Lawrence Companies, headquartered in Botetourt County, transformed its front parking lot just off U.S. Route 11 into a free COVID-19 drive-thru community test site Wednesday, June 24.
The unique opportunity was organized by the Virginia Department of Health’s Roanoke City and Alleghany Health Districts. In addition to VDH staff, the COVID-19 testing site was staffed with partners from New Horizons Healthcare and Council of Community Services.
“When offered the chance to be a host, we jumped at the opportunity to help bring this effort to our surrounding community,” said Jim Harrison, Lawrence Companies CEO. “Like many businesses in our region, we have been working hard to provide our staff a safe work environment and support the men and women who are on the frontlines of this pandemic. We’re grateful for the opportunity to help VDH offer this testing to our many drivers, their families, and friends, as well as the greater Botetourt County community.”
“Thanks to the expert guidance and support from our local VDH offices, we’ve been fortunate to have experienced limited interruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Sandee Cheynet, EVP of Human Resources and Recruiting. “We looked at this opportunity to support VDH staff in their community outreach efforts as our opportunity to thank them for their diligence in our region.”
The response to the free and confidential event was good, as evidenced by the line of vehicles filling the Lawrence parking lot. The entire process from start to finish only takes 20 minutes for cars to pass through and results are sent to a lab for testing.
For information regarding future COVID-19 community testing opportunities, residents are encouraged to call their local Virginia Department of Health office.
