When word went out that there was a family in need in Bella Vista, a unique group of volunteers jumped into action. It wasn't the first time. The members of the Facebook group, Positively Bella Vista, have furnished homes before.
Their contact at Cooper Elementary School is school counselor, Buddy Herndon.
Herndon said he has a long list of individuals and businesses that he can call on for help and Positively Bella Vista is one of them.
In 2018, when a student and his mother moved to the area without any furniture, Taylor called to volunteer the Facebook group. Using Herndon's own personal truck and Taylor's truck and trailer, the group completely furnished the house within two weeks, even providing toys for the young student. The group did it again recently.
"They don't tell me many details," Chris Taylor, one of the administrators of Positively Bella Vista explained about working with Herndon. "We don't pry too much."
He puts the word out to the group that a needy family is trying to furnish a new home and that's all it takes. Members immediately began donating furniture.
"In just a couple of days, we had a sofa, tables, lamps, even artwork. Then people started donating food. There was so much, I didn't have a place to put it."
Positively Bella Vista has had many other successful projects since it got started in 2016.
Recently Taylor heard from a resident who had a mobility scooter that was no longer needed. He could have sold it or given it to one of the local charities but, instead, the resident called him.
"We found a man whose scooter died and he was on oxygen," Taylor said. The man was thrilled to get the scooter.
When winter weather hit in February, volunteers with Positively Bella Vista shoveled driveways and helped at least one woman get to a doctor's appointment.
Taylor himself went around collecting garbage from his neighbors. The garbage trucks weren't running and not everyone was able to get to the temporary dumpsters that had been put in place.
"I have a four-wheel drive truck and they didn't have any place to put it (bags of garbage)," so he took it to the dumpsters for them.
While Taylor and his volunteers are always happy to help, they are careful to make sure their recipients have a legitimate need.
"We've been working hard to build our brand and protect it," he said.
One annual event has been taken on by PBV volunteers, "Six in Sixty." Volunteers donate an hour of their time to pick up trash along the six miles of Highway 71B. Later, they gather in the parking lot near Allen's Foods for a free lunch. Steve Morrow, Allen's manager, donates hot dogs.
When PBV got started, there were several social events so all the volunteers could get to know each other, but covid stopped those events. Now that restrictions are being lifted, the group is planning a celebration for an important milestone. Taylor believes the group will soon have ten thousand members.
He doesn't expect all ten thousand to come to the celebration, but he'd be happy with a couple of hundred. It may be an outdoor event, possibly in Blowing Springs Park.
Meanwhile, the Facebook page is going strong with hundreds of members. Unlike other Facebook groups, PBV has some specific guidelines. The Facebook page explains:
"Welcome! Positively Bella Vista supports all that is great about living in Bella Vista, Arkansas.
• All Posts should be pertinent to Bella Vista and/or NWA area.
• Please feel free to share positive reviews, helpful information, announcements and current events about our fair city."
The group has four administrators and five moderators keeping an eye out. There are also blogs associated with the group.
"Someone from (the mountain bike group) FAST (Friends of Arkansas Single Track), Charles Williams, is doing a monthly blog and Erin Rowe is our restaurant guru -- she posts recipes and reviews once or twice a month. Steve Bourke, a member of the city council posts about anything that's going on in the city."
"We want to be a community support group," he said, and even though some people complain when their posts are taken down because of negativity, the group is growing by 400 to 500 people a month and many are from out of town. He believes some of the other city Facebook groups are not welcoming to newcomers, but Positively Bella Vista is.