Harvest Youth Board Grants Committee Chair Camille Underwood (left) and Chairperson Nayti Patel are pictured at this year's Thanksgiving Eve Dinner, held at Martinsville High School.
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Harvesting Hope and Making a Difference
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From the desk of Harvest Foundation President Kate Keller
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November is the month for gratitude and giving thanks. There are so many wonderful things to be grateful for, but I’d like to lift up the 13 youth who make up the Harvest Youth Board. The HYB is one of my favorite initiatives of Harvest.
It’s led by local high schoolers that commit up to three years to giving back to their community. They have the opportunity to award grants to local nonprofits, and they choose to do two community events — the W. Dan Prince III Thanksgiving Eve Dinner and Books and Bunnies in the Spring.
If you have had the opportunity to participate in either of these events, you know what an impressive group of people make up the HYB. At this year’s Thanksgiving Eve Dinner, these 13 youth recruited and coordinated 240 volunteers to make, package, serve, and deliver 3,400 Thanksgiving meals! The logistics alone are enough to blow your mind. In addition to the food preparation, they focused on creating a dining environment that was welcoming and festive for all.
I’m so grateful that these youth and all the youth volunteers step into community leadership. These experiences will not only benefit them as they mature, they will build the framework for our future community leaders.
I encourage all of you to volunteer or participate in one of these events next year, and I’m sure you will agree with me that the Harvest Youth Board is fully deserving of our gratitude and thanks.
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Pictured from left are P&HCC President Dr. Greg Hodges, VCCS Chancellor David Doré, welding student Chloe Wray, P&HCC Board Vice Chairperson Jewell Drewery, Harvest Foundation Senior Program Officer DeWitt House, and Sarah K. Capps, Southern Regional Director of the Tobacco Revitalization Commission.
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Patrick & Henry Community College Celebrates Grand Opening of MET 2
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Martinsville, Va. — Patrick & Henry Community College celebrated the grand opening of the Manufacturing, Engineering and Technology Complex (MET) 2 on Thursday, Nov. 30 with a large crowd of around 100 people at the facility, located at 67 Motorsports Drive at Patriot Centre.
The 22,000 square-foot facility with a complete price tag just shy of $6 million has nearly 170 enrolled in the welding program and more than 70 students on the waiting list.
Partners in the project included The Harvest Foundation ($3.54 million), the Tobacco Commission ($600,000 in renovation funds and $224,000 for equipment), the Public Works Program of the Economic Development Administration ($458,000 for equipment), the P&HCC Board ($1.1 million), Virginia's Community Colleges and local and federal government.
This project is 40 percent of the total space allocation in MET 2. P&HCC officials are actively pursuing funding to renovate the remaining 30,000 square feet to expand current programming and create new programs in areas like precision machining, engine repair, and heavy equipment operation and simulation.
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Pictured above are welding bays at the MET 2 building.
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Beware Bassettville!
The Grinch is coming to the Bassett Library on Saturday, Dec. 2 from 3-6 p.m. Tickets are $10, that includes a professional 5 x 7 photo, taken by Ricky Dawson, with the Grinch! Grinch crafts and refreshments will be available for children.
WHEN: Saturday, Dec. 2 from 3-6 p.m.
WHERE: Bassett Branch Library, 3969 Fairystone Park Hwy., Bassett, Virginia
COST: $10
WHAT: Family Event & Fundraiser for the Bassett Library Expansion
FOR KIDS: 5 x 7 Photo Keepsake with The Grinch, Refreshments & Crafts!
CONTACT: Ruby Davis, Email: friendsofthelibrary310@gmail.com
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Cardinal News: State Report says welfare programs help get people jobs but those jobs don't get them out of poverty
The report says the programs encourage people to take "relatively low-paying, dead-end, unstable jobs" rather than train for higher-paying, more promising jobs.
By Dwayne Yancey
November 28, 2023
Something’s not working.
That’s the simple takeaway from my reading of a 191-page report released last month by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission on “Virginia’s Self-Sufficiency Programs and the Availability and Affordability of Child Care.” The main news coverage of the report dealt with the child care portion of the report; you can read what I wrote about that on Monday.
Today, I’ll deal, Paul Harvey-style, with the rest of the report, which I’m surprised hasn’t gotten more attention because its findings are so bleak. The short version: Our welfare programs — “self-sufficiency programs” is the preferred term — aren’t really working, but it’s not for the reasons you might think.
It’s not that people don’t want to work; it’s that the jobs they’re taking don’t get them out of poverty — or sometimes even out of those self-sufficiency programs.
JLARC examined the numbers for 265,000 participants in the three main self-sufficiency programs: Virginia Initiative for Education and Work (VIEW), in which most adult participants in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families are required to participate; the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); and the SNAP Employment and Training program. JLARC found that those programs “have limited impact on participants’ employment and wages. Employment rates for these VIEW and SNAP E&T participants did not increase over time, and while half experienced wage increases by 2022, the median wage for the group remained below the federal poverty threshold. By 2022, very few participants earned wages that would allow them to be self-sufficient (2 percent of TANF-VIEW clients and 7 percent of SNAP E&T clients).”
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Scholarship Applications Now Open!
If you are a graduating high school senior, current college student, or non-traditional student, you need to visit cfwesternva.org/for-students/ to learn more!
The Community Foundation administers over 80 different scholarship funds and awarded over $750,000 to many deserving men and women pursuing their educational dreams last school year.
DEADLINE: Friday, January 12, 2024
CONTACT: Alyssa Rorrer, Program Associate, Community Foundation Serving Western Virginia. Phone: 276-656-6223, Email: alyssa@cfwesternva.org
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There's always something fun to do in
Martinsville-Henry County.
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Make an impact in your community. Share your HOPE.
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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 once a quarter. Our PUP Small Grants Program is an open process with decisions made in less than six weeks. Project Hope grants support small, grassroots projects with immediate impact.
Give our office a call to schedule an appointment with a program officer.
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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 $158 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.
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Discover Harvest — Add us to your address book to get the latest news from The Harvest Foundation delivered to your inbox.
www.theharvestfoundation.org | (276) 632-3329
134 E. Church St. | P.O. Box 5183
Martinsville, VA 24115
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