A season of giving for Hanes
(pictured above: (From left) The UPS Store’s Walker Houchin coordinates with Noble’s Grille manager Spence Wilcox and Rep. Ed Hanes Jr.)
It has been a busy couple of weeks for State Rep. Ed Hanes Jr.
Ed Hanes Jr. and Walker Houchin deliver meals to United Way represenative Christien Armour and Goodwill rep Rose Fisher.
Two weeks after winning a second term in the N.C. House of Representatives, Hanes was practicing the kind of hands-on service for which he is quickly developing a reputation.
“I represent the entire community of the 72nd District, so when I have an opportunity to engage with businesses and the community at the same time, I try to do that,” Hanes said after spending several hours on Thanksgiving Eve delivering holiday meals.
Delivering food donated, in conjunction with the Knollwood Street The UPS Store, and prepared by Noble’s Grille has become a tradition for Hanes, who was elected to the General Assembly in 2012 to fill the seat Earline Parmon vacated after she was elected to the N.C Senate.
More than 200 meals were delivered to nonprofit agencies for their clients to enjoy. The people and agencies that benefited stretched beyond his district; Hanes likes it that way. He feels part of his mission as an elected official is to build bridges.
“It is an opportunity for me to introduce one side of my community to the other side and do it in a way that they can meet people, engage and create relationships that can be ongoing and lasting,” said Hanes, one of the few General Assembly members who was successful during the contentious last session in working across the aisle to pass legislation.
Hanes and his family also plan to make a $5,000 donation to Kimberley Park Elementary School, matching the money well-wishers gave to the school’s Backpack Program.
Ed Hanes Sr.
In lieu of flowers, the Hanes family asked the community to give to the program, which provides food for students at home during non-school days and hours, after family patriarch Edward “Teacup” Hanes Sr., died Aug. 27.
Edward Sr. grew up in the Boston neighborhood and was a product of Kimberley Park. He was a community titan, having served as principal at Cook Elementary and Paisley Middle schools. He was also the Title I coordinator for the school system.
“He was a mentor to a lot of the kids who came up in that Boston neighborhood,” said Hanes. “He grew up in Boston, and he worked in Boston.”
Hanes has already founded the O. Frank and Evelyn J. Hanes Foundation for the Arts and Education to honor his paternal grandparents. Through the foundation, he and his family have been dedicated supporters of Kimberley’s Backpack Program, especially during the holiday break when food insecurity for students is high. Edward Sr. died just as the family was planning this year’s contribution to the program. Hanes said the family thought supporting the Backpack Program would be a fitting way to honor their patriarch.
“It was an outstanding outpour we received from the community. We received nearly $5,000,” he said. “One of the things we wanted to do was, because my father had an intimate connection with Kimberley Park, was make sure those funds went to feeding Kimberley Park students over the holiday.”
On the legislative front, Hanes has been appointed the sole Democrat to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on the North Carolina State Lottery. It is a job he calls an honor.
“I didn’t know that it was in the works,” he said.
The committee will examine the operation of the state lottery to possibly suggest ways to improve it.
Hanes said he wants to see if North Carolina can improve the transfer of lottery funds to support the state’s education system.
“I’m going to spend my time really analyzing the rules and regulations of other state lotteries to try to figure out what we can do to make our lottery more efficient and use those funds in a manner in which the people intended for them to be used,” he said. “I want to see how we can rein some of those funds in to focus on what I think the people’s intent was. To help fund education, not take the place of education funding that is already there and mandated by state constitution.”
