Doing the best we can for our community

From the desk of Harvest Foundation President Kate Keller

This has been a rough couple of weeks for our country.  Too many lives lost from hate, trauma, and illness.  As I write this, we are learning more about the children, teachers, and individuals working or shopping who lost their lives and more about the young men who took them.  All of it tragic and all of it wrenching.   We’ve entered into the phase of no longer being shocked, no longer saying “it couldn’t happen here.”  We all now know that it can.  

Our children now go to school knowing this can happen to them.  What do you think that feels like for them?  To know that school may not be the safe haven that it should be and is for so many kids. The expectation that someday this could be their school, their friends, their teachers. How are they coping?  How are our teachers coping? Our parents?

This is not something we can hide from.  Children who experience trauma in their youth can grow up with lots of challenges, and for some, their mental health suffers tremendously.  The combination of severe mental illness, youth, and access to high-powered weapons is deadly.  

Harvest is committed to increasing access to mental health services and works closely with our providers to do the best we can for our small community.  There are challenges, many.  We all know it’s not enough, but we must keep at it. We must focus on the trauma our children (and adults) experience and find ways to help them through it. Harvest is here and ready to work with all of you to keep our children and schools safe. 

My heart breaks for the families of those who lost loved ones in Uvalde, Texas, and in Buffalo, New York. I offer my deepest condolences and pray they have the support they need to begin healing from these senseless acts. 

Uptown Partnership Receives VTC Grant for Tourism Marketing

A $5,000 grant award will be used for a marketing campaign to promote tourism in MHC

Uptown Partnership has been awarded a $5,000 grant from the Virginia Tourism Corporation (VTC) for a marketing campaign to promote tourism in Martinsville-Henry County.

The marketing campaign, called SEARCH(S)—Sharing the Excitement of Arts, Recreation, Culture, History and Sports in Martinsville and Henry County, will be done in partnership with the local government offices in Martinsville and Henry County.

“We are extremely excited to receive the VTC grant in partnership with the City of Martinsville and Henry County,” said Kathy Deacon, Executive Director of Uptown Partnership. “From the Virginia Museum of Natural History to Piedmont Arts to Philpott Lake to the Martinsville Speedway, Martinsville and Henry County have many amazing and varied types of valuable assets. With the help of this grant, we will get to share the importance of these assets with our neighbors and this sharing will allow us to generate more tourism opportunities for our area.”

The two partnering localities will work together to produce a video series named “MHC Cribs” which will constitute the in-kind matching funds for the grant. The series will highlight various attractions in the area to be promoted throughout communities in regional markets such as Danville, Roanoke, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Raleigh, and points in between.

"The ‘MHC Cribs’ series gives the City of Martinsville and Henry County an opportunity to highlight our community through a collaborative effort," said Kendall Davis, Public Information Officer for the City of Martinsville. "Not only will it be informative for visitors, it'll also be an entertaining way to introduce aspects of our community that could be over looked by lifelong residents."

“The video series is inspired by the 2000’s television show ‘MTV Cribs’ where celebrities would let the audience into their homes to showcase how wonderful of a place their homes were to live,” said Brandon Martin, Public Information Officer for Henry County. “So through this series, we will be letting people into our home—Martinsville-Henry County—to show them that this is also a wonderful place to live, work, and play.”

This is Viola, a peer recovery specialist at Piedmont Community Services. As a former client of Community Recovery Program, she shares an update to her recovery story and how she strives to give back to her community through peer support. 

There's always something fun to do in

Martinsville-Henry County.  

Check out VisitMartinsville to find your next adventure in MHC. 

Make an impact in your community. Share your HOPE. 

We welcome your voice and ideas at The Harvest Foundation.

Our general responsive grants cycle is open year-round with consideration from our Board of Directors one a quarter. Our PUP Small Grants Program is an open process with decisions made in less than six weeks.

Give our office a call to schedule an appointment with a program officer.

About The Harvest Foundation:
The Harvest Foundation is a nonprofit organization established in 2002 by the sale of Memorial Hospital. In partnership with the diverse people and organizations that call MHC home, we serve as a long-term catalyst, advocate, and investor to make our community a welcoming place where all can thrive. Our vision is a community where everyone shares in the promise of an MHC that is healthy, prosperous, and vibrant. To date, the foundation has invested more than $150 million in grant dollars back into the community and has an annual grants budget of roughly $10-12 million. To find out more about Harvest, visit www.theharvestfoundation.org.

www.theharvestfoundation.org | (276) 632-3329

134 E. Church St.

P.O. Box 5183

Martinsville, VA 24115

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134 E. Church St. P.O. Box 5183 | Martinsville, VA 24115 US

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