BEAVER, WV (WOAY) – A vendor and craft fair was held by the Beaver Coal Company. Proceeds from the fair were given to a local charity.
This is the second year that the Beaver Coal Company has held its annual community vendor fair. Each year they plan to select a local charity and donate the vendor setup fees to them.
According to Joe Bevil, the general manager of the Beaver Coal Company, this year they expected roughly 40 vendors to show up, and at $10 each, that means a local charity ends up with nearly 500 dollars they can use to better their community.
“The money that we get from the booth rentals we give to that charity. So it’s not a whole bunch of money, but it’s a couple hundred dollars which could help a local charity,” Bevil said.
The charity chosen this year was the Lunchbox Food Pantry. They provide food and hygiene items to the community. Abby Stimson with the Lunchbox Food Pantry says they are always looking for donations.
“They said that’s only a few hundred dollars but to us that’s everything. We don’t get a lot of monetary donations coming in and hygiene items can be expensive. So that we have four or five hundred dollars to spend on these items that people are really in need of is just a huge deal to us,” Stimson said.
The vendor fair organizers also think that the fair is a great way to get the community to interact in a safe way. The event is outside and vendors are spaced out from one another.
“It’s been really good to kind of get out of quarantine a little bit and be able to socialize while still social distancing and being able to feel that life is just a little bit normal. So it’s been good to interact and see smiling faces and just being able to brighten someone’s day.”
According to Stimson, the Lunchbox Food Pantry plans to spend its monetary donation on more hygiene items. And that few hundred dollars is expected to last them at least a few months supply-wise.
The Lunchbox Food Pantry is also always accepting donations at their location at 159 Granby Circle in Beaver.
