Community Caring, a local volunteer organization, has taken to Facebook to continue its efforts of providing for those in need during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jennifer Frankhouser, event planner and coordinator for the organization, said she started Community Caring in October 2010 to “give back.”
Frankhouser went through a difficult divorce and had to start over, along with her two sons, with very few financial resources.
Frankhouser said she received help from family and community members during that stressful time. “I am so grateful for [that],” Frankhouser said.
Frankhouser and her children settled in to a mobile home park on Grafton Road, and two years later, Frankhouser noticed some of her neighbors were struggling.
“There was a little girl who had walked to the bus stop in capris, a windbreaker and a pair of Crocs. It was flurrying outside. One of the ladies and I, who were standing there with the children, started pulling gloves off of our children’s hands. We wrapped [the girl] up in an extra hooded sweatshirt and my son gave her his toboggan,” Frankhouser said.
Frankhouser said she and the other woman went home and sorted through their children’s items, giving anything they no longer needed to the girl from the bus stop and her brother.
“It was right before Christmas and we had sat down and discussed, ‘If we could help one child, how many others could we help?’” Frankhouser said.
Frankhouser got in touch with the Clinton District Fire Department and, with three weeks until Christmas, she and others gathered as many of their unneeded items as they could to give away. Frankhouser posted “all over” Facebook to promote the free event being held at the fire department, and Community Caring was born.
Items such as clothing, toys, books, bedding, household items and nonperishable food items are donated to Community Caring, who then redistributes them at no cost to the community through events held at Cheat Lake Volunteer Fire Department.
Since its inception, Community Caring has held events that are open to the general public three or four times a year. Frankhouser said each event usually has a turnout of 300 to 500 individuals.
While the Community Caring Facebook page has existed for some time, Frankhouser said the organization started using it more during the COVID-19 pandemic, as they continue to try to help the community from a distance.
“With [COVID-19], we are trying to facilitate everything via Facebook so that anyone can post items that are unwanted online and other individuals can make arrangements to get those,” Frankhouser said.
With the increased usage of the page by those in charge of the group, the Community Caring Facebook profile has gained traction within the community.
The Facebook page prohibits any member from selling their items – the page is one designed to help struggling individuals in the community, and so items posted must be given away at no cost. This replicates the setup of a typical in-person Community Caring event.
Users either post photographs and descriptions of items they are giving away or make posts seeking out specific items for themselves or their families.
The public Facebook group now has 5,000 members according to the page.
“I have seen the impact firsthand and we have been able to help hundreds of families over the past 10 years. I believe that Community Caring plays a huge part in our community, whether you are needing the help given to you or if you are one who needs to void items from your own home,” Frankhouser said.
Frankhouser said she received 501c3 licensing during the pandemic, and when circumstances allow she intends to hold fundraising campaigns and establish permanent locations – one in Morgantown and one in Preston County – for Community Caring.
“It has grown so huge since [the day it started], and I am personally humbled by the support we have had over the years,” Frankhouser said.
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