Victory Family Worship Center joined forces with relief organizations Convoy of Hope and Soles4Souls last Saturday to supply local families with much needed resources. Church volunteers helped over 400 participants obtain shoes, school supplies, and food & drink. Kids were fitted for shoes donated by Soles4Souls of Nashville, Tennessee. Soles4Souls collects new shoes and clothing to distribute to people in need across the U.S. and around the world. Next, backpacks and school supplies were handed out to each kid courtesy of Victory Family Worship Center. Also, families received boxes of food & drink donated by feedOne, a division of Convoy of Hope of Springfield, Missouri. Convoy of Hope is a faith-based, nonprofit organization with a driving passion to feed the world through children’s feeding initiatives, community outreaches, and disaster response. The organization has provided over 50 million meals since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A Friona Star interview with Solomon Wang, Vice President of feedONE
When it comes to the subject of poverty and starvation, Solomon Wang (pronounced Wong), brings a lot to the table. As an orphan growing up in Calcutta, India he has first hand knowledge of both. From a boy raising his bowl up hoping to get an extra portion of his one meal of the day, Mr. Wang has become VP of an organization that specializes in food distribution to people all over the world. Solomon was raised by a missionary couple and eventually made his way to the United States and graduated from the University of Nebraska. When he uttered "Go Big Red", he didn’t realize how right he was. The Friona Star interviewed Mr. Wang last Saturday at the 412 Coffee Shop on Main Street.
What is feedOne?
The name originated when my friend Hal Donaldson, founder of Convoy of Hope, met Mother Teresa. During their conversation, she told him, "If you can’t feed a hundred, then just feed one." As an organization, we have taken her words to heart. The feedONE organization supports the children’s feeding program at Convoy of Hope. We are currently feeding more than 300,000 children in 18 different countries. We believe a nutritious meal shares hope and opens the door for a child to be healthy and well-nourished.
You say $10 can feed a child for a month. How can you do that?
The exact cost of food and transportation varies from country to country. We maximize a $10 donation by leveraging our network of vehicles, equipment, and expert staff and volunteers. Through local procurement, program implementation, and oversight, we ensure financial responsibility and program integrity.
Can I trust feedOne with my money?
Charity Navigator has given Convoy of Hope the Four Star Charity Award every year since 2002. That’s the highest rating a charity can receive, and it’s something we take very seriously. I love my job and one of the perks is that I make sure we spend your money wisely. We monitor world events so that when disaster hits we are ready to help. Unfortunately, in some areas of the world, every day is a disaster.
What type of food are the children being fed?
We want every child we feed to receive meals that are a balance of nutritional value, local flavor, and context. Some locations build meals on highly-nutritious imported products such as rice and beans, while others purchase all of their ingredients locally.
You are definitely making an impact. What are the latest numbers?
The numbers are astounding. Since 1994 we have served $1.1 billion worth of food & supplies to 132 million people in 127 different countries. As of today, we have 667,000 volunteers just in the United States alone. We have fed millions. My goal is to feed the next million!
Solomon Wang and Senior Pastor Robert Kerby of Victory Family Worship Center
32,500 lbs. of food - convoyofhope.org
200 backpacks - thevictory.tv
225 pairs of shoes - soles4souls.org
$10 will feed one kid for a month
feedone.com
The Parmer County Babe Ruth Baseball League (PCBRBL) wrapped up its season last Thursday night. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, only an abbreviated regular season was played. Unfortunately, there were no tournaments or playoff games this year.
The PCBRBL would like to thank everyone who supported the kids this year either by attending games, officiating, sponsoring a team, or buying a raffle ticket. See you next year!!!
This team is a combination of players who played on the 13-15 team and/or the 18 & Under team.
Back Row (l-r): Coach Eric Geske, Kolten Henderson, Chisum Rush, Matt Hoyle, Andrew Husted, Reagan Bone, Scout Russell, Zane Rush, Heston Grimsley, Coach Heath Husted
Front Row (l-r): Caden Bunker, Tristan Schueler, Charles Cooper, Caleb Geske, Tristan Chavez, Gunner Russell, Chayton Caywood, Coach Tracy Bunker
Not in photo: Coach Kyle Grimsley, Walker Williams, Jax Piepkorn, Trey Clarkson
Sponsors: H&R Block, Family Healthcare of Bovina
Donna Schueler Photo.
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The Back-to-School Vaccination Clinic will be held on Saturday, August 1st from 9:00 a.m.until 1:00 p.m. Your child must present their shot records at the time of vaccination. Call 806-250-2781 to make an appointment.
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Please see the FISD school calendar for August on page 9. Volleyball, football, and the band will all begin practice next week. School is scheduled to start on Wednesday, August 19th. Go to www.frionaonline.com to view/print school supply lists.
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Friona finally received some much needed rain the past couple of weeks. Except for years 2011 & 2013, July has provided over an inch of rain each year. Five of those years we received 3-4 inches for the month. We are out of the extreme drought, but we still need August to provide more help.
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Governor Greg Abbott issued a Proclamation extending the early voting period for the November 3rd Election by nearly a week. Under this proclamation, early voting by personal appearance will begin on Tuesday, October 13, 2020, and continue through Friday, October 30, 2020. The proclamation also expands the period in which marked mail-in ballots may be delivered in person to the early voting clerk’s office, allowing such delivery prior to as well as on Election Day.
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On Monday, July 27, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) began to electronically post to its website COVID-19 case counts and deaths by facility name for state supported living centers, state hospitals, and state-licensed nursing and assisted living facilities. Information is available at hhs.texas.gov. As of July 13th, the Farwell Care and Rehabilitation Center has had no cases of COVID-19 reported among its residents. There have been three cases reported for employees with one active. Prairie Acres in Friona has no current active cases among residents with 32 total cases reported including 27 recoveries and 5 deaths. There were 17 reported cases for the employees with one active.
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National Days
July 30 - Cheesecake Day
July 31 - Get Gnarly Day
August 1 - Disc Golf Day
August 2 - Friendship Day
August 3 - Watermelon Day
August 4 - Coast Guard Day
August 5 - Underwear Day
Recipients adviced to report unsolicited seed shipments
By Kay Ledbetter
Texas residents are now among those across the nation receiving mysterious seeds delivered by mail in tiny bags marked as jewelry. U.S. Department of Agriculture officials are on alert because these seeds are unsolicited and are arriving in packages with Chinese writing and a return address in China.
Kevin Ong, Ph.D., Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service plant pathologist and director of the Texas Plant Disease Diagnostic Laboratory in College Station, said the concern arises because these packages have seeds in them instead of what is listed, and there is no information on what type of seeds they might be.
"We don’t know what kind of seeds they are," Ong said. "Not knowing what the seeds are could potentially open our agriculture industry up to noxious weeds. If that proves to be the case, if they take hold, they could impact agriculture negatively."
According to USDA-Animal, Plant Health Inspection Service, APHIS, the Plant Protection and Quarantine, PPQ, regulates the importation of plants and plant products under the authority of the Plant Protection Act. PPQ maintains its import program to safeguard U.S.
agriculture and natural resources from the risks associated with the entry, establishment or spread of animal and plant pests and noxious weeds. These regulations prohibit or restrict the importation of living plants, plant parts and seeds for propagation. "Seeds for planting can be produced all over the world and some you buy may come from other countries," Ong said.
"Companies that sell these seeds have the necessary permits. In this situation, the source is not readily known. What USDA wants to know is why are people getting these and are they noxious weeds."
What to do with mystery seeds
Do not simply discard these seeds as they can potentially germinate and escape into nature, Ong said. All cases should be reported to USDA and all packages should be kept secure until USDA gives further instructions.
All incidences of receipt of these unrequested seeds should be reported to USDA-APHIS by sending an email to Carol Motloch, USDA-APHIS’ Texas PPQ state operations coordinator, at carol.m.motloch@usda.gov. The email should include a contact email and phone number as well as a description of package information. Sending a photo of the label and material would also be helpful.
"First, if you didn’t order it, we don’t want anyone planting these seeds or even opening the packages," said Larry Stein, Ph.D., Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service horticulturist, Uvalde. "It could be a scam, or it very well could be dangerous."
"We recommend anyone receiving the seeds send an email to USDA and then wait to see if they are asked to send them in," Stein said. "We would not advise throwing them away until more information is known because they might contaminate the landfill."
To date, packages containing these mystery seeds have also been received in Washington, Virginia, Utah, Kansas, Louisiana and Arizona.
Advice from Texas Department of Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller is that anyone receiving a foreign package containing seeds should not open it. Keep contents contained in their original sealed package.
"I am urging folks to take this matter seriously," Miller said in a press release. "An invasive plant species might not sound threatening, but these small invaders could destroy Texas agriculture. TDA has been working closely with USDA to analyze these unknown seeds so we can protect Texas residents."
An invasive species is an organism that is not native to a particular region. The introduction of this "alien species" can cause economic or environmental harm. In agriculture, an invasive species can destroy native crops, introduce disease to native plants and may be dangerous for livestock.
Mystery seeds with labeling from China. (Source: Washington State Department of Agriculture)
If your child needs updated on their vaccinations, Friona Rural Health Clinic will be open on Saturday August 1st from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. If this date does not work for you, please feel free to make an appointment with the clinic and you will be taken care of that way, as well. The child must present their shot records at the time of vaccination for them to be seen.
Vaccinations and physicals are a part of the requirements for "back to school". We at Friona Rural Health Clinic are ready to assist you in meeting those needs. If you have any questions or need to schedule an appointment, please call Friona Rural Health Clinic at 806-250-2781.
Texas Panhandle:
7,817 cases, 126 deaths
6,364 recoveries
Armstrong County: 3
Briscoe County: 9
Carson County: 10
Castro County: 146
Childress County: 9
Collingsworth County: 6
Cottle County: 6
Dallam County: 177
Deaf Smith County: 551
Donley County: 35
Gray County: 151
Hall County: 2
Hansford County: 44
Hartley County: 87
Hemphill County: 37
Hutchinson County: 95
Lipscomb County: 12
Moore County: 967
Motley County: 2
Ochiltree County: 63
Oldham County: 12
Parmer County: 269
Potter County: 3,454
Randall County: 1,528
Roberts County: 6
Sherman County: 35
Swisher County: 67
Wheeler County: 34
Eastern New Mexico:
584 cases, 4 deaths
Curry County: 410
Quay County: 28
Roosevelt County: 122
Union County: 24
Oklahoma Panhandle:
1,058 cases, 7 deaths, 1,032 recoveries
Beaver County: 32
Cimarron County: 1
Texas County: 1,025
Texas:
413,000 cases
6,528 deaths
108,000 recoveries
United States:
4,460,000 cases
152,000 deaths
2,170,000 recoveries
Worldwide:
16,800,000 cases
662,000 deaths
9,800,000 recoveries
Health Protocols for Voters and Elections (English)
County Disaster Declaration (English)
March 16 FISD Letter (English) (Spanish)
March 31 FISD Letter (English) (Spanish)
Letter from City Manager (English) (Spanish)
Friona Community Helpline (English)
2-1-1 Texas Social Services Hotline (English)
Share The Facts about COVID-19 (English) (Spanish)
What You Need To Know (English) (Spanish)
What To Do If You Are Sick (English) (Spanish)
County Clerk PSA (English)
Chamber of Commerce Letter to Businesses (English)
FISD Emergency Resolution (English)
Covid Risk Chart (English)
