Menu Close

Helping Hand of Hope returning to pre-pandemic proof of income requirements

Helping Hand of Hope has announced that beginning September 1 proof of income will be required for all services including food boxes, personal hygiene bags, and the pet food pantry. 

Helping Hand of Hope Executive Director Hope Burke says the policy is not a new one, but rather a return to pre-pandemic standards.

“When COVID started, we know that there were so many people losing jobs, and there were so many people going on unemployment and different things like that, and food stamp offices were getting backed up, so we had lowered our guidelines to where people didn’t have to bring anything when it came to our food boxes,” Burke said.

Burke says the policy change is necessary in order to serve as many people as possible in good faith, as demand at the organization has boomed. 

“We’re starting to see such a huge increase of food, pet, hygiene, all of these things that where we were used to doing 400 to 500 food boxes a month we’re hitting almost 1,000,” Burke said.

As demand increases, anybody wanting to support Helping Hand of Hope’s mission is welcome to reach out.

“They can go to our website, www.helpinghandofhope.org, or they can always call us at 270-769-3092 and ask to speak to me,” Burke said. “I am always willing to show someone around, show them the moving parts of what we do, how it looks, how our numbers are increasing, and what all of that looks like.”

The policy change does not apply to USDA food bags, which are available regardless of income level.

Deadline to register for Radcliff Days Parade is Friday

Friday, September 1 is the deadline to register for the Radcliff Days Parade, which will be held beginning at 10 a.m. on Saturday, September 9.

Radcliff Parks and Recreation Director Tim Jeffries says all are welcome to register for the parade, for which the theme this year is “Golden Days.”

“They came up with that as a combination between Gabby Barrett, the attraction for Boundary Oak’s Bourbon and Blades, and bringing back the old-time stuff from the Golden Armor Festival, trying to tie all that together,” Jeffries said.

Jeffries says the theme is a reflection of good times that were had as well as good times that are on the horizon.

“We’re getting a lot of growth with the Ford plant in Glendale,” Jeffries said. “A lot of that is kind of trickling up towards our area and we’re just to see it, and we want to celebrate it.”

There are no entry fees for the parade, but entry forms should be turned in by Friday.

“All they’ve got to do is just fill out the parade entry form that they can find on our Facebook page,” Jeffries said. “Just fill it out, then bring it over to Colvin Community Center and we’ll get you lined up in the parade.”

For more information, visit www.radcliff.org, or call the Colvin Community Center 270-351-4079.

Elizabethtown woman sentenced for CARES Act fraud

A woman from Elizabethtown was sentenced this week to a term in federal prison.

The Department of Justice says Kelly Woods will serve two years and nine months for charges related to her submission of three fraudulent CARES Act applications.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Kentucky says that court documents show Woods filed three fraudulent applications for Paycheck Protection Program loans between May of 2020 and December of 2021, which resulted in the theft of more than $1.3 million. 

An investigation by the FDIC’s Office of the Inspector General and the FBI showed that Woods organized LB Acquisitions LLC after the onset of the pandemic, and exaggerated the number of employees and payroll expenses of that entity and Philips Healthcare LLC.

Following her release from prison, Woods will serve three years on supervised release. She was also ordered to pay more than $1.3 million in restitution and a $15,000 fine.