Wilkerson

Wilkerson

BUCKHANNON — “What are we doing? What are the opportunities we have? What do we need?”

Kristi Wilkerson, director of the Upshur Parish House and Crosslines Inc. stopped by the Rotary Club of Buckhannon-Upshur this weeks to answer these questions and give a look at her first four months in the position.

“The last four months have been very busy,” she said. “I have asked a lot of questions. I have learned a lot. I am still asking questions and learning.”

One question that gets asked of Wilkerson a lot is, “Is the Clothes Closet still accepting donations?”

The answer is yes to clean, usable clothing, household items and books. However, donations are preferred during business hours of Monday-Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

“Since I have been named director, I have consistently shared that the one main goal I have is to increase partnerships and relationships in the community,” she said. “We have some. I would to build on those, maintain the ones we have and keep creating new partnerships.

Wilkerson is an elected member of the Upshur County Board of Education and one of those partnerships is with Upshur County Schools.

The last few years, the Parish House has given away 300-350 backpacks. This year, that number increased to 611 as the school system helped spread the word.

“I am pretty sure that is between 15 and 20 percent of students in Upshur County Schools,” she said. “The folks who came in were so appreciative. We had a mom who worked at one of the local restaurants and asked, “Can I really get backpacks for free for my children? I’m making ends meet paying the bills but when there is something extra like making sure my kids have a new backpack. I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to do that.”

The Upshur Parish House was just awarded a grant from the Pallottine Foundation to help pay for turkeys and hams and meets the holiday dinner needs of 600 families each for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Other partnerships come from Mountaineer Food Bank, Walmart, Save A lot, Rock Cave IGA and more.

“We are blessed to live in a community where neighbors do help their neighbors,” she said.

In recent months there has been an increase in people requesting help with utilities to the tune of roughly $2,000 a week to meet those needs.

“We have worked with them so they hopefully don’t have those utilities shut off,” she said. “We do have policies; we have a maximum amount we can help a neighbor with. We only help every so often and we do ask neighbors to contribute whatever they can.”

Meeting this is a challenge and Wilkerson said she is concerned about what winter utility bills will be and the assistance neighbors will need.

About 20 families come in on any given day for various assistance — not always for help with utilities.

One recent example was a man who needed help buying work boots so he could start a job.

Wilkerson invited Rotarians to visit the Upshur Parish House for a tour or come by for lunch Monday, Wednesday or Friday served at noon.

Groups are always welcome to schedule a time to provide lunch. Contact Wilkerson at the Parish House at 304-472-0743.