WQXE NEWS

Warm Blessings Community Kitchen is gearing up for their new event: Crafting for a Cause.

“The Crafting for a Cause is on September 23, and it’s at Bluegrass Middle School,” said Warm Blessings Board Member Neil Gibbs. “The address is 170 W A Jenkins Road in Elizabethtown, and it’s from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.”

The event will feature vendors, handmade items, raffle prizes, food trucks, and more. All are welcome to attend, with the cost of admission being a non-perishable food item.

The event supports Warm Blessings’s mission of supporting those in need, a mission Gibbs says is growing.

“What we have done recently is expanded our program,” Gibbs said. “We’ve got senior meals expansion in Radcliff. We created a mobile meals program, which currently delivers over 90 meals weekly in Radcliff, and a Blessing Bag program.”

The need for support has grown too, as Gibbs says the number of meals served by Warm Blessings has grown from about 14,000 in 2021 to about 60,000 in 2023. The organization is primarily supported by donations, and the door is open to anybody in need.

“We don’t turn anybody away,” Gibbs said. “We don’t ask a whole lot of information, so if you need anything just come down and we’ll take care of you.”

To learn more about Warm Blessings, Crafting for a Cause, or how to become a vendor at the event, call 270-735-7643 or find Warm Blessings Community Kitchen on Facebook.

The deadline to respond to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s recent survey regarding additional roadway options to accommodate the increased traffic expected in Glendale is Friday, September 8.

More options were put up for review based on new information the KYTC received as they continue to prepare for development stemming from the opening of the Blue Oval SK plant.

“One is the Northwest Bypass portion that was previously labeled as unfeasible is now on the table as a possibility and a path that could be used for a bypass around Glendale,” said KYTC District Four Public Information Officer Chris Jessie. “We also have an A plus B kind of scenario where it combines the Northwest and Northeast bypass options into one continuous bypass around Glendale on the north side of KY-222.”

Jessie said the KYTC cannot predict the future of just how much development Blue Oval SK will spark, but information collected during the survey will help with planning.

“There are so many moving parts to that whole scenario,” Jessie said. “It is difficult to forecast, but that’s what the study is about. It’s about doing the best homework we can, getting the best data we can.”

Jessie also stressed that the results of the survey are not a final decision.

“The study is ultimately not a decision of what’s going to happen,” Jessie said. “It’s prioritizing and showing what the public has given us feedback about. It’s a study, it’s just what it says, and those study results will give us recommendations for how to move forward.”

All are welcome to complete the survey, which is open until September 8, and can be found at www.glendalestudy.com.

Several area entities and organizations are among the 114 that received $27.2 million in funding to support victims of crime in kentucky.

According to a release from the governor’s office, federal Victims of Crime Act funding prioritizes services to victims of child abuse, sexual assault, and domestic violence, but funding also serves survivors of homicide and victims of burglary, theft, and drug and alochol-related crime, along with elderly victims and adult survivors of childhood abuse and assault.

Among the recipients is the Hardin County Sheriff’s Office. Hardin County Sheriff John Ward says the office will use the $64,662 it is receiving to hire a full-time victim’s advocate.

“You investigate a crime, and you help the victim get through the court process, but other than that there’s limited contact, and this gives us a victim’s advocate that’s going to be there to help a victim of a crime with a vast array of different things,” Ward said. “Getting them help, counseling, different things such as that.”

Michelle Kail is the executive director of CASA of the Heartland, which will receive $47,978. She says support from VOCA is critical for organizations that are maximizing all that they can in their budgets.

“It is very important because that is what allows our small, dedicated team to continue to guide, support, and serve up to 80 volunteers, which in turn allows us to serve the children that we serve in our community,” Kail said.

Funding from this cycle was also supported by funds from the American Rescue Plan Act. For more information on Victims of Crime Act funding or a full list of recipients, visit www.justice.ky.gov.