"[They]found it hard to believe that Athens was in Appalachia....I went home after that supper and was troubled that they didn't have a clue as to the vastness of the Appalachian area....l went on line that evening and found information that shocked me....l found that of the 88 counties in Ohio, Athens County is the poorest!….That touched (shook) something within me; I just couldn't get over that....
I assumed while I was a student at Ohio University from the summer of 1963 through the summer of '66 that the University was the main employer of the most people in Athens....l knew nothing, though, about the County of Athens....
On that night in January of '16, I thought about the new knowledge I had that Athens County was in such dire need of help for its people, and I felt very bad.... Very, very, bad, and I decided I had to do something to somehow help the people of Athens County....
I will continue to send you my contribution every month, I promise....l wish I had been aware years before of your need....l feel bad that I've arrived way, way late to your excellent cause, but not too late, because this need is not going to go away, unfortunately....
