Abby Walsh, expansion coordinator for Isaiah House 117, talks on Sunday afternoon, July 23, at the Isaiah 117 House Butler kickoff event at Butler Intermediate High School. Shane Potter/Butler Eagle

Monday’s print edition of the Butler Eagle featured two stories about people coming together to fill a need.

Here at the Butler Eagle, we’d like to applaud both efforts.

On Monday’s cover, you may have read about Isaiah 117 House, which local foster parent, Abbey Walsh, is trying to introduce to Pennsylvania.

At a Sunday kickoff event, Walsh and others spoke about what it would take to launch a nonprofit in Butler County that could fill gaps that exist in the process of removing a child from his or her home, particularly on removal day. The notion is to create a space — one that’s more friendly than a caseworker’s office — for a child to go while awaiting placement with a foster family or relative.

Isaiah 117 House, started in Tennessee, fills this gap, and Walsh hopes to bring a chapter to Butler. She said she hopes to recruit at least 40 volunteers to potentially staff the house and help children with the uncomfortable, often frightening experience.

She and others have worked to schedule meetings for people to gather and get this project off the ground. The meetings are set to take place at 7 p.m. the first Thursday of each month at Community Alliance Church, 800 Mercer Road, Butler.

Additionally, a Facebook page titled “Isaiah 117 House Butler Co PA” can be used for someone who wants to reach out with ideas, resources or more between then and now.

Inside the Monday’s Eagle, our team covered Butler Township’s first-ever Christmas in July Craft and Vendor Show at Preston Park.

Tom Knights, Butler Township manager, said he hoped to attract at least 300 people to the Saturday event. By noon, he reported having 150 people. The event ran from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Unlike communities such as Zelienople and Saxonburg, which have multiday events such as Horse Trading Days and the Fireman’s Carnival, respectively, Butler Township didn’t have such an event with which to showcase itself, Knights explained.

The township took a calculated risk with the one-day event, which appears to have paid off. Perhaps the event can grow next year.

These two events are great examples of people in our community seeing a need and stepping up to fill it.

We hope that others, too, will read these articles and find ways to use their time and talent to improve and fill the gaps in Butler County.

— TL