Impact Awards Annual Grants to Local Nonprofits

Impact Harrisonburg, a giving circle of young professionals, recently distributed annual grants to three local nonprofit organizations. The group used the Community Needs process of The Community Foundation to select nonprofit projects to consider. Local organizations selected by Impact members as grant recipients this year are Blue Ridge CASABlacks Run Forest Farm, and Way to Go. Read on for more information submitted by each organization, describing the project funded by the Impact grants.

 

Blue Ridge CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) FOR CHILDREN recruits, selects, trains and supervises volunteers to advocate for children who have been victims of abuse or neglect. The goal of CASA’s advocacy is to find safe, permanent and nurturing homes for abused and neglected children. CASA volunteers serve as an extra set of eyes and ears for the Juvenile and Domestic Court Judge, collecting information from all parties within a child’s life and compiling the information in a court report. CASA’s Court report is the most comprehensive report that the court will receive on the child’s case. Children with a CASA on their case are better represented, receive more services, and do better on a number of well-being indicators. ($500 Impact grant designated for the “CASA for Children” project)

 

Blacks Run Forest Farm is an edible park and neighborhood arboretum for agroforestry, watershed restoration, and community health. The organization grows healthy accessible food, cares for  our soil and water, restores relationships between people and place, and cultivates abundant neighborhoods. Through a riparian orchard, forest garden, and  nursery, the organization farms in the image of the forest. Blacks Run is one of Virginia’s most polluted streams and flows through a low-income neighborhood historically known as the Wasteland due to the impaired stream, corporate poultry factories, and substandard housing. The forest farm is committed to the health of Blacks Run and all those living in its watershed. Without current major funding, the organization is propagating its nursery, expanding its forest garden on Salvation Army’s property, planting the eroded stream bank, hosting workshops, and developing partnerships with local schools and universities to connect students to the trees and wildlife of the Blacks Run watershed. The organization aspires to expand its public tree park to nearly 3.5 acres along Blacks Run Stream by leasing land from Salvation Army, which sits along the proposed Northend Greenway, and the adjoining lots from Public Works and Parks and Recreation, whose advisory commission has unanimously supported this proposal. ($500 Impact grant designated for the “Planting Trees, Healing Water & Growing Community” project)

 

Way to Go empowers low-income working families to improve their quality of life by assisting them with their transportation needs. The organization keeps local families mobile and employed by helping them with a range of issues to maintain their family vehicle. If they do not have a vehicle, Way to Go has several programs that can help families obtain one. This particular project was proposed to support both the “maintain” and “obtain” objectives of the Way to Go program. Funds are requested for: repairs(including towing and inspections), car insurance, vehicle fees, gas, taxi trips, vehicle payments to prevent repossession, and for other urgent needs to keep a low-income working family’s vehicle operable that contribute to a decent quality of life. Clients seeking to obtain a vehicle can access the WorkCars program where Way to Go provides a down payment, guaranteed bank financing through F&M Bank, financial assistance with dealer and DMV fees, and vehicle insurance. The organization works closely with local automobile dealers to help clients obtain cars that are safe, affordable, dependable, and legal. ($7,100.64 Impact grant for “The Key to Self Sufficiency” project)

 

IMPACT Harrisonburg has been a giving circle for young professionals in their twenties, thirties, and forties. The Community Foundation of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County created this component fund in 2014 to encourage philanthropy among young professionals with a focus on improving our community.  Members made a charitable donation based on their age. Funds were  pooled together and granted to a nonprofit(s) chosen by membership vote.

 

After four years, Impact will now move in a different direction, ceasing membership recruitment and distribution of annual grants. Impact members and other local young professionals are encouraged to participate in The Community Foundation’s annual Great Community Give (GCG) on April 17, 2019. GCG is a single day of giving to partnered local nonprofits to promote charitable giving in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. Through the Great Community Give, young professionals can continue to have an impact on local nonprofits in our Harrisonburg and Rockingham County community!

Part-time Employment Opportunity at TCFHR – FILLED

The Community Foundation of Harrisonburg & Rockingham County is currently hiring. For more information review the recent job posting.

Shenandoah Valley Economic Education Endowment

Shenandoah Valley Economic Education, Inc. is a nonprofit organization with a mission of promoting economic literacy in the Shenandoah Valley. SVEE provides the resources to teach students K-12 how the elements of free enterprise and the American economic system function.

Shenandoah Valley Economic Education, Inc. is a nonprofit organization with a mission of promoting economic literacy in the Shenandoah Valley. SVEE provides the resources to teach students K-12 how the elements of free enterprise and the American economic system function.

 

SVEE’s business supporters work in partnership with area schools to broaden the knowledge of economics. By funding a teacher consultant to work with local teachers, SVEE provides the driving force for training teachers and assisting with the classroom experience.

 

In a typical year, SVEE-supported programs reach 800 teachers with information and materials, 100 teachers with training in workshops, and 20 teachers for intensive training in economic education. Using figures supplied by the Virginia Council on Economic Education, this translates into classroom benefits for more than 32,000 students in the Shenandoah Valley.

The SVEE-funded Mini-Economy program helps students learn about entrepreneurship by starting their own businesses in a classroom society.

 

SVEE-funded professional development opportunities include workshops that help teachers learn the latest simulation games for teaching about the economy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The SVEE-funded teacher consultant works year-round to help promote economic literacy. Services are provided through the teacher outreach program of the James Madison University Center for Economic Education.

 

Peter Yates of Harrisonburg currently serves SVEE as Chairman of the Board. SVEE is governed by a board representing local business and community interests.

 

SVEE-sponsored programs have achieved a high degree of effectiveness and national recognition, consecutively winning the top national awards in research (William C. Wood, 2016) and service (Lynne F. Stover, 2017) given by the National Association of Economic Educators.

This SVEE-sponsored project recruited local high school students to help produce state-of-the-art instructional materials for online teaching.

 

 

 

In 2005, a permanent fund was established at The Community Foundation of Harrisonburg & Rockingham County to provide on-going support for Shenandoah Valley Economic Education, Inc.  If you are interested in supporting local economic education, please consider a gift to the Shenandoah Valley Economic Education Endowment.

Now accepting applications for Sean Warner Memorial Grant

[pdf-embedder url=”https://www.tcfhr.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/2018-Sean-Warner-Memorial-Grant.pdf” title=”2018 Sean Warner Memorial Grant”]

Great Community Give Is On Its Way!

The Great Community Give is on its way! This event is the first online, community-wide giving day event for Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. Community members will have the opportunity to support their favorite nonprofit organizations that serve our area every day on April 18, 2018 from 6:30 am to 8 pm. Throughout the day we will also draw the names of lucky donors who could help their nonprofit organization for additional prize money. If you are a business and would like more information on sponsorship opportunities for this event, please email Susanne Myers at [email protected]. Whether you are a donor, board member, sponsor, or nonprofit, make sure to Point, Click, GIVE on April 18th!

 

 

If you have any questions regarding Great Community Give, please direct them to our graduate assistant, Amanda Bomfim, at [email protected].

 

SOS Foundation Awards First Scholarship Grants

It was a special night to remember and rejoice when SOS Foundation President Yancey Ford presented our charity’s first scholarship grants to three very deserving and appreciative young students during the annual SOS Dinner at the Innisbrook Golf Resort.

 

The SOS Foundation was created earlier this year as a certified 501-(c)(3) charity charged with the sole purpose of providing college scholarship assistance to the academically-qualified children of staff personnel working at clubs that host SOS competitions. To date, the SOS members have contributed $35,000 to the Foundation.

 

Two of the 2017 recipients of the $2,500 scholarships are long-time good friends McKenna Chefero and Hannah Murphy, both of whom are now sophomores at the University of South Florida.  The third recipient is Madison Duncan-Diejuste, who attends Palm Beach State College.

 

Ms. Chefero’s father, Paul, works in Banquet Management at the Innisbrook Resort. Ms. Murphy’s  mother, Nancy, is a senior sales manager at Innisbrook. Ms. Duncan-Diejuste’s mother, Kristina, shares duties in the Quail Ridge CC golf shop and locker room.

 

Yancey Ford proudly introduced the three scholarship recipients to the broad and highly-enthusiastic SOS Membership in attendance at the Dinner, and all three young ladies eloquently thanked Yancey and the SOS Foundation for its commitment to education.

 

McKenna Chefero is majoring in Entrepreneurship at South Florida; she is focusing on business management with a minor in Leadership Studies. “Someday I hope to own my own non-profit,” she says. In high school, McKenna played on the varsity golf team as a senior and she dabbles in golf with a Club Team at South Florida. “I really appreciate what the Society of Seniors Foundation has done for me,” she says. “This scholarship means a whole lot to me and to my family.”

 

Hannah Murphy is majoring in Criminology and aspires to attend Law School and become a Defense Attorney. “When I was in high school I used to babysit for Jessica Lowe, National Golf Sales Manager,” Hannah says. “She told my mother all about the SOS Foundation Scholarship. We filled out all the paperwork and I did the interview with the Society of Seniors Scholarship Committee on Skype. It was a great day when I received the call telling me that I’d be getting the $2,500 scholarship.”

 

Madison Duncan-Diejuste attends Palm Beach State College and aspires to earn a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education. “My mother is a single parent of four children,” she says, “and I am the third to attend college. The SOS Foundation Scholarship is a big help for me and for my family. I cannot thank the SOS enough for its gracious generosity.”

 

The SOS Foundation thanks those SOS members who have already donated to the Foundation. In announcing the formation and the purpose of the Foundation, the charity’s Board suggested that SOS members donate an annual minimum of $100 to the Foundation over a three-year period so that the Foundation could become self-sustaining by the year 2020.

 

At this time a number of SOS members have made long-term commitments to the Foundation through annual giving, transfers of stock and plans to include the Foundation in their wills. Indeed, some TK SOS members made an initial gift to the Foundation of $1000 or more.

 

Before the New Year, the SOS Foundation will once again reach out to the SOS membership with information as to how members can make a gift to the Foundation. Thanks in no small part to the very gracious and touching remarks from McKenna, Hannah and Madison at the Annual Dinner, the Foundation knows it is on the right track.

 

Society of Seniors

1570 West First Ave.

Columbus, OH 43212

614-487-1207

WWW.SOCIETYOFSENIORS.COM

Friendship Industries Endowment Fund

 

Friendship Industries is a business with a social mission to develop and maintain employment and training opportunities for persons with disabilities in integrated work environments. Our employees work on commercial contracts with the Department of Defense, major retailers, and international companies; providing the packaging experience our customers expect. We also have job coaches supporting employees at other area businesses. In our efforts to positively impact employment for persons with disabilities, we look to community donors to assist with supporting our employment services. Currently we are focusing on two areas (1) employment scholarships (2) helping improve employee environments through our warehouse expansion.

 

In 2007, the Board of Friendship Industries, Inc. established the Friendship Industries Endowment Fund, a permanently endowed fund, with The Community Foundation of Harrisonburg & Rockingham County. The purpose of this fund is to support the ongoing operational costs of the organization.  As you consider your year-end giving this holiday season, please consider making a gift to the Friendship Industries Endowment Fund and positively impact the individuals served by this local nonprofit organization.

IMPACT Awards $8,175 Grant to Open Doors Emergency Shelter!

The vote is in! Open Doors Emergency Shelter will be the recipient of this year’s IMPACT Grant!! The grants committee reviewed over 50 community needs applications and narrowed the ballot for the grant award to three options. IMPACT members voted and Open Doors is the 2015-16 grant recipient.

The Open Doors Project, which is aimed at ending the cycle of homelessness, will equip key personnel working for/with Open Doors with the tools they need to educate and train their guests on opportunities and locally available resources that may help them escape the cycle of homelessness. So much more than just basic job training skills, Open Doors guests will also gain insight to how other local agencies and assist them with needs such medical treatment, counseling, and financial counseling which often hinder someone’s effort to escape homelessness.

Please join IMPACT and The Community Foundation of Harrisonburg & Rockingham County on Sunday, August 21st for the presentation of the Grant to Open Doors. The presentation celebration will be at Purcell Park, Shelter Number 2 from 4 pm to 6 pm. Click here for more information or to register for the event. In addition, IMPACT Board Members will be on hand to share several new and exciting opportunities that will be available as a part of IMPACT. Not only will the 21st be a great opportunity to celebrate IMPACT’s partnership with Open Doors, but its future as an organization dedicated to making a lasting impact in our community.

New Overtime Rules and Nonprofit Organizations

Yesterday, the Department of Labor and the President announced the publication of a new overtime rules with the stated goal of updating outdated regulations in an effort to ensure that employees, particularly those in the middle class, are sufficiently compensated for hours worked.  See the President’s fact sheet or information page from the Department of Labor (https://www.dol.gov/featured/overtime).  These new rules changed the minimum salary for employees to be considered exempt from overtime rules at organizations covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). How will this affect nonprofit organizations?  The US Department of Labor’s May 18, 2016 publication, entitled “Guidance for Non-Profit Organization on Paying Overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act” gives a fairly easy to read summary of the changes, how it may affect nonprofit organizations, and options to comply for those organizations affected.  The following is a quick summary based on my reading of the publication but be sure to read the attached document to ensure compliance with these rules for your own nonprofit organization.

Beginning December 1, 2016, the minimum salary for exempt employees will be tied to the 40th percentile of earnings of full-time salaried workers in the lowest-wage Census region or $913 per week.  In addition, salary and compensation levels will be adjusted every three years to maintain this minimum level.  Currently, the minimum weekly pay for exempt workers is $455.  There are several options for complying with the new rules.  Different options and examples, specifically targeted to nonprofits, are given in the DOL’s publication.   Importantly though, currently exempt employees making less than the new minimum salary do not have to be switched to hourly pay.

Nonprofits are not specifically exempt from these new rules.  Coverage under FLSA can be at the individual worker level or organizational level.  Generally, for an organization to be covered under FLSA, the organization must have annual revenue of at least $500,000 from ordinary commercial activities.  Donations, contributions, membership fees, and other typical nonprofit specific income would not normally be considered commercial activity.  Individual employee coverage largely depends on the workers involvement in interstate commerce.

Refer to the Department of Labor website and the following publications from the Department of Labor for more information:

Overtime Final Rule and the Non-Profit Sector

Guidance for Non-Profit Organizations on Paying Overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act

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