NEWS RELEASE – JULY 20, 2023
Hope Rising -ARH Flood Relief School Supply Drive to be held next week to aid Eastern Kentucky Students and Schools Impacted by July 2022 Flooding
July 20, 2023 – Back to school is just around the corner. In further efforts to help ease the burden on families, teachers, and schools in the eastern Kentucky counties touched by last summer’s flooding, Appalachian Regional Healthcare (ARH) and the ARH Foundation for Healthier Communities will hold the Hope Rising – Flood Relief School Supply Drive the week leading up to the first anniversary of the flood.
School supply lists can be found at www.arh.org/floods . Items can be dropped off at the ARH Lexington Corporate Office at 2260 Executive Drive, Lexington, KY, from Monday, July 24, to Friday, July 28, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Those donating supplies at the ARH Lexington office on July 27 will be treated to food or beverages from several local food trucks, and general health screenings will also be provided from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. that day.
Several Lexington area businesses will also serve as collection sites for the ARH school supply drive. Participating companies will be listed on the www.arh.org/floods website.
For those who prefer to shop online, online orders can be shipped to:
Appalachian Regional Healthcare, 2260 Executive Drive, Lexington, KY 40505
For those in Eastern Kentucky who are able and would like to continue their efforts in helping their friends and neighbors still in need, ARH will have the ARH Disaster Relief Center located in the former JC Penney building at 278 Black Gold Boulevard in Hazard open for drop-offs from 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday, July 24 through Friday, July 28. On Thursday, July 27, in conjunction with an ARH system-wide moment of silence in remembrance of the July 2022 flood, the ARH Distribution Center in Hazard will offer free food and drink items from area food trucks to those making donations, and free sports physicals, cholesterol checks, A1C checks, hands-only CPR training, stroke screenings, and more from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. that day.
For those in Pikeville, donation drop off will be at the Pikeville Medical Center Urgent Care and Family Wellness Center located at 238 Cassady Blvd in Pikeville starting Monday, 24th – Friday, 28th from 8am – 8pm between McDonalds and Walmart.
Once collected and organized, ARH will transport the supplies to schools in the counties affected by the flood.
“As remember the devasting floods that forever changed the lives of so many living in our eastern Kentucky communities a year ago this coming Thursday, it is important that we all honor their resiliency and be aware that many people living in these areas continue to struggle to restart and recover all they had worked so hard to build for themselves and their families,” says ARH President and CEO Hollie Phillips. “While ARH has been able to help thousands of people over the past 12 months, our commitment to eastern Kentucky remains strong, and our work is far from over. We hope to see as many backpack and school supply donations as possible come into our drop-off locations to help us as we pitch in to bring more relief to those affected by the July 2022 flooding.”
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Appalachian Regional Healthcare (ARH), is a not-for-profit health system operating 14 hospitals in Barbourville, Hazard, Harlan, Hyden, Martin, McDowell, Middlesboro, Paintsville, Prestonsburg, West Liberty, Whitesburg, and South Williamson in Kentucky and Beckley and Hinton in West Virginia, as well as multi-specialty physician practices, home health agencies, home medical equipment stores and retail pharmacies. ARH employs more than 6,500 people with an annual payroll and benefits of $330 million generated into our local economies. ARH also has a network of more than 600 active and courtesy medical staff members. ARH is the largest provider of care and the single largest employer in southeastern Kentucky and the third-largest private employer in southern West Virginia.