The Alva Chamber of Commerce Community Coffee was hosted at Northwest Family Services of Oklahoma. Brenda Hood spoke in place of Alex Mantz.

Hood told the group that Northwest Family Services is in the process of writing grants. They have several funding sources they are working with for those grants since they are a non-profit. Northwest Family Services is gearing up for the start of school soon. They provide services at the local area school as well as at their offices in Alva, Cherokee and Fairview.

Upcoming Events

• Aug. 1 is the ribbon cutting at Top Knot.

• Aug. 17 is the Lights Over Alva – Retail and NWOSU event on the square. This event is to encourage college students to become familiar with what is going on in the community and get to know people outside of the college. Any businesses are welcome to go down and set up a booth to promote themselves to the students.

• Aug. 25 is Southwest Country Fest out at the Woods County Fairgrounds. A few big name country stars like Jerrod Niemann will be there.

• Aug. 28 is the Red Carpet Country Conference in Woodward.

Business Updates

Louis Garcia, the food bank director, told those gathered that the food bank has served 204 families recently – 330 adults and 140 kids. He thanked the community for their continued support of the food bank. There is also a new lead pastor at the Alva Wesleyan Church: Paul Kirk.

This quarter the Bank It featured project is the Cherokee Strip Museum. The money will help them finish up some of the renovations. Stop by any of your local banks to donate and they will match you. Last quarter, Bank It raised $4,600 to go towards the robotics team.

In September, around the time of the car show (but scheduled to not interfere with it), Northwest Family Service will put on a Poke Run for the three counties they serve. Lots of things will be auctioned off. If anyone has things they'd like to donate to auction, contact Northwest Family Services. More details to follow.

Next month, the Alva Chamber Community Coffee will be held out at the Homestead. The Homestead will be celebrating 20 years.