This summer, Asheville Mayor Terry Bellamy took the reigns of the ARC of Buncombe County. That’s a boon to longtime volunteers like Barbara Pettigrew.

by Mick Kelly . photo by Matt Rose

For years, Barbara Pettigrew found that she needed to explain what the ARC of Buncombe County is and does. But Pettigrew, a 62-year-old Florida transplant who is co-chair of development for the Arc, thinks she’ll be doing less of that these days. In July, Asheville Mayor Terry Bellamy took a job as executive director of the ARC of Buncombe County, which provides services to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. (The acronym ARC once stood for Association for Retarded Citizens, a national group that still has hundreds of regional chapters. Most now retain the name but describe their services differently.) Bellamy’s move has been a huge publicity boost for a group that has kept a relatively low profile since its founding in 1957.

The majority of the nonprofit’s clients suffer from Down Syndrome, autism, Prader-Willie Syndrome and chromosome disorder, among others. Pettigrew, a stay-at-home mom, has always done volunteer work, including delivering food for Asheville’s Meals on Wheels for three years. Sometime in 2002, the ARC of Buncombe County lured her in to help with their annual fundraising bash, the Bella Sera.

Now, Pettigrew is a board member, event planner and all-around advocate for ARC, which holds two fundraisers each year. Not everyone can afford the $250 ticket for the big fundraising bash in the fall, often held at Magnolia’s (this year, it was cowboy-themed). But in the spring, she’ll organize a less expensive shindig at Highland Brewing Company. Pettigrew says that now, with Bellamy on board, she thinks sponsorships for the fundraisers won’t be quite so hard to come by. “With Terry on board, I was just amazed,” says Pettigrew of the reaction she’s gotten on her fundraising rounds since the summer. This year, the nonprofit’s annual Operation Santa Claus—in which board and community members “adopt” ARC clients and buy them gifts from a wish list—is going swimmingly. More than 100 on the list have been adopted. “From my observation, it’s who you know in the community,” Pettigrew says. “It’s a big plus for us.”

For more about the ARC of Buncombe County and its programs, go to www.arcofbc.org. The group holds an open house to welcome Terry Bellamy to the staff on December 6.