The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

Today's Front Page

March 25, 2010

Volunteers hope years of hard work will help get construction under way

Marsh Fork Elementary School

By Brad Johnson Register-Herald Reporter

BECKLEY — Community volunteers have raised more than $10,000 to contribute to the building of a new Marsh Fork Elementary School and hope their years of work will help the long-wished-for project get under way.

In Charleston this week, Raleigh County Schools Superintendent Charlotte Hutchens and school board president Richard Snuffer informed the state School Building Authority that Massey Energy had pledged $1 million to help fund the construction, but were also quick to point out that local residents had raised $10,400 to the project.

“It’s important to show that local community volunteers can accomplish things,” Bo Webb, one of the volunteers, said Thursday. He stressed that the Pennies of Promise campaign, which raised the money, was supported by Coal River Mountain Watch, but that the organization did not raise or contribute the funds.

Webb and Ed Wiley, who both live within 5 miles of Marsh Fork Elementary, have been campaigning for a new school for six years. In 2004, Webb took part in an event at the school and talked to a teacher concerned that a student’s asthma was aggravated by coal dust from a Massey coal silo 300 feet from the school. The school is also downhill from a slurry impoundment at a nearby Massey mine.

“We did a door-to-door survey in March 2005,” Webb said. “We found 60 homes with children in the school, and we found 53 students had health problems and 48 had upper respiratory problems.”

The volunteers contacted Gov. Joe Manchin, who sent a representative to the school, but no changes were made, Webb said.

“Ed and I decided that if the governor won’t do anything, and the school board can’t do anything, let’s try to raise some money to build a new school,” Webb said.

The Pennies of Promise campaign kicked into high gear in 2007 when Wiley — whose granddaughter attended the school — walked from Charleston to Washington, D.C., to raise awareness of the situation.

Wiley spent 41 days on the road, hoping to speak with Sen. Robert C. Byrd in person about getting a new school built.

“He carried his banner, stopping in towns to talk about the situation, and collected pennies on the way,” Webb said.

“People seemed to know I was coming and there was a nice response pretty much everywhere I went,” Wiley, who camped mostly in national parks on the trip, said Wednesday. Wiley, now 53, walked 16 to 17 miles per day in the heat of the summer.

Buoyed by press attention, the campaign received donations from colleges, elementary schools and even individuals from foreign countries, he said.

“When I got to D.C., Sen. Byrd listened for a long time and he understood,” Wiley said. “He was really impressed. I think he cares. I’m glad he met with me.”

Last fall, Byrd blasted Massey for not contributing to the construction of a new school.

In response to Massey’s pledge of support, Wiley said, “Thank you for the million. You could give a whole lot more. In fact, we wish the school board would put more money into it.”

The board is contributing $1 million to the project and asked the School Building Authority for $6.6 million on Tuesday. A decision on the request is expected in April.

“We’ve approached the governor many times. He needs to step up to the plate,” Wiley said. “Everybody needs to work together to get this done for the kids.”

— E-mail: bjohnson@register-herald.com

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