MARTINSBURG - Representatives from the nonprofit Good News Mountaineer Garage and members of the community attended a dinner at the Purple Iris Tuesday evening, an event designed to inform the public about the group's mission and how more local involvement in the program can be generated.

Journal photo by Erienne Greene Barbara Bayes, executive director of the Good News Mountaineer Garage, talks to members of the public at a dinner event Tuesday.

"This evening local members of the community are having a focus group meeting to provide the Good News Garage officials with input on how to better involve the Eastern Panhandle in the program," said meeting facilitator Robin Zanotti of Nonprofit Solutions LLC. "We want to have a stronger presence in the program and are meeting with the officials to discuss how we can do just that."

Members of local civic and religious groups, as well as those from the local automobile industry and professional work force groups, attended the informative dinner meeting to speak with officials from GNMG, including Executive Director Barbara Bayes.

She explained that GNMG began in 1999 when a group of individuals collaborated on a plan for a project to help fellow West Virginians get on "the road to independence" - literally.

The group accepts donations of vehicles that are repairable for a reasonable amount of money, and the donated cars then are distributed to low-income families needing transportation to work.

Today, the program continues to put people behind the wheel of their very own car with the help of many generous individuals and organizations, but GNMG officials stress that more exposure to the program is necessary in order to get more car donations and ultimately help more people.

"Most of the cars given to folks here are from other parts of the state, like Charleston, and not from those living within the panhandle," Bayes said. "We know that if more people here learn about the program, we will get more cars, so we're trying to see how to market ourselves within this region a little better."

She said that since transporting donated cars from one part of the state to another is expensive and time-consuming, it simply "makes more sense" for each community to give within.

For those living without a vehicle in a state like West Virginia, where there are limited sources of alternate transportation, Bayes said it's nearly impossible for them to experience any economic growth.

The reality is that in this society, a car is almost necessary to get to and from work, she said.

Group participant Trina Bartlett, of the United Way of the Eastern Panhandle, said she attended the meeting to help support a great cause, which is directly related to her work as the director of community impact for United Way.

"Working with all of the different groups that I do, the number issue that comes up again and again is that people no reliable transportation," Bartlett said.

More information about GNMG and how to help is available by going to the website at www.goodnewsmountaineergarage.com.

Bayes stressed that the program is one that often spurs emotional responses from recipients and donors alike.

"We like to have the car recipients follow up with a thank-you note to the donors because it really connects them as human beings," she said. "These people's lives are truly changed when they are given a means to get about and able to do many things they could not do before."

According to the group's official website, the program has helped more than 1,000 families become self-supporting.

A follow-up study found that one year after receiving a GNMG vehicle, 70 percent of the families went off of public assistance, 80 percent were working and 13 percent were in job training.

- Staff writer Erienne Greene can be reached at 304-263-8931, ext. 183, or egreene@journal-news.net