BECKLEY, WV (WOAY) – The Ball family and L&S Toyota continued their annual tour of giving in Beckley on Monday, marking another $1 million donation to West Virginia public schools.
The Ball family and L&S Toyota took part in a panel discussion at Woodrow Wilson High School to highlight the annual donation, which provides each school in the state with $1,500.
“We have, I think, a responsibility to make sure every kid has an opportunity … when you dive into the smallest part of every community, you always find a local school. And that’s why it’s so important,” said Shawn Ball, owner of L&S Toyota, said.
The money allows schools to help students with food, clothing, shoes, coats and hygiene products.
During the event, a panel spoke about the needs that schoolchildren around the Mountain State have, a problem Sen. Jim Justice says he has been confronting since his tenure as governor.
“I continue to try to step up from a national standpoint now, but when I was governor, we really, really stepped up. It’s so important. It doesn’t take all the money in the world, but it takes support and everything … We’ve just got to recognize that we’ve got a real issue,” Justice said. “Kids have everything in the world pulling them down in every direction.”
The Ball family was joined by Brad and Alys Smith’s Wing 2 Wing Foundation and the Pack Family Foundation, which was started by West Virginia Treasurer Larry Pack.
“Each school gets $1,500. They tell us how they spend it. But it’s a lot of different things. Sometimes it’s their shoes, sometimes it’s hygiene stuff, sometimes it’s a coat,” Pack said. “Our teachers need help because a lot of students are coming in and they just don’t have everything that they need.”
The Ball family works closely with the United Way of Southern West Virginia and Communities In Schools, a program important to Justice and his wife, Kathy.
“Kathy has shepherded this and it just took off. It’s the best program that I’ve ever seen in the schools because it genuinely really reaches and touches kids, stays with the kids, helps the kids over and over and over,” Justice said.
As public schools around the state face challenges due to declining enrollment and funding shortfalls, Pack says it’s important to fight for all schoolchildren.
“From a government standpoint, it’s our number one responsibility to provide a good education for our students. Now, some families decide they want to make an educational choice of private school or home school,” Pack said. “But the bulk of our students are going to public schools, around 230,000, and we’re going to continue to fight for public education and make sure that our teachers have the tools they need to be able to take charge of our children.”
During the panel discussion, there was a surprise: The EQT Foundation announced it would donate $25,000.
“I had not heard that until they announced it today, and that was my vision,” Ball said. “This program allows a person, even if you wanted to donate $25, to give the money to the school directly.”
