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VALLEY — On Wednesday, Jared Elmore talked to the Kiwanis Club of Valley about the new foundation he has founded in his father’s memory. The Bobby G. Elmore Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that’s dedicated to helping good people on limited incomes improve their lives for the better. Anyone who knew Bob Elmore when he was running the Sears store on Fob James Drive knew how generous he was in getting appliances for people who needed but would have a hard time paying for them.

“He probably gave away more items than were paid for,” Jared said. “My dad was my best friend. What better way to honor his legacy than to have a foundation named after him.”

Jared works for 4 Seasons Heating & Air and has seen many situations of elderly or disabled people struggling with these kinds of needs.

He saw one situation where a woman heated water on her stove almost every day for three years to take a daily bath. Her hot water heater had gone out on her and she couldn’t afford a new one.

“We work with the Chattahoochee Fuller Center a lot, and I have seen so much need,” Jared said. “There are some people in our community who have few, if any, reliable appliances. It’s a goal of this foundation to help such people meet this basic need. Many of these people have worked hard all their lives, played by the rules and have nothing to show for it. It’s just not right of them to go without.”

Jared and his wife Rebecca have started this new foundation in the effort to help meet needs that are going unmet.

The Bobby G. Elmore Foundation is off to a good start. The Elmores have gotten a lot of support from their church, Hopewell Methodist, and they’re trying to get the word out about what they are doing. They will be having a fundraising event this summer at the Point University Golf Club. It will be a one-day golf tournament on Saturday, July 8th. Plans are for it to be a four-person scramble at $400 per team. A morning flight will begin at 8:30 a.m. and an afternoon flight at 1:30 p.m. EDT.

“We are looking for local businesses to serve as sponsors,” Jared said. “Signing up for the tournament can be done online, and we will have printed forms at local businesses. We look for the tournament to be a fun event. We will have some perks for participants on the day of the tournament.”

It’s appropriate for the foundation’s first fundraiser to be taking place at the golf course. Bob Elmore was an avid golfer and once served as the president of Riverside Country Club.

The foundation is fortunate to be starting out with the assistance of a repairman who is about as good as they come. “I’m good at replacing and he’s good at repairing,” Jared said.

“We want to be a part of changing people’s lives,” he added. “There are so many people out there who don’t get talked about. They have personal stories no one knows about. There’s also people like my dad was, who will bend over backward to help people, but they don’t know how to do it.”

Jared and Rebecca have three children, Harper, who’s six, and two-year-old twins Holland and Isaiah. They are active in the youth program at their church and have come across a number of situations where they can be helpful to people in the community. “We have helped elderly or disabled people by cutting their grass for them,” Jared said.

The contacts Jared has made through 4 Seasons is a big plus for the foundation. “We can get appliances through wholesalers,” he said. “Every penny counts in what we are doing. Any savings we can get in getting a hot water heater for one person will help us in getting a microwave oven for someone else.”

Jared is also thinking about having some kind of storage facility. “A building will be a part of the process,” he said. “I want to be clear that what we are doing is not just about me and our foundation. I want to work with other local organizations such as the Fuller Center and the Christian Service Center. We can help them, and they can help us.”

One week after the golf tournament, the Elmores will be taking part in a kickball tournament at Valley Sportsplex. It will be taking place on July 15th, and youth groups from many local churches will be involved. “We will have five fields to play on, and I’m sure everyone will have a lot of fun,” Jared said.

Information about the foundation and its upcoming events are being updated on Facebook. They will have their own website in the coming days.