MURPHYTOWN- A soup bean-and-cornbread dinner and a school reunion have been planned to help replace lost food items in the food pantry at the Disabled American Veterans, Chapter 32.
Stephanie Detrio, one of the organizers, said three churches, Murphytown Baptist Church, Murphytown United Methodist Church and Red Hill United Methodist Church, decided to help the DAV with its roof problems and to replace the lost food.
The fundraiser will be from 4-7 p.m. Sept. 22 at the former Murphytown School, now the DAV headquarters.
"They came up with the idea of a soup bean and cornbread supper," she said. "But I had my doubts about that, so I came up with the idea of having that with a Murphytown School reunion."
Detrio said a Facebook page was set up for the reunion to let alumni of the school know about it and to collect pictures and other items.
For the event, Roy Clark Jr. and the gospel group Lighthouse Ambassadors will perform. Detrio said there will be a car show featuring the General Lee car from "The Dukes of Hazzard."
The Murphytown School, on Little Stillwell Road, east of Parkersburg, closed in 1993 and is now the home to the DAV chapter.
One room will be set up to display photos that have been donated by former students and staff. The hamburgers and hot dogs, along with the soup beans and cornbread, will be free and donations will be collected, Detrio said.
Paul Deberry, commander of Chapter 32 of the Disabled American Veterans, said the food pantry it operates for area veterans lost all the frozen foods in the two freezers during the June 29 storm.
"After the storm (June 29) we lost everything," he said. "To help us the local churches are helping with a fundraiser."
Deberry said since the storm the DAV has received donations to help replenish the frozen food supply but the organization has not completely replaced it.
"We've had donations but we only have about one-third of what we had before," he said.
Deberry said the freezers were not damaged in the storm.
"The only problem we had was cleaning up the mess," he said. "We have an upright and a chest freezer and so far they both are working fine. We unplugged them after the power went off and after it was restored they were plugged in and are working fine; no problems so far."
Deberry said donations can be made to the chapter by calling 304-679-3600 or calling him at (740) 423-4693 or (740) 434-3381.
