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Vol. 3 No. 19 | Richmond Suburban News | December 13, 2017
Survey: residents enjoy high First Baptist Church gathers items for Operation Christmas Child quality of life, feel safe
Shoeboxes filled for holidays Nick Liberante for The Hanover Local
A plaque was installed at Sweet Frog in honor of historic preservation efforts
Sweet Frog honored for historic preservation Contributed Report news@mechlocal.com ASHLAND – Ashland Sweet Frog has been recognized as the second recipient of the Art McKinney Historic Preservaton Stewardship Award. According to the Ashland Museum and the Ashland Main Street Association (AMSA), the award honors business and property owners who have demonstrated good stewardship of historic structures by rehabilitating and repurposing them for continued commercial use. It is named for Art McKinney, who purchased the former D.B. Cox Department Store and restored it to host his engineering firm and the Iron Horse restaurant at 100 S. see SWEET FROG, pg. 9
By Logan Barry for The Hanover Local
ASHLAND -- An internationally recognized charity program was carried out successfully at the First Baptist Church of Ashland this holiday season, with 4,006 gift boxes being shipped and delivered to children in need who are living in Third World countries. This year’s program proved to be an amount much larger than previous years. “Operation Christmas Child” (OCC), which is operated by Samaritan’s Purse, an Evangelical Christian humanitarian organization, strives to bring joy, spirit and the New Testament’s message to children who otherwise wouldn’t receive much, if anything at all for the holiday season. Churches, other organizations, private businesses and members of local communities across the United States and the globe participate, fill shoeboxes with items such as school supplies, hygiene products, toys, and pamphlet literature, “The Greatest Gift,” taken from scriptures in the Holy Bible. Debbie Haley and Pam
By Logan Barry for The Hanover Local
Photos courtesy of Debbie Haley
In the photo at left, an assembly line type process was used in filling the shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child. Above, the lid to a shoebox displays the charitable organization’s name Samaritan’s Purse.
Stiles, two members of First Baptist Church who coordinated the operation, talked about their excitement in obtaining so many shoebox donations. As for what they receive, Haley said, “It varies – here at First Baptist, we put supplies there [such as] a clothing item, a cup, a spoon, a ball of some sort, and literature.” Stiles said their church isn’t the only group that participates in Ashland, pointing out how Chik-Fil-A also uses its location as a collection center.
“They have different distribution centers across the state where they process the boxes . . . Every box has to be [processed] to make sure there’s no inappropriate items in them, Stiles said.” She also said that OCC is very organized and that hundreds of thousands of people and volunteers are involved. Haley has travelled to Charlotte, North Carolina, and Baltimore, Maryland, to work in distribution centers. The two women said they receive such joy by being involved in Operation
Christmas Child. “The most awesome thing for us is that – once a box is packed, when it gets to [whichever] country it’s going to – then, there is literature that is printed in children’s language that gives them the story salvation,” Stiles said. “For every box that is packed, they are going to hear the story of Jesus Christ.” This year, Haley said, some of the church’s Sunday School classes took part in helping with the project. “I’ve had Sunday School classes come in, [and we go] in our little room that we call ‘Santa-Land’ . . . It’s kind of like a clothing store.” see SHOEBOXES, pg. 12
ASHLAND — Residents of the Town of Ashland enjoy a high quality of life and feel safe, according to the results of a survey conducted by the National Citizen Survey Results. Damema Mann, representing, NCSR, presented the survey results to Ashland Town Council during the Dec. 5 regular meeting. This was the third time that Ashland has had NCIS conduct a survey on its citizens. The previous years it has conducted the survey include 2011 and 2014. NCIS performed the survey on a scientific sample of 1,500 households, of which 417 households completed surveys, with a margin-of-error of plusor-minus five percent. The survey’s key focus areas included: safety, mobility, natural environment, economy, built entertainment, recreation and wellness, education and enrichment, and community engagement. Mann’s presentation provided the key findings of the see SURVEY, pg. 12