where he played basketball and baseball, and then Pittsburg State University where he graduated in 2017.
Chuck and Linda Heffern are his parents. He has an older brother Chris, and a younger brother, Colton.
His interests are sports, being active, getting outdoors, and hunting.
How did you become an educator?
“My mother was my sixth-grade math teacher, so early on that kind of influenced me. Then, I had several great teachers and coaches along the way that were great role models for me and helped guide me into education.”
Is there someone who inspired you to teach?
“My mother and my coaches growing up. I knew that I wanted to stay involved with sports after high school and teaching/coaching seemed like a good platform to do what I love.”
What is the best part of teaching for you?
“The relationships with the kids. Being with the kids every day, you build some pretty solid relationships with them. It is really cool to experience the ups and downs of life with them and see how they grow into great young adults.”
Clint Heffern coaching St. Mary’s Colgan basketball. Submitted photo.
What are the greatest challenges?
“Being with the kids every day, oftentimes you do see the good along with the bad that they experience as high school kids. It is challenging to see them experience the bad times because some of those bad times can be very difficult for the kids to navigate as high school kids. But, ultimately, a lot of those bad times help shape them into quality young adults in the future.”
Lauren Walker, a student in Mrs. Gauthier’s kindergarten class, works on an experiment at home. Submitted photos.
Uniontown’s school district began a continuous learning plan to allow students to learn from home during the nationwide closure of schools, due to the COVID 19 pandemic.
Last week, a parent’s story of how the learning plan was working was published on FortScott.Biz.
This feature is from a teacher’s view.
Rose Gauthier teaches kindergarten at West Bourbon Elementary School.
A.J. Vincent looks at her science experiment, following a lesson from WBE Kindergarten Teacher Rose Gauthier. Submitted photos.
Following is an interview by email from Gauthier.
When did the USD235 Continuous Learning Plan begin?
“We began Thursday, April 2nd with a practice run with the parents and students to work out kinks. We started our remote learning officially on Monday, April 6th. We will finish on Tuesday, May 19th.”
How much daily planning do you have for the classes?
“A lot. A teacher’s job has never been a 9:00 to 5:00 job, but even more so with this new way of teaching. It is hard to put a certain time frame on all the work the teachers, administration, and staff have put into it. From getting devices into student’s hands, the tech department working out tech issues for teachers and parents, and teachers creating different ways to teach their students with this new way of learning.”
Did you get together as a group of teachers and decide what the most important things to teach are?
“Yes. The school began with many “Zoom” meetings that included administration and teachers, with guidance from KSDE, to determine the best way to reach the kids.”
(Zoom provides users with a cloud (internet) platform for video and audio conferencing, collaboration, chat, and webinars across mobile devices, desktops, telephones, and room systems, according to the Zoom website).
“I create a meeting on Zoom and send the parents an invite.,” she said. “The students click on a link and have a password to log in.”
Rose Gauthier’s kindergarten class can view each other during lesson time. Submitted photo. Gauthier is shown on the top row, second from left.
“Our focus, as for many schools, is primarily the social and emotional spirit of the kids. This is a difficult and confusing time for them and many of the kids do not understand what is going on, especially at the primary levels. Letting them know that we are here for them, we miss and love them. Academically we are focusing on maintaining what the kids have already learned and limited new material to the essential outcomes that were agreed upon as a team”
Do you teach from home or do you go to school?
“Both, the less I need from my classroom the more I teach from home. I go in once or twice a week.”
Have you seen any good come out of this difficult situation of not having the students in a classroom?
“Out of every bad situation, something good always comes out of it. Nothing will replace the social and emotional aspects of being together in the learning environment. The hugs, the high fives, being right beside them to guide them in their learning.”
“This situation has given us the appreciation of each other, the parents an opportunity to be a bigger part of the learning experience, and for all of us to step back and remember what is really important in life. And mostly, we get reminded of what a great community we have. We couldn’t do this without the support of great parents.”
What are some of the challenges?
“The biggest challenge is not seeing the kids every day. Adjusting to remote learning and tech issues are some other challenges, which gets easier as we go along. Also, reaching those kids without internet access is a challenge.”
How do you grade the kindergartners in this new plan?
“In Kindergarten we don’t give a traditional letter grade. We use checklists to provide feedback to parents about where the students are academically. During this time, we will still focus on those checklist skills while understanding that we will need to be prepared to provide the needed remediation to students at the beginning of the 2020-21 school year.”
“The district has worked together to provide a similar learning experience for all students, but obviously this looks slightly different based on the grade, content, teaching style, etc.”
Outdoor art by Kinnis Shepard, from Rose Gauthier’s kindergarten class. Submitted photos.
“The census affects many aspects of funding, legislative apportionment, and our official population count for the next 10 years ~ it’s important to get as many people to respond as possible,” Lindsay Madison, Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce Executive Director said. “Your help is appreciated!”
Lindsay Madison is the Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce Executive Director.
Federal funds, grants and support to states, counties and communities are based on population totals and breakdowns by sex, age, race and other factors. Your community benefits the most when the census counts everyone. When you respond to the census, you help your community gets its fair share of the more than $675 billion per year in federal funds spent on schools, hospitals, roads, public works and other vital programs.
A post from the Kansas Dept. of Commerce explains some more detail of why it is important for rural areas to send back the census forms:
Taken from the Kansas Dept. of Commerce Facebook page.
The current census response rates compared to the state and national average and Bourbon County were pulled together by Madison.
The response rates:
National- 48.6%
State- 53.3%
Bourbon County- 45%
City of Fort Scott- 46.8%
“Becki Roberts is our local ‘on the ground’ contact for the census leading the local census takers, etc.,” Madison said.
Online, phone and mailed self-responses will continue throughout the data collection process, according to information provided by Madison.
In light of the COVID-19 outbreak, the U.S. Census Bureau is adjusting 2020 Census operations in order to:
Protect the health and safety of the American public and Census Bureau employees.
Implement the guidance from Federal, State, and local authorities regarding COVID-19.
Ensure a complete and accurate count of all communities.
Under the adjusted 2020 Census operational plan, field activities would resume after June 1, 2020, as Area Census Offices begin returning to full staff capacity.
Extended Time To Collect Data
Due to health and safety concerns related to the coronavirus pandemic, this will be the first-ever decennial census that has been delayed, according to Steve Hale, Sr. Partnership Specialist (Kansas) with the U.S. Census Bureau / 2020 Census, in the information provided by Madison.
The U.S. Commerce Department officially is seeking statutory relief from Congress for 120 additional calendar days to deliver final apportionment counts, according to the info provided by Madison.
Under this plan, which must receive congressional approval, field data collection and self-response will be extended from the original July 31 date until October 31, 2020. Apportionment counts would then be delivered to the President on April 30, 2021, and the redistricting data to be delivered to the states by July 31, 2021.
Also of note is those households that have not yet responded online or by phone to the initial 2020 Census mailings are now receiving a paper questionnaire.
While more than half of Kansas households have already responded online, some may prefer the paper-and-mail option.
Persons using the phone to respond to the Census are experiencing increased call wait times. This is primarily due to social distancing measures. There’s a link in the Infogram
explaining a call-back option and the Census Bureau making more employees available to respond to requests.
Response Map
The public is encouraged to go to the 2020 Census response rate map to see how its community is responding by county or city or census tract. The map is updated daily.
Jody Hoenor, Bourbon County Economic Development Director. Submitted photo.
The world-wide COVID 19 Pandemic has been dealt with by state-of-emergency declarations and a stay-at-home orders to slow the spread of the disease.
Now governments are making plans for economic recovery.
Yesterday, President Trump spoke of his plan.
“Last night President Trump announced ‘Guidelines Opening Up America Again’,” Jody Hoenor, Bourbon County’s Economic Development Director, said in an email. “The President’s plan mirrors the Bourbon County Framework and Roadmap we have created to prepare. We are in phase one.”
“The phase we are in right now is called ‘Slow the Spread,'” Hoenor said. “Experts are saying to move on we must see a slowed rate of infection and our healthcare infrastructure must be scaled up to safely manage the outbreak and care for the sick.”
“Today, nationwide, healthcare workers who have been exposed to COVID-19 are contracting the virus and are dying,” she said. “To scale up our healthcare infrastructure, the framework identifies the need to put in place technology, for today’s pandemic as well as the need for if/when the outbreak of COVID-19 should rise again.”
Government planning for the transition to opening-up the economy should begin now, Hoenor said.
The framework of the county plan:
1. Technology:” Experts are saying for us to have the ability for screening and data collection, technology (like a phone app) for healthcare providers and other essential front line workers is a must,” Hoenor said.
The frontline workers are the healthcare workforce, ambulance crews and law enforcement officers.
2. Testing and Test Kits: “Testing accessible for those who meet the criteria for testing,” she said.
“Those are the framework, the skeleton, to have in place to move forward,” she said. “Where the access is, who the partners are, how it will be funded, and the details of the equipment are to be developed like a working document. We have developed the framework… to facilitate a path forward.”
Many chambers of commerce, cities, counties, and state governments are working on plans, Hoenor said.
“We have to have a starting point, and this is our starting point” Bourbon County Commission Chairman Lynne Oharah, said, in a press release. “This is a long-term process. Our team does an extraordinary amount of data mining and researching expert advice. We do not have a timeline, but we know what the triggers are to move to the next phase.”
Lynne Oharah. Submitted photo.
History
On March 14, 2020, Bourbon County Commission declared a state of disaster as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a press release from Hoenor.
On March 26, 2020 the Southeast Kansas Multi-County Health Department Officer Rebecca Johnson issued an order to stay at home.
Since that time there has been measurable progress at the county level, building a framework and preparing for when Governor Kelly tells Kansans we can reopen, according to the press release.
“Bourbon County Commissioners acted swiftly in declaring an emergency existed in the county,” Hoenor said. “This resulted in opening doors to federal resources.”
Additionally, Bourbon County Emergency Management Director Will Wallis has worked to keep the local frontline healthcare workers safe with the necessary personal protective equipment, (PPE), she said.
“Available relief has been communicated through Facebook, email, radio, webinars, and hosting teleconference meetings with state-level government officials such as with David Toland our Secretary of Commerce,” Hoenor said.
On April 14, Hoener presented the commission the framework to move forward, with all three commissioners voicing full support.
Casen and Caden Martin participate in USD 235 Music Teacher Rhonda Allen’s music class at home. Submitted photos.
Life is different since the COVID 19 Pandemic has gripped the world.
People are staying home to prevent the spread of the virus, some businesses have closed, and parents are helping teachers with student’s learning at home.
One such parent is Christal Martin of Uniontown.
Christal and her husband, Seth, have two sons, Caden, 5, and Casen, 4.
Caden attended West Bourbon Elementary School and is in Rose Gauthier’s kindergarten class.
He and little brother Casen are learning from the USD 235 Continuous Learning Plan.
“I have been really impressed with USD 235 and Mrs. Gauthier,” Martin said. “Getting technology in the kids’ hands, giving technical support and also getting food to our kid’s communities.”
The boys celebrate USD 235 Spirit Week at home while doing classwork. Submitted photos.
For her, the best part of the continuous learning plan that the school district USD 235 has is “Being able to have hands-on in Caden’s education. I have really enjoyed it, once we’ve gotten into a routine,” Martin said.
A challenge for her is learning all the different applications that are available online for the continuous education plan.
Her solution?
“In the evening, I play on the app so I’ll be ready to go the next day,” she said.
Caden received an IPad from the school district for use at home.
On Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, Caden has a Zoom call at 9:30 a.m. from Mrs. Gauthier.
Casen and Caden interact with Caden’s kindergarten classmates on Zoom. Submitted photos.
On Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. Physical Education Teacher Jackie Hall and Music Teacher Rhonda Allen give lessons.
Art Teacher Chris Woods prerecords a video of art projects then posts it as an assignment in Google Classroom for students to do.
Caden works on an art lesson by USD 235 Art Teacher Chris Woods. Submitted photos.
“The Zoom call is 30 minutes,” Martin said. “We’ve read books, done science lessons, interviewed another student in their class and afterward in a journal they will describe the student.”
Other resources are used throughout the day with reading and math the main focus,” Martin said.
“We spend about three and a half to four hours each day,” Martin said. “The state recommends 45 minutes a day. I don’t want him to get behind. We do a lot of extras. We want to keep them learning and not have them stall, in my opinion.”
“It’s been a learning curve,” Martin said. “It’s adjusting to take care of both of their learning. I’ve been homeschooling Casen, too.
Terry Chance, Christian Heights Principal, is retiring. Submitted photo.
After 32 years as principal of Fort Scott Christian Heights and 14 years as a teacher before that, Terry Chance is retiring as of June 1.
Chance, 70, says his becoming an educator was a process of time.
“I felt like God wanted me to be involved full-time in a Christian ministry,” he said. “I got into music education and have been in education ever since.”
“John Page was our pastor and principal of Christian Heights and was my mentor,” Chance said. “He is my hero.”
Chance said he loves the interaction with students.
“It has been a thrill when they understand what you teach,” he said.
For him, seeing students go on from Christian Heights to serve their family, their community and their church, “That’s success,” he said.
The biggest challenge in his career has been the current pandemic that has closed down all schools in the nation.
“We are trying to figure out how to help our students right now,” Chance said.
Chance said he made up his mind to retire last summer and told the FSCH Board of Education in September.
The board has hired Larry Davolt as the new principal.
Davolt has been a science teacher at the school for 28 years.
Continuous Learning plans at USD234 were started the week of March 30, Superintendent Ted Hessong said.
“Each building rolled their plans out gradually throughout the week,” Hessong said.
“Since school buildings are closed for the remainder of the school year (following stay-at-home orders during the pandemic), school districts needed to come up with a way to provide continuous learning for our students to help them not only academically but also socially,” he said.
” Our principals worked with their Building Leadership Teams using the Continuous Learning Plans guidance from the Kansas Department of Education (KSDE),” he said. ” KSDE collaborated with teachers from all across the state of Kansas to help create these guidance documents to assist school districts. After meeting with their leadership teams, they then worked with the rest of their staff to create the Continuous Learning Plans.”
“Most of the teachers are teaching from home,” Hessong said. “We do have a few staff members who are working from their classrooms to provide Continuous Learning to our students.”
Each school building’s personnel contacted every student to see what they needed to be able to participate in Continuous Learning, he said and based on the feedback each received from the students, the staff worked to provide the necessary materials to be able to participate.
Grading for the new plan will be different.
” With the implementation of our Continuous Learning plans each building is handling grades a little different,” Hessong said. “Each building is keeping in mind what is in the best interest of our students during these uncharted waters of what school looks like today. Our teachers and administrators are demonstrating grace and understanding for all students to do what is best for our students.”
Hessong is thankful, he said.
“I want to thank all of our staff for their help to implement our Continuous Learning plans and our foodservice and support staff in providing meals for the students in our communities. With the assistance of our communities, the county, Kansas State Department of Education, Kansas Department of Health and Environment and the Southeast Kansas Health Department it has allowed our school district to navigate these uncharted waters to make the most of this health crisis.”
Downtown Fort Scott in a prior Good Ol’ Days Celebration.
The annual Fort Scott event of Good Ol’ Days, the first weekend in June, will not happen this year.
The event is provided by donations from local businesses and individuals, Shawn O’Brien, chairman of the Good Ol’ Days committee, said.
“With everything that has happened (the effects of the pandemic stay-at-home orders), with people losing their jobs and businesses going under, we didn’t feel we could ask for donations,” O’Brien said.
The group met last week, and made the decision then.
Members of the committee are O’Brien; Melissa Wise, treasurer; Cheryl Van Hoecke, treasurer; Tim Van Hoecke, in charge of vendors; Kayla Hall, secretary; Charlotte Thompson, in charge of logistics; Kelsey DeMott and ShayLynn Clements, in charge of kids activities and Janet Braun, “the guiding light,” O’Brien said.
The group meets monthly following the annual event, except July, to plan all the components that make up Good Ol’ Days.
Vendor registration, donations drive, putting entertainment in place, securing a carnival contract, planning kids activities are the tasks that require months of planning.
Next year the organizing committee will facilitate the event on June 4-5, 2021.
The theme, Family, Friends and Fun, will be held for next years Good Ol’ Days celebration.
“It would’ve been 40 years this year, we’ll celebrate the 40 years next year,” O’Brien said.
USD 235 has started teaching its students off-campus, following the closure of the county’s schools due to the pandemic.
The District Continuous Learning Plan officially started on Monday, April 6 and will run through Tuesday, May 19.
“It is not online learning,” Bret Howard, superintendent, said. ” This is a Continuous Learning Plan created as a response to unprecedented times. I think this is a very important distinction to make. Uniontown USD 235 is providing continuous learning opportunities for all students regardless of whether they have the internet or not.”
“We are all in unknown territory and Uniontown USD 235 wants everyone to know that we need to work together and communicate to have a successful conclusion to this school year,” Howard said.
“I am thankful for our teachers who are working extremely hard to meet the needs of our students,” he said.
“This is an amazing opportunity for the Eagle family to grow, support one another, and have compassion for all people.”
“We know this pandemic has caused stress to students, families, and our communities. Uniontown USD 235 will do everything in our power to make this a positive time for children and families.”
“We thank everyone for working to be true partners in education,” Howard said.
Howard answered the following questions via email:
What preparation did the teachers make? How did they decide the curriculum?
“Professional development for the district’s Continuous Learning Plan began the week of March 30 with an introduction, evaluation, and revision of the proposed plan to be presented to the Board of Education. Teachers engaged in a series of activities for the communication platforms they will use. The district’s behavioral health therapist through Southeast Kansas Mental Health Center introduced and provided Social Emotional Learning resources for teachers, students, and families. As grade level and content area teams, teachers identified untaught essential outcomes and planned meaningful and engaging ways to deliver the material to students.”
Do they teach from home or their schoolroom?
“The large majority of our teachers are teaching from home. Our teachers are not required or expected to physically be present at West Bourbon Elementary or Uniontown JH/HS. Some of our teachers have chosen to come to the school and do their Zoom Webinar meetings for their students. Some do so out of convenience and some out of necessity due to internet service and reliability at their homes. Right now we only have roughly 4-5 teachers in our buildings on any given day. We also have some paraprofessionals that work for the Special Education Interlocal coming to our buildings as well. They do so for the same reasons.”
In addition to teaching staff, others are working at the school.
“Several members of our food service staff are working multiple days a week to be able to provide meals for approximately 150 people ages 1 through 18.”
“Our custodial staff is working to clean rooms and areas used by our essential staff and employees who are coming into the buildings.”
“Our technology staff works from the buildings several days per week as well as our administration and administrative assistants.”
“We are very thankful for all of the hard work put in by so many of our employees.”
What about those who didn’t have computers, smartphones,etc?
“Uniontown USD 235 is a 1:1 district for laptops, Chromebooks, and IPads. All HS (Grades 9-12) students already had a laptop computer that they could take home daily. All students in grades 4-8 had Chromebooks they used at school and students in grades PK-3 had IPads. If their parents requested a device through our parent survey, students in grades PK-3 were issued an IPad and students in grades 4-8 were issued a Chromebook. We asked a parent/guardian to sign a technology usage agreement before picking up the device. ”
How will the students be graded? How will this last bit of teaching affect their final grade?
“We have asked our teachers to have patience, flexibility, and grace during these unprecedented times. However, we do expect all of our students to participate in our Continuous Learning Plan either through the use of technology or through enrichment activities delivered to them via packets through US Mail or if they are participating in our food program they can be delivered to them through that avenue as well. If students do not participate in the Continuous Learning Plan, it will have a detrimental impact on their final grade.”
The former Mercy Hospital west entrance parking lot will be the area for the community to gather in their cars this Easter Sunday for a worship service.
Several area pastors get together periodically during the year to fellowship. A few weeks ago they discussed creating a community Easter service with social distancing, because of the pandemic.
The outcome: Easter Drive-in Experience on Sunday, April 12 at 10 a.m. at the west parking lot of the old Mercy Hospital building.
“It’s a family event open to anyone,” Clayton Whitson, communication pastor at Faith Church said.
“You don’t have to be members of these churches,” Pastor Virgil Peck, of Fort Scott Church of the Nazarene said.
The churches involved in the planning are Community Christian Church, Faith Church, Fort Scott Church of the Nazarene, and Parkway Church of God.
With the permission of local and county officials, these four churches will host an Easter celebration while still adhering to social distancing requirements.
Attendees can drive their families to the Community Health Center also known as the old Mercy Hospital entrance off Highway 69. Please don’t come off of the Horton Street side, because of logistics, Peck said. The parking lots of the Professional Building to the north of the CHC will also be utilized for attendees cars.
The Professional Building across from the former Mercy Hospital.
Speakers will be set up on a semi-trailer at the convergence of the three parking lots, Peck said.
Parking attendants will direct each car to a parking space.
Everyone will remain in their vehicle and can access the broadcast audio on local radio channel 103.9 FM, KOMB Radio.
The service will feature live music, communion, and a collaborative message from all four pastors: Peck from the Nazarene Church, Eric Goings from Parkway Church of God, Dusty Drake from Community Christian, and Matthew Hunt from Faith Church.
Parking lots open at 9:30 a.m.
“We are encouraging people to come early, because the logistics,” Peck said.
If people are unable to attend, they can tune into the radio at 103.9.
“We are also trying to work out a live video stream of the event,” Peck said.
“We said, ‘If God is in it, it will happen and it seems to be coming together,” Peck said.
They are partnering together for this event because:
Ellen Kendrick, visual arts teacher at Fort Scott High School for 34 years, is retiring.
When Kendrick was in college, she took a couple of education classes out of curiosity.
“Through these classes, I came to realize that much of my childhood frustration with my own education was with the manner in which it was disseminated,” she said. ” I made a promise to myself that if I ever had the chance, I would invest in my community by being the teacher that I wish I had. I believe I was personally suited to the profession of teaching because I came of age in an era when professions weren’t chosen for the amount of money they made, but for the good that they put back into communities. I believe in the power of education and in the children that I have been given the opportunity to teach throughout my career.”
Several people inspired her to teach.
“My mom taught for 25 years and was passionate about what she did,” Kendrick said. ” I also had an amazing eighth-grade teacher, his name was Paul McClain. He was a caring and compassionate person who came into my life and taught me what a good teacher looks like. I will always be grateful for that year. Not least was Fred Campbell who saw something in me, made this job possible, and hired me to do what I love, which is to teach photography and art. I will always be grateful for the opportunity that he gave me.”
Kendrick said the greatest part of teaching is the students.
The greatest challenge has always been dealing with different personalities and varying levels of support for the things that she thought her students needed, she said.
“I would say, however, the biggest challenge has been the last month, (school closure because of the pandemic),” she said. “It is a strange way to end a career, and I mourn the loss of the last month.”
Kendrick has been involved with her husband, John, in the Echoes of the Trail, a cowboy poetry gathering and also encouraged her students and sons to be involved in the community, she said.
Retiring was a hard decision to make, she said. “Because it is a career where you get to start over fresh every year. For the first time in thirty years, I really like the direction of where things are going, but I could end up being 85 and still teaching. I made the decision, and I’m going to do it.”
Kendrick earned a Bachelor of Arts with a concentration in Ceramics from Colorado State University, graduate hours from Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, NY, Master of Arts in Photography from Pittsburg State University.
Her hometown is Kansas City, MO, where she graduated from Winnetonka High School.
The Beacon, a local helping agency, is continuing to serve the community. And although they are currently serving the same number of people, the current medical/financial crisis in America and the world will likely increase the need for free food and financial assistance.
Donations of food and money are welcome at this time, Director Gary Murrell said. Financial donations can be sent to The Beacon, 525 E. Sixth, Fort Scott, 66701. For more information call 620-223-6869.
Paying of Bills Urged
Murrell urges people to continue paying their utility and rent bills, even though the bills may have been deferred because of the crisis.
“If you stop paying your bills, they will be so large at the end of this there is little we can do,” Murrell said.
Changes In Food Items
Murrell said that there have been questions about food received from The Beacon recently.
“If you get food from us, you may not get what we have given in the past. It’s because we don’t have it,” Murrell said. “We don’t have bread and eggs. We are doing the best we can with purchasing.”
New Procedures In Place
As of March 16, The Beacon put a new procedure in place for obtaining food, if one is eligible.
To minimize spread of the virus, the public is not allowed in the building at 525 E. Sixth, until further notice.
Also when picking up items, individuals must call ahead to arrange it.
Eligible individuals are to call the Beacon with their name and when they would like to pick up their food order. The order will then be filled between normal business hours of 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday and will picked up off the back deck of the building.
History of The Beacon
The Beacon organization was established in 1985 to serve Bourbon County residents in need.
It is funded by donations from churches, civic organizations, schools, businesses and individuals.
Also, each year the Beacon applies for various grants to help with food and monetary assistance.
They serve approximately 960 individuals a month and if a person is on food stamps, they are automatically eligible, according to Murrell.
In addition to food packages, The Beacon provides non-food items like blankets, toiletries, laundry powder, and diapers.
To receive assistance, individuals must be willing to share information about their current income levels and proof of Bourbon County residency. Families in crisis are considered on a case-by-case basis.
