Clinic board feeds Tyson workers after donation

Wally Taylor works the grill Thursday at First Christian Church. (T-G Photo by Sadie Fowler) [Order this photo]

Tyson employees weren't the only ones reaping the benefits of Taylor's master technique on the grill.

Last week, Tyson pledged $25,000 to the Community Clinic of Bedford County over the next five years, reported the clinic's board chairman Kay Adcock.

The lunch served Tyson employees and benefitted the Community Clinic. Jeanette Bright and Barbara Helms, of Gateway Church, assisted as volunteers. (T-G Photo by Sadie Fowler) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

The first $5,000 came in Thursday. Taylor agreed to give the clinic the first $5,000, if Community Clinic board members helped him prepare lunch for nearly 1,300 Tyson workers.

"I thought this would be a fun way for (the Community Clinic) to have a fundraiser, and I like to offer my employees lunch," Taylor said Thursday. "So it works out great for everyone."

The Community Clinic serves the working uninsured of Bedford County.

The clinic opened its doors nearly six years ago, in large part due to Tyson, which had also pledged $25,000 to the clinic during its first five years of service.

"They serve a lot of folks," Taylor said. "Not Tyson employees, because they have insurance through Tyson, but a lot of folks from the community benefit from it."

The clinic faces an ongoing struggle to keep its doors open. Volunteers and funding are a constant need.

The clinic's largest fundraiser, called "It's in the Bag," typically takes place each spring. This year, however, in light of the economy and because of Tyson's recent pledge, the clinic has postponed that fundraiser, Adcock said. The board may reschedule it for fall.

Taylor and his assistants, Al Palacio and Thomas McCord, arrived at First Christian Church on Madison Street around 7:15 a.m. Thursday to begin grilling.

Inside the church, clinic board members and other volunteers assembled the boxed lunches by putting the chicken sandwiches together, and adding chips and cookies to each box.

Taylor said Wal-Mart contributed to the fundraiser by donating plates and cookies.

"We have a little assembly line going on in here," said Barbara Helms, volunteer.

Helms decided to help the night before, when her pastor at Gateway Church informed members the Community Clinic needed help with the fundraiser.

"I wanted to do something for the community," said Jeanette Bright, another volunteer from Gateway.

Adcock stayed busy helping in the kitchen and delivering several batches of lunches to Tyson employees throughout the day.

She said the benefit would not have been possible without the combined effort of all parties involved, including First Christian Church.

"They were just so good to us," Adcock said. "They have been a lifesaver."