Greene Co. responds to two tragic events
The generosity of people in Greene County was highlighted again last week following two tragic events involving students in Central Greene School District.
Students and faculty in the school district have rallied to support the family of Charles “Chuck” Calvert after he died Dec. 23 in an ATV crash near his Spraggs home. They immediately started a Go Fund Me crowdfunding website to help the family pay for funeral expenses, and they ended up raising more than $20,000.
The high school’s FFA organization, formerly known as the Future Farmers of America, then began working in early January to start a memorial scholarship fund in Chuck’s name to offer an annual $500 stipend to help students interested in agriculture. The group’s goal is to raise $5,500 to fund the scholarships until Chuck would have graduated from high school in 2023, and his fifth-grade class has raised nearly $2,000 to reach that figure.
“We didn’t want him to be forgotten,” said Jamie Finch, who is a high school agriculture teacher and the Waynesburg FFA adviser. “The qualities that Chucky had and that spirit he brought to our organization.”
The thoughtfulness left a mark on Chuck’s mother, Judy Calvert, who works in the elementary school cafeteria.
“I’m humbled beyond belief,” she said. “Not only as a mother, but as an employee. It’s like an extended family.”
As the students and faculty were in the middle of organizing the fundraiser to remember Chuck, another Central Greene student suffered a stroke during a high school basketball game last Monday night. Morgan McDowell, a senior center on the team, is now recovering at a Pittsburgh hospital, but her rehabilitation will be lengthy following the “significant” stroke, her mother Karla McDowell said.
It didn’t take long for Morris Township Volunteer Fire Department, where Morgan is a junior firefighter, to swing into action to help the family. They’re organizing a benefit dinner this Sunday at Morris Township Community Center in Nineveh to help pay for medical expenses.
“It’s unbelievable how Waynesburg is rallying around this kid,” Karla McDowell said. “People you don’t even know are giving money, and sending prayers thinking of us and our family.
“It puts a smile on your face and a tear in your eye to see that there are still good people out there.”
It’s not surprising people in Greene County have rallied around these two causes – and many others – but it’s still heartening to see a small community coming together during tragedies to help those in need.