Chamber gives money to help victims of crash

Midland Valley Chamber of Commerce donated $2,000 to the Valley Outreach Interface Center on Wednesday.

The funds are earmarked for the Graniteville area and will primarily be used to assist victims of January's Norfolk Southern Corp. train accident, said Gloria Bush Johnson, the head of the chamber of commerce.

Ms. Johnson said they chose to give the funds to the center because of its reputation in the area and the chamber's relationship with Geneva Green, the center's manager.

"Its kind of a win-win situation," Ms. Johnson said. "She (Ms. Green) would help the people of Graniteville anyway, but this will free up money so that she can assist people in other parts of the valley."

The outreach center provides food, clothes and limited utility assistance to individuals and families in need, and it reaches out to people from Vaucluse to Beech Island.

Ms. Green said that the funds likely will be used to provide utility assistance and medicine but that this could change according to need.

For more information about the center, call 663-9955.

Reach Adam Folk at (706) 724-0851.