CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The West Virginia Oil Marketers and Gas Association has started its fifth annual “Every Child Deserves a Loving Home” campaign.
The campaign, which will run until Mother’s Day, will team up with the West Virginia Children’s Home Society to raise money at local stores for children statewide that have no home. WV OMEGA director Jan Vineyard said there are many children that need help.
“All the money stays in West Virginia,” Vineyard said. “There are more than 4,000 West Virginia children that are in out of home care and more than 1,200 West Virginia children in need of adoption.”
Patrons of participating stores can get involved by purchasing an emblem for $1. They can also write a name on it. Vineyard said the program has been very successful since its inception more than a decade ago.
“We’ve raised over $2 million since 2003, much of it a dollar at a time through the generosity of our customers and their own communities,” Vineyard said.
West Virginia first lady Joanne Tomblin helped kick off the campaign last Friday by reading stories to children in the care of the Children’s Home Society.
Vineyard said the stores participating include:
Little General Stores, Inc., One Stop, Par Mar Oil Company, BFS Foods, Inc., Go-Mart, Inc., TWJ, Inc., R. T. Rogers Oil Company, R. M. Roach and Sons – ROCS, DeFazio Oil Company and the Kanawha City Foodland.