Local organizations commence Operation 'Bag Drag' to assist growing needs in foster care
WV Lifeline Ambulance Services LLC announces upcoming launch
They collected bags of all sorts from the community, as well as essentials that kids in the foster care system might need. The Beckley Knights of Columbus 5657 helped by cooking some good food for folks stopping in to donate.
William Lewis is a member of both the Beckley VFW and the Knights of Columbus.
Lewis said the VFW is dedicated to developing strong communities.
'This is our first time doing this for our day of service. We are hoping to turn it into a yearly event because it has gone wonderfully. It is one of the reasons I love living in a community like this. We have got a lot to learn, but we have still got so much support from the community. We have so many donations. It is really amazing. It is phenomenal,' said Lewis.
One of the organizations this 'Bag Drag' will be benefiting is Necco Foster Care.
Travis Wooten is the program director for Necco's Beckley location. He explained there is a great need in our local community.
'We find that a lot of kids come through with their belongings in trash bags and that is just an issue of dignity for us. It is just amazing to me that the community has gotten together and the VFW supported this. It is amazing to look around and see this luggage. They have no clue the amount of joy it will bring to kids not having to carry their belongings in trash bags,' said Wooten.
Wooten and Necco will be distributing these bags to foster children. This bag drop off is not the only way folks can help right now.
'There is a huge need for foster families right now. West Virginia is somewhere around 5,800 to 6,000 kids in care. If every foster parent now filled their house up to the max, there still would not be enough homes for foster kids, and in especially [with] teenagers – like one last week – we got 76 referrals for kids and we were not able to place a single team because we did not have any families that were willing to open up their hearts and homes to them,' said Wooten.
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Spencer said he'd do it, but sat on the recipe for months while he gained a health department permit, registered the business with the state, signed a lease with the VFW and lined up food vendors. In March of this year Spencer began experimenting with the sauce and dough for hours each day at the VFW. The sauce was an instant hit with the veterans who served as his grizzled daily taste-testers. The dough, though, was a beast. "It was more complicated than I ever could have imagined,' Spencer said. 'The temperature of the room, the humidity, the water, all that is important.' He kept at it, feeding the vets a steady diet of practice pies. "They aren't shy about their opinions, so that helped prepare me,' Spencer said. 'I soon found out that you have to be a mad scientist in this business, because it is a science,' Spencer said. 'I thought I'd be twirling dough up in the air, whistling. I haven't done that once.' Just three months later Spencer opened Nino's, which is a takeout restaurant inside the VFW, built in 2011 to replace the old one. With a full-service bar and adjoining space, the VFW is a social club for veterans and their families. The members participate in parades and lead fundraising drives. The post hosts bingo on Fridays, karaoke on some Saturdays and musical acts. On a recent weekday Spencer began the 5 p.m. shift training two new employee — an order taker and pizza preparer. Before long the Door Dash ringtone sang with incoming orders, which began automatically queuing up on an overhead tablet screen. Spencer laid out the pizza doughs on a narrow counter near a row of metal ingredient bins and showed the worker how to load them; ladle a cup of sauce on the middle then spread it gently and evenly outward to within a quarter-inch of the edge. Make sure the mozzarella is single layer, then put on the other ingredients. When the employee began placing olives on one-by-one Spencer corrected him. Too slow, sprinkle them on, then space them, he instructed. Most importantly, Spencer said, think of the squares this masterpiece will be cut into. Each piece should include every ingredient — mini pizzas in themselves. Soon, as orders poured in, Spencer was in a pizza-making frenzy, putting them in the oven, removing and slicing them with a rocking pizza cutter, and boxing them. In between he jumped over to help prepare the pizzas and fill an order for a Chicago-style hot dog, which have their own mad scientist origins. He carefully built an order with its myriad components, making sure to top it with a dash of celery salt and 'sport' peppers. 'Wednesdays are usually slow, I don't know what's going on, but I'm not complaining,' said Spencer. 'I don't mind chaos. I can handle doing six, seven things at once. It's when it stops that I don't know what to do.' Spencer had gotten a taste of how hectic the business could be on one of the first Fridays he was open, bingo night, when he had to stop taking orders because he was overwhelmed. He went on Facebook quickly afterward to explain what happened. 'Everyone shows up between 6 and 7 p.m to order food before Bingo starts,' he wrote. "This means we have preorders, current orders then everyone from Bingo (could be 15-30 people) all at once in line waiting to order. Let us just say it gets crazy.' Spencer said he is constantly tinkering with the dough and pizza prep to make sure it's exactly right. He's open to constructive criticism — and has learned there is plenty available. 'The transplants from Chicago are out of this world,' he said. 'They are die-hard about their pizza. Not a day goes by when I don't hear a couple people saying, 'When I was a kid…,' or 'I'm from Chicago, we got high expectations for you.' Some people tell me I have to use water from Chicago in the dough to be authentic. I'm not hauling Lake Michigan water down here. That's crazy.' He said he's pretty practiced now at separating the bluster from the beneficial. 'We knew this was niche thing, just not to this level,' he said. As he slid a pizza from the box onto the VFW bar, Josh Stewart said he thought Chicago-style pizza meant only deep dish. He's glad it doesn't. "It just tastes really good and he's make it extra crispy if you request it," Stewart said.'I'd rather have this than a franchise pizza any day." Spencer has six employees now, including his 13-year-old son. Stacey makes the desserts and Post veterans have stepped in to volunteer on occasion during rushes. He doesn't know how fast or how much he has room to grow in the small kitchen. Mochi Joy was there for three years. 'I love it here and all the support we've gotten,' he said. 'I'm a loyal person. It's hard to say what could happen."
