SALVATION ARMY EFFORTS
When Tri-Cities resident Virginia Rodefer placed her hands on the doors of the Salvation Army, she didn’t know what to expect. She ended up going with her gut feeling and walked inside. Rodefer, a mother of three, came to the Tri-Cities looking for help. She had no...
RSVP SENIOR PROGRAM BLESSING TO TRI-CITIES SENIOR CITIZENS
The smile on Charlotte Fleenor’s face lit up the room when she began talking about the volunteers behind the RSVP (Retired and Senior Volunteer Program) For more than two decades, volunteers have spent countless hours making grocery trips for area seniors as part of...
ABUSE ALTERNATIVES PROVIDES SUPPORT FOR ABUSE VICTIMS
Imagine living in a home surrounded by violence, and seeing life crumble right from under your feet. That’s how one Twin City resident felt nearly six months ago. She remembers that time, as if it was yesterday. “The person had a serious problem,” she said. “They...
GRANDPARENTS RECEIVE HELP FROM YWCA OF BRISTOL
Bristol, Tenn. natives Rhonda and Bill Holland say the Bristol YWCA have been a godsend for not only them, but their twenty-one month old granddaughter, Lexie as well. The Holland’s known to Lexie Paw-Paw and Mee-Mee to Lexie, have had custody of her since she was 5...
UNITED WAY OF BRISTOL HAS RAISED 61 PERCENT OF GOAL
The United Way of Bristol has raised 61 percent of its $1.4 million fundraising goal — well ahead of last year’s pace for donations, campaign Chairman Jim Maxwell said Friday. “This is great news,” Maxwell, publisher of the Bristol Herald Courier and a number of...
BIG BROTHERS, BIG SISTERS PROVIDE ROLE MODELS FOR KIDS
It was Steve McMillian’s desire to be a strong male role model for today’s youth that got him involved in Big Brothers, Big Sisters of East Tennessee. And since the Twin City native met his little brother, Ethan Ball, they’ve been inseparable. “I first learned of the...
EMERGING POWER SERIES: KATHI ROARK, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE CHILDREN’S ADVOCACY CENTER OF BRISTOL/WASHINGTON COUNTY
Kathi Roark has two passions: service and children. And her job as executive director of the Children’s Advocacy Center of Bristol/Washington County, allows her to combine the two. “I started as a volunteer member for the board of directors in 1998, and here I am...
HEALING HANDS INCREASES CONFIDENCE
Imagine looking in the mirror and not feeling pretty because of your smile. How about suffering from agonizing tooth pain? That’s exactly how Twin City native Christie Sherfey felt when she looked in the mirror. “Your smile really makes you more confident and makes...
BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB BLESSING TO BRISTOL MOTHER
Valerie Thayer thinks back to that August day in 2010, when her life changed forever. That was the day her ex-husband suddenly passed away. Although Thayer, a Bristol, Va., native, and her ex-husband had been divorced for three years prior to his death, it was...