Haysi council approves $500 donations for Kids Fishing Day and Rescue Squad

The Haysi Town Council approved two $500 donations at its March 4 meeting, voting unanimously to support a school-led community fishing event and to assist the volunteer rescue squad with an electric bill.

Ainsley Deel, a first-grade teacher at Ridgeview Elementary School, asked the council for a $500 donation to help fund Kids Fishing Day, saying last year the event raised $8,700 and spent about $6,100 on food, prizes, bait and fish. "We gave away two-hundred fifteen fishing poles and two lifetime fishing licenses as prizes," Deel said. Council Member Carter Branham moved to approve the request; Council Member Debbie Wood seconded and the motion passed unanimously by verbal vote.

Captain Terry Bartley of the Haysi Rescue Squad described recent equipment and repair costs, including two hours of labor that ran "almost five-thousand dollars" on a recent ambulance repair and an additional estimated $7,000 of work needed. He said the squad has seen about 100 calls across January and February and that cash flow slowed after switching billing companies. The council approved a separate $500 donation toward the rescue squad’s electric bill on a motion by Council Member Debbie Wood, seconded by Council Member Susan Tiller; the vote was recorded as unanimous by verbal voting.

The donations were handled as part of routine business alongside approval of the council’s minutes from Feb. 4 and the monthly financial reports; those items also passed by unanimous verbal vote. The town did not specify additional follow-up reporting requirements for the donations at the meeting.

The council will consider other community funding requests in upcoming meetings and can include recurring or one-time contributions in its 2025–2026 budget cycle.