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Ribbon Cutting Celebrates New AppalCart Shelter at Hospitality House

Hospitality House Director of Development Todd Carter officially cut the ribbon for the new covered shelter, surrounded by Hospitality House staff, AppalCart staff and BB&T Bank representatives. Photos by Nathan Ham.

By Nathan Ham

Hospitality House staff, AppalCart staff and representatives from BB&T Bank were on hand Friday morning for a special ribbon cutting ceremony at the newest covered AppalCart shelter in Boone.

Todd Carter, the Hospitality House Director of Development, said that preserving the dignity of the people using the services of the Hospitality House, Hunger and Health Coalition and the Community Care Clinic made this covered shelter important to the community.

“When there are people standing here in the pouring rain with a box of food they’re taking to feed their families, we wanted to do something about that,” Carter said. “BB&T and the AppalCart share our values of dignity and helped to make this happen, we could not have made this happen without them. They provided all the funding, all the materials and a lot of the labor.”

BB&T donated the funds and labor for the concrete platform and AppalCart donated the covered bus shelter at no cost.

Hospitality House Facilities Manager Jordan Duke installed the new shelter, along with help from several Hospitality House clients.

“This is just one more way that we can make our neighborhood more friendly and more dignified,” Carter said.

Tina Krause, the Executive Director of the Hospitality House, said that the shelter came in handy really quick.

“On the very first day that this shelter was officially stable and screwed into the ground, it was pouring torrential rain when I pulled up that morning. Our oldest client that stays with us, 74-years-old, was standing underneath and out of the rain as she was waiting. That was a picture that I’ll have in my mind for a while,” said Krause.

The final bolt for the bench under the shelter was put into the concrete on Tuesday, finishing just in time for Friday’s ribbon cutting event.

The next step in the process will be constructing some stairs from the Hospitality House down to the AppalCart stop. Currently, the easiest way to get down to the shelter is to walk down a grass hill, which can be treacherous when it’s raining and especially in the winter when the ground is covered in ice and snow. Otherwise, clients have to walk into the road to get down the hill or walk to the other end of the building where there are stairs to the parking lot. There will also be a light added above the shelter to help with visibility during evening hours.