Dave Daniel of Ashland can attest to the power of social media.  About six years ago, he was looking at the Gallup Sharecare Wellbeing Index and was shocked to find that the Ashland, Huntington, Charleston area rated dead last. His immediate reaction was, “How can that be? This place is awesome! I’ve got to do something!” He took what he perceived as an insult from the Gallup Poll and launched a Facebook page he called “Build Ashland.”
    When Build Ashland first appeared, there were many negative comments in response to Daniel refuting the negative poll. “I knew it,” said one. Another claimed, “I’m glad I left.” Daniel estimates that in the early days of the page, about 60 percent of comments were negative.
    "At first, things just didn’t seem to come together,” Daniel related. He finally put up a post announcing he was going to be at an address on a Saturday to clean up.  Twelve people showed up. He went on to say, “We now run 75-100 volunteers at cleanup events.”
    Daniel shared a pivotal moment when the community began to really take note of the organization. Ashland had reached a crisis point when old water lines began to break in the city.  The Build Ashland Facebook began to post where to get water, where not to drink the water, etc.  This effort to inform and support the community during this time of crisis drew the attention of city officials. Many of them are now counted among the almost 6,200 followers of the page.
    When Daniel talked about citizen involvement, he exclaimed, “When the community buys into it, it’s unstoppable!”
    As people began to join Build Ashland and it grew into a 501c(3) nonprofit, the need for a board became evident. “This board is from every walk of life and includes city officials, retired professionals, someone in marketing, an office manager – nine in total to date,” Daniel commented.  None of the board members knew each other prior to joining the board, per charter member Shannon Hill.  
    Hill, like other members of Build Ashland, just got out and started doing what needed to be done to better the Ashland community.  Two years ago, he took the driver’s seat for the Repair Affair, a cleanup and restoration event that the city has held for nearly two decades. As a former builder, Shannon was a natural replacement for Mike Miller, who had directed the event in past years. The event occured May 18 this year, drawing more than 275 volunteers to do yard work and minor repairs on 52 Ashland homes belonging to senior citizens or those with disabilities.
    Hill also hosts and manages a Tool Library. His past career left him with a collection of tools, and he makes them available to those who may not be able to afford their own or who may need one certain tool for one small job.
As part of each cleanup event, Build Ashland partners with other area nonprofits, inviting participants to make donations to these organizations to “#spread kindness” and “#build community.”
    In 2018, Build Ashland awarded an inaugural Rick Ritchason Memorial Scholarship to Kearsten Peters to attend Ashland Technical and Community College. The $3,000 scholarship, named for a cherished  volunteer,  was awarded to Kearsten in part because of her own volunteer efforts.
    Kearsten, from Greenup County, was humbled to receive this award. “I was very surprised to find out that I had won and beyond  grateful. I was in a rough patch when it came to affording college since I am paying for everything on my own and receiving the scholarship was a true blessing.”
    The momentum of Build Ashland is primarily driven by social media – Facebook and Instagram. Daniel calls it, “Positivity creating more positivity.” He estimated that the negative comments on the page now run about two percent – a drastic change since the early posts.
    For more information or to become involved with Build Ashland, go to the website at  www.buildashland.org or follow them at the Build Ashland Facebook page.