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Transportation company provides COVID testing venue >

Lawrence Companies in Botetourt County transformed a front parking lot just off U.S. Route 11 into a free COVID-19 drive thru community test site in late June. The drivethrough opportunity was organized by the Virginia Department of Health’s Roanoke City and Alleghany Health Districts. Partners from New Horizons Healthcare and Council of Community Services helped staff the site. “When offered the chance to be a host, we jumped at the opportunity to help bring this effort to our surrounding community,” said Jim Harrison, Lawrence Companies CEO.

“Like many businesses in our region, we have been working hard to provide our staff a safe work environment and support the men and women who are on the frontlines of this pandemic. We’re grateful for the opportunity to help VDH offer this testing to our drivers, their families, and friends, as well as the greater Botetourt County community,” added Harrison, Lawrence Companies is focused on moving/storage, heavy equipment and other transportation-related services, with 5 branches elsewhere as well.

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More kids will learn to swim after successful short-term fundraising campaign >

After raising well over the $30,000 they targeted to help reopen public swimming pools in Roanoke next year, the organizers behind that drive donated another $20,000 to the Kirk Family YMCA for swim lessons there. Some of that money (Carilion made a substantial contribution; there were almost 200 donors in all) was earmarked to transport local children to the Kirk Family Y for swim lessons; for 125 children in all, lasting about 3 months. Not to mention three-month free memberships for the families involved as well. Joshua Yerkes is a senior director for the Y: “we’re still working out the specifics,” he said at the Big Check ceremony about COVID safety precautions, with the swim program set to start August 3. “We’re just thankful to have organizations and individuals that are generous enough … to really make this happen. This is huge.”

Roanoke attorney John Fishwick Jr. (along with Dr. Frank Cotter from Vistar Eye Center) helped spearhead the short-term fund drive, with reopening Roanoke City’s budgetstrapped public pools as the prime motivator. “We wanted to make sure we stayed consistent with our mission,” said Fishwick about the extra $20,000 raised that went to the Kirk Family YMCA; “which is that pools are fun, fun for families. The Y was a logical place to make this additional contribution.”