Uncategorized Archives - Page 23 of 30 - Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation

March 6, 2017 By EWVCF

Shepherdstown Middle School Jazz Band First in the State!

Just received this photo and note from Chad Conant the Band Director at Shepherdstown Middle School. The Jazz Band there has been voted Best in the State again. Congratulations to all the musicians, and we are happy to play a small role in their success. To learn more about the Community Foundation’s Youth and Education Grants, click here.

Hello Michael,
On Feb. 26, the SMS Jazz Band was awarded 1st place in the middle school state-wide jazz competition. This earned the band the WV Honor Jazz Band Award for Middle School in 2017. We were invited to perform at the Charleston Civic Center on March 2 for the West Virginia Music Educators’ Conference, and we did! Just returned last night from the trip.

Michael, this level of achievement is possible because of the financial support of the EWVCF youth grants that the band has received. The Honor Concert was one of many this year during which the jazz band has brought the community and school together through their excellent performances of jazz music.

More to come in the grant report–just wanted to share the news and send thanks.

Gratefully,
Chad Conant

January 4, 2017 By EWVCF

Story Time in Wardensville, WV

The Hardy County Community Foundation has provided funding for the Wardensville Lions Club Story Time program for the past few years. We think it’s a fantastic program and look forward to reading the reports the Club sends us. Here’s an excerpt from their most recent report:

“Story Time takes place each Friday at 10:00 at the library. Every Story Time gives the children a positive learning experience filled with adult interactions with guest readers and the Story Time Ladies. The adults bring their individual perspectives on the book presentations and share their personal insights, interests and knowledge and love with the children. They model respectful interactions and happy attitudes.

Children sing songs, play games, and dance at Story Time, and the activity is usually tied into the theme of the week’s book. Joy is in the air as the children’s little voices sing “Bushel and a Peck” or “Five Little Pumpkins”. “The Freeze Game” and “The Hokey Pokey” are two of their favorite musical games, and as these songs bring laughter and fun, they also help with listening skills and movement. Story Time funding provided a hopscotch rug that we can use indoors, an indoor horseshoe game, and a small colorful parachute that we can have fun with while honing those “listen to instructions” skills. All of these activities contribute to the overall learning experiences of Story Time, complementing the joys of reading and friendship.

Crafts at Story Time help the children learn to use skills such as coloring, pasting, painting, building, and thinking creatively and artistically. The books that we read inspire all kinds of crafts, and we try to vary them from week to week so that the children get well-rounded experiences. Story Time Ladies make sure that the craft pieces are prepared ahead of time so that the children will be successful with their projects. Each week the children take home their own creation. Crafts that the children have done during this grant period include plaster of Paris hand prints for Father’s Day gifts, patriotic windsocks for the 4^th of July, bird feeders for Our New Budgerigar, bag holders made from milk jugs for How to Help the Earth, by the Lorax, pirate telescopes for the book Costume Fun, and cotton ball llamas for Is Your Mama a Llama?

Story Time ends each week with snacks, again related to something in the book of the week. There is usually fruit, along with something salty and something sweet, often homemade from someone’s kitchen. Story Time Ladies Esther Parker and Aggie Mason have become experts in preparing snacks in the shape of something special such as a pirate ship made from apples and cheese or donuts with teeth for a funny Halloween treat. They’ve perfected how to make s’mores in the microwave for books about camping or picnics. In December, Ann Heishman guided the children as they rolled out cookie dough, cut out the cookies, and then decorated them. The cookies baked while the children enjoyed the book, and then they got to eat their cookies for the snack!

Children and their families that come to Story Time form friendships that are meaningful. The children learn about being with other children and sharing and taking turns and other such valuable lessons. The friends that they make at Story Time carry over into school and are helpful there. Their parents and grandparents who bring them to Story Time enjoy visiting and sharing in the experiences of children growing and learning. Young mothers help each other and grandparents give loving guidance. The adults become the children’s partners in the crafts, helping when needed – working together, and often with another person’s child.

This grant provides books to make a difference in the lives of the children of our community. The children experience good things with books and build up their home libraries. They are hopefully developing a love of books and learning which will serve them throughout their lives. The relationships that Story Time nurtures strengthen the bonds of our community.”

December 19, 2016 By EWVCF

Joan “Joanie, Angel Taxi, Book Lady” Roach

Joan Roach, age 85, gracefully passed away on Monday evening at one of her favorite places, Otterbein United Methodist Church.

Born June 7, 1931, she was the daughter of the late Dr. J. Paul Gruver and Alberta Maxine Corwin Gruver.

Joanie had a special regard for many, many people in this diverse community that she loved so much. She gathered friends together to establish the Meal – on – Wheels as well as CCAP/Loaves and Fishes organizations. She had a special affection for all of the struggling folks in Martinsburg and around the world. She was a taxi for getting strangers to work and the “Book Lady”, handing out children’s books randomly throughout town and at Halloween. She has often suggested that to honor her memory we should visit a young mother, an elderly person or just volunteer somewhere.

She is survived by her husband Doug, sons Stan and wife Sara Corwin-Roach, Steve and wife Tina F. Roach, Scott and wife Linda Roach, daughter Terri Lynn Rotunda and husband Joe, special young lady Tracey Pittsnogle Crowell and husband Mike of Harpers Ferry and considered Mom by hundreds of other kids that have grown up in Martinsburg. Grandkids Josiah Corwin-Roach, Jason Roach and wife, Marlana, Matt Roach and wife, Kelly, Anthony, Alec, Maggie, Maria and Molly Rotunda; two special little great grandkids Alivia and Weston; a brother, Jacob Gruver and wife, Carol of Falling Waters, WV; and many cousins, nieces, nephews, close friends and all their families.

She was preceded in death by a special young lady Rene Pritchard

Family will receive friends on Saturday, December 17, 2016 from 3:00PM to 5:00PM at Brown Funeral Home.

Memorial service will be held at 2:00PM on Sunday, December 18, 2016 at Otterbein United Methodist Church with Rev. Mark Mooney and Rev. Ed Hall officiating .

She believed that everyone has a stake in making the world a better place and has ask that in lieu of flowers that a donation be made to one of these organizations: Maloto – Feeding, Educating and Empowering the children and women of Malawi (www.Malotoinc.org) or locally at the Eastern W V Community Foundation in the Joan Roach Volunteer Fund for the Needy, 304-264-0353 (www.ewvcf.org)

September 28, 2016 By EWVCF

Goldie Gibbons Park Fund Established

Berkeley County Parks & Recreation Executive Director Steve Catlett, Phil Martin of Bedington, Parks & Rec President Jim Welton, and Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation Executive Director Michael Whalton (L to R) recently met in Bedington to hang a banner announcing plans for the new Goldie Gibbons Park. A ceremony celebrating Virginia Gibbons’ life will be held at the Bedington Fire Hall on Saturday, October 8th beginning at 11:30 am. Family members, classmates and friends of Virginia’s will be on hand to honor her memory. The public is invited to attend.

Virginia Gibbons (Martinsburg High School Class of 1964) wanted to donate the family property across from the fire hall in Bedington to Martinsburg-Berkeley County Parks and Recreation to be used as a park for several years. Thanks to the efforts of longtime Bedington resident Phil Martin, Steve Catlett of Parks & Recreation, and attorney David DeJarnett of Bowles Rice LLP, the plans came together early this year and Virginia Gibbons transferred ownership of the land to Berkeley County.

At the same time, Ms. Gibbons also established the Goldie Gibbons Park Fund at the Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation to honor her mother and help cover some of the costs of converting the vacant 1.7-acre lot into a park that will provide a safe and fun place for dogs, kids, and families. We are delighted to have been chosen by Ms. Gibbons to provide stewardship for this lasting legacy in her mother’s memory, and we are grateful to David DeJarnett and everyone involved for helping move the project forward.

Virginia Gibbons passed away on June 15, 2016 and we are now working with her brother Tim, and other family members and friends, to make certain that her dream of creating the Goldie Gibbons Park in Bedington, West Virginia becomes a reality. A ceremony celebrating Virginia’s life will be held at the Bedington Fire Hall on Saturday, October 8th beginning at 11:30 am. Family members, classmates and friends of Virginia’s will be on hand to honor her memory. The public is invited to attend.

September 21, 2016 By EWVCF

Nonprofit Governance: Leadership, Visibility, & Impact Symposium – October 11th, Winchester, VA

The Northern Shenandoah Valley Nonprofit Alliance for Excellence is hosting a one-day symposium at Shenandoah University on Tuesday, October 11th. This very affordable program ($25 per person) includes five seminar sessions, two keynote addresses, breakfast and lunch. Registration is from 8 – 8:30 am and the symposium wraps up at 2 pm. The five seminars run concurrent, but are repeated, so you will have the opportunity to choose the two that seem most relevant to your nonprofit organization. The schedule and seminar descriptions are below. Click here to register, and you can download a pdf version of the program flyer here.

Schedule for Tuesday, October 11, 2016

8:00 – 8:30 Registration, Continental Breakfast, and Visiting

8:30 – 8:45 Mini Workshop: Tools for Engaged Communication – Tammy Bjelland, Language In Bloom

8:45 – 9:00 Welcome and Introductions – Kim Herbstritt, Chair

Northern Shenandoah Valley Nonprofit Alliance for Excellence – Dennis Kellison, Ed.D., Director School of Education and Human Development, Shenandoah University

9:00 -10:00 Keynote Speaker – Dan Pallotta (live video feed) – Uncharitable: How Restraints on Nonprofits Undermine Their Potential

10:00 – 10:15 Break

10:15 – 11:00 Concurrent Seminars:

More War Paint – Louder Drums: Challenges of a Nonprofit Organization in a For-profit World; Osborne Abbey, Ed.D., Interim CEO, Top of Virginia Regional Chamber

Measuring Impact in the Non-Profit Sector: Bogdan Daraban, Ph.D., Associate Dean Harry F. Byrd, Jr. School of Business, Shenandoah University

Financial Management for Not-for-Profit: Olivia Hutton, CPA, Young Hyde & Barbour

Advocacy as Strategy: Kate Wofford, Director, Shenandoah Valley Network

Legal & HR Issues: John Winn, J.D., LL.M, Professor of Business Law Harry F. Byrd, Jr. School of Business, Shenandoah University

11:15 – 12:00 Concurrent Seminars repeat

12:00 – 12:15 Break

12:15 – 1:30 Lunch and Keynote Speaker – Jeff Brooks, Creative Director, TrueSense Marketing

1:30 – 2:00 Closing Remarks – Ron Kaplan, Chairman of the Board Trex Company

SEMINARS

Seminars are 45 minutes long and will be offered twice during the day.

1. Mini Workshop: Tools for Engaged Communication

Maximize your engagement with symposium content by using social media and other communication tools, including: Twitter | Facebook | Pocket | Google Drive

Tammy Bjelland, Language In Bloom

2. More War Paint – Louder Drums | Room 106 – Challenges of A Non-Profit Organization in a For Profit World

In the non-profit sector, financial sustainability is the most critical of factors in defining organizational success. Cause or purpose, although very important, is a distant second. This is why non-profit organizations need to function with a for profit mindset. Sustainability depends on several factors, the most important of which is relevance. This is particularly so for local or regional non-profits that do not have a large, deep rooted geographic presence or high levels of political or star power to spotlight their efforts. In the simplest, and perhaps the cruelest of terms, if a non-profit organization is not relevant, it simply has no future. Following close on the heels of relevance as key definers of success are the tenets of entrepreneurial visioning, risk taking, internal investment, and forceful marketing. There also needs to be strong management of both internal and external influences as they, if not held in balance, can quickly recalibrate a non-profit’s gyroscope in a negative way. Dr. Abbey’s session will focus on these challenges and provide insight into options to overcome obstacles and create a clear path to success.

Osborne Abbey, Ed.D., Top of Virginia Regional Chamber

3. Measuring Impact in the Non-profit Sector | Room 107

Non-profit organizations operate under constant pressure from their stakeholders to measure and document performance and impact. However, identifying meaningful, useful measures for the return on investment in the non-profit sector is often challenging and resource intensive. This presentation will provide an overview of some of the latest academic and practice based research that examines tools and methods that can be used to develop and implement quantifiable metrics that capture the impact of non-profit organizations.

Bogdan Daraban, Ph.D., Shenandoah University, Harry F. Byrd School of Business

4. Financial Management for Not-for-Profit | Room 146

This overview course will provide you with a more thorough understanding of not-for-profit basic accounting principles. We will explore areas such as the recommended chart of accounts structure, statement of financial position (balance sheet), statement of activities (income statement), cash vs. accrual basis of accounting, and IRS Form 990.

Olivia Hutton, CPA, Young Hyde & Barbour

5. Advocacy as Strategy | Room 222

What does advocacy have to do with nonprofits? There are so many things we see that we want to change to support the health and wellness of individuals, families, and communities, but how and where do we begin? This seminar will cover the basic rules for nonprofit 501(c)3 advocacy, the importance of engaging in strategic advocacy to achieve mission, and examples of successful advocacy campaigns.

Kate Wofford, Director, Shenandoah Valley Network

6. Legal & HR Issues | Room 147

Professor Winn will discuss current trends and laws affecting the not-for-profit workplace. This includes hiring, evaluation, compensation, and discipline. Emphasis will be placed upon practical and ethical management principles that promote best practices.

John Winn, J.D., LL.M, Shenandoah University, Harry F. Byrd School of Business

Shepherdstown Middle School Jazz Band First in the State!

Story Time in Wardensville, WV

Joan “Joanie, Angel Taxi, Book Lady” Roach

Goldie Gibbons Park Fund Established

Nonprofit Governance: Leadership, Visibility, & Impact Symposium – October 11th, Winchester, VA

Vision

Mission

Values