BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN

INEZ — On a sunny but cool Monday in Inez, a small wooden structure shaped like a doghouse became the focus of an unusually warm gathering. Students from Martin County High School stood beside local officials and neighbors outside Inez City Hall as a ribbon was cut for the town’s newest public amenity: a pet blessing box stocked with dog food and cat food that might help an owner keep an animal fed and comforted.

The idea belonged to four students in the school’s Jobs for America’s Graduates program — Hallee Preece, Karson Hammond, Raegan Horn and Marlee Grayson — who noticed a gap in the quiet network of help that exists across town.

“There are blessing boxes in town for people, but none for animals,” Hammond said. “And they need to eat, too.”

Grayson said the group wanted to move beyond a one-time donation effort.

“We wanted to do something more than a pet food drive,” she said. “We wanted a long-term solution.”

Once the students committed to the project, it quickly became a collaboration across the school and the community. Students in the high school carpentry class built the box, shaping it into a small house. The JAG students painted it themselves.

“It took a couple of weeks,” Preece said.

The finished structure now sits within easy reach of City Hall, accessible day and night to anyone who needs it or anyone who wants to leave something behind.

For Lance Tackett, the school’s JAG specialist, the project reflects the program’s goal of turning classroom lessons into practical civic work.

“We try to have every year one big project that impacts the community, whether it is a speech contest or working with local churches on Operation Christmas Child,” Tackett said. “This year, it is a little different. These girls saw an ongoing problem in the community … And with rising pet food prices, this is a great way for people who may be struggling to come by to get some pet food for a dog, cat or anything. This pet box is for any pet.”

The box will operate on trust: Take what you need, leave what you can.

Tackett credited several groups for helping make the idea tangible.

“We’re also glad to partner with the JAG kids and the carpentry program, who built this box, as well as the Mountain Citizen, who is helping with our food drives,” he said. “Main Emporium also helped, as did our Fiscal Court, Inez City Hall and the fire department. We’re glad for all the people who have partnered with us in this.”