ELKINS — The Randolph County Commission has unanimously approved funding requests from a host of different organizations.

Ally’s Hope, Autumn on the Dry Fork, and H.W. Daniels American Legion Post 29 all received funding approved by Commissioners David Kesling, Cris Siler, and Chris See at the most recent RCC meeting.

Ally’s Hope, a non-profit facility that provides recovery services for women, is “something the county has partnered with through the opioid money that we received,” Kesling said. “They (Ally’s Hope) bought a house here in Elkins to turn into a halfway house. Unfortunately, when they pulled up the carpets in the house they realized they couldn’t save the floors, so they were looking for additional funding for $3,000 to help with that.”

Kesling said the funding was recently approved by the Randolph County Opioid Committee. The money will be taken from the opioid settlement funds the Randolph County Commission received this year.

In June, the commission approved the allocation of $250,000 from the opioid settlement to help get the project off the ground. When operational, the house will serve as a safe and sober place for women to live while they are going through a recovery phase.

Autumn on the Dry Fork event organizer Rex Vance spoke to the commissioners during the meeting, saying, “Last week we made eight kettles of apple butter, so we are going to have plenty of apple butter for the event.”

Autumn on the Dry Fork took place Oct. 11 at the Dry Fork Recreation Center in Harman. Along with homemade apple butter and apple cider, those attending were treated to pork and chicken bbq dinners and live music throughout the day.

The Commission agreed to provide $2,500 in funding to Autumn on the Dry Fork. The money will be taken from the hotel/motel tax line item in the county budget.

The All-Veterans Memorial Council was next up on the agenda and was seeking funding from the County Commission to help pay for some of the upkeep of the All-Veterans Memorial Park. 

Jeff Wood, chairman for the All Veterans Memorial Council, said he was happy to see the two new monuments (the Gold Star Memorial, Rosie the Riveter Statue) added to the park, but with their additions come more costs.

“We’ve been there 32 years and we’ve paid for our own maintenance as far as lighting and mowing goes,” Wood said. “They didn’t take that into consideration with the addition of the two new monuments, so they are using our power and our mowing…

“We feel like it should be a community thing and Mayor (Jerry) Marco went to the council and they have provided $1,500 toward the mowing and the electric.”

Wood said he was coming to the Commission to ask for help with the costs of the mowing and electricity.

The County Commission agreed to provide $1,500 to the All Veterans Memorial Council. The money will be taken out of the hotel/motel tax line item.

The H.W. Daniels American Legion was seeking funding help for a new monument to be placed in the All-Veterans Park.

“We received a letter from the American Legion and they said they are setting their sights on putting up a Global War on Terrorism Memorial that will be placed next to the Gold Star Memorial,” Kesling said.

“It says that the statue will have the names of 65 West Virginians who gave their lives during the Global War on Terrorism, including two who were born in Elkins. They also want to get American flags for every elementary classroom in Randolph County and American flags and West Virginia flags for the gymnasiums.”

The Commission agreed to provide the American Legion with $1,000. The money will be taken from the hotel/motel tax line item. The next RCC meeting will be Thursday at 1:30 p.m.