Community Foundation of the Virginias, Inc.      Click for Bluefield, West Virginia Forecast

"We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give." - Winston Churchill

 

 

The Community Foundation of the Virginias, Inc. promotes philanthropy by fostering charitable giving, serving our donors' interests, and effectively responding to the needs and opportunities of communities in Mercer County, West Virginia and Tazewell County, Virginia.

 

Through scholarships and grants in the areas of Education, the Arts, Culture and the Humanities, Health, and Human Services, the Community Foundation matches the generosity of the people of our area with the needs of area organizations and individuals.

 

 

 

 

Leave A Legacy

 

The Community Foundation provides you a method to positively affect your community for generations to come.

 

Click here to learn how

 

 

 

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Save money, and also be a partner in making our area a better place to live! 

 

 


 

The Community Foundation is now accepting applications for grants in the 2013 Grant Cycle. Applications must be received or postmarked by the last business day of June, 2013.

 

Use the link at right to access complete information about applying for a grant.

 

 

 

Featured Grant Recipient:

Southwest Virginia Community College

Educational Foundation, Inc.

 

 

Southwest Virginia Community College Educational Foundation, Inc.'s 2013 Festival of the Arts -- NO LIMITS! has ended and has been termed a great success. The Festival, the 19th annual edition, featured 13 days of performances, workshops, exhibits, master classes, culinary and experiences.

 

The Community Foundation is pleased to have supported this year's Festival with a $2,000 grant from the Foundation's Unrestricted Fund.

 


 

Community Foundation Celebrates

Twenty Years of Community Service

 

Twenty years ago last month the first of two organizations that eventually merged to form the Community Foundation of the Virginias, Inc. was founded. A group of community leaders formed the Bluefield Area Foundation serving Mercer and Tazewell counties. A few years later, community leaders in Princeton formed the Greater Mercer County Charitable Foundation in 1998.

 

The two foundations merged in 2002 to form the Community Foundation of the Virginias, Inc., and in March of 2003 the new organization announced its first grant awards.

 

With its Board of Directors and committees comprised of dedicated volunteers from the communities it serves, the Community Foundation has worked diligently to provide funding for important and beneficial projects in the areas of Human Services, Health, Education and the Arts and Humanities, and to assist deserving students in continuing their education at the college or university of their choice.

 

Today, the Community Foundation of the Virginias, Inc. has well over 50 individual endowed funds aimed at supporting community projects and prospective college students, and since those beginning days 20 years ago, the Community Foundation and its parent organizations have awarded nearly $900,000 to dozens of worthy community projects managed by nonprofit organizations, and to scores of students seeking to continue their education.

 

The Foundation is grateful for the confidence fund donors have shown by entrusting our organization to carry out their charitable desires, and the strong level of support of the general public whose annual contributions make it possible to continue supporting area projects and students.

 

 

 


 

 

 

Scholarships Committee now reviewing Applications

for Scholarships for the 2013 Cycle

The Scholarship Application period has ended and the Scholarships Committee has begun the arduous process of evaluating 218 applications for the various funds that provide financial assistance to students seeking to further their education.

The evaluation process will continue through April, and the Scholarships Committee will submit its recommendations for awards to the Foundation’s Board of Directors at its May meeting on May 14.

Following the Board’s action, applicants who have been approved to receive a scholarship award will be notified at their high school’s Awards Ceremony, or if not attending a high school, by letter within a few days of the Board meeting

Each year the Community Foundation assists aspiring students attend the college of their choice, and last year awarded 56 scholarships.

The Scholarship Committee is chaired by Carole Dodson and includes members Mary Azzo, Gene Bailey, Carl Gillespie, Eugenia Hancock, Harry Kammer, Mary Raub, Jim Steorts, Susan Cooper-Snyder, Bettye VanDyke, and Susan Whittaker.

 

 


 

Featured Grant Recipient:

John Chapman Chapter, DAR - Davidson Cabin

Members of the John Chapman Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution met on October 17 with Community Foundation President Charles Carter and Executive Director James Shott to show the improvements to the historic Davidson Cabin in Bluefield, WV, resulting from a Foundation grant from the Unrestricted Fund.

Pictured left to right, front row, seated: Lynn Burnette, Carolyn Denopolous, and Mary Kay Mosco. Standing, left to right: Ruby Harrison, Emily Maxwell, Toni Russell and Betty Bailey.


Recognizing the Impact of Community Foundations

Community Foundation Week: November 12–18, 2012

 During the week of November 12-18, 2012, the Community Foundation of the Virginias, Inc. will join more than 700 community foundations across America for Community Foundation Week to tell the stories of communities improved and transformed through philanthropy’s partnership with community leaders and organizations.

 

The Community Foundation of the Virginias works every day to help address the most pressing issues facing our community in the areas of Human Services, Health, Education and the Arts and Humanities. Community foundations impact lives, solve problems, and improve conditions in their communities.

 

Community foundations are independent, public entities that steward philanthropic resources from donors and provide funds to local nonprofits that are the heart of strong, vibrant communities. Each year the Community Foundation of the Virginias funds scholarships and grants in Mercer and Tazewell counties averaging more than $90,000. These funds support disadvantaged children’s projects, food pantries, energy bill assistance, health clinics, education projects and scholarships, and programs aimed at broadening the cultural aspects of the communities it serves.

 

Community foundations represent one of the fastest-growing forms of philanthropy. Every state in the United States is home to at least one community foundation—large and small, urban and rural—that is advancing solutions to a wide range of community issues. The 2011 Columbus Survey found that despite the recession, giving by the nation’s 100 largest community foundations actually increased slightly in 2010 to $3.7 billion and exceeded prerecession levels seen in 2006 and 2007.

 

Launched in 1989 through a proclamation by former president George H.W. Bush, the first Community Foundation Week included a congressional briefing about the work of community foundations throughout America and their collaborative approach to working with the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to address community problems.


 

 

Annual Dinner Held October 18

 

 

A good crowd was on hand at Fincastle Country Club for good fellowship, a great dinner and a fine program discussing the future of coal as an economic engine for our area.

 

 

Guest Speakers Bill Raney (left), President of the West Virginia Coal Association, and legendary West Virginia University Head Football Coach Don Nehlen, spokesman for "Friends of Coal."

 

 

The Foundation presented an award of appreciation to the Hugh I. Shott, Jr. Foundation in recognition of the strong financial support the Shott Foundation provided to the Bluefield Area Foundation (BAF) during its formative years. In 2002, The Bluefield Area Foundation merged with the Greater Mercer County Charitable Foundation to form the Community Foundation of the Virginias, Inc.

 

Pictured, left to right: Nick Ameil, member of the Community Foundation Board of Directors and emcee for the evening's activities; R.W. "Buz" Wilkinson, an original member of the Board of Directors of the BAF, and President of the Shott Foundation; John H. Shott, member of the Shott Foundation Board of Directors, receiving the award for the Shott family; and Community Foundation President, Charles Carter.

 


 

 

Featured Grant Recipient:

Beautification Commission of Bluefield, Virginia

 

James Shott, Executive Director of the Community Foundation of the Virginias, Inc.,  presented two checks to support the Town of Bluefield, Virginia.

 

 

Janet Gunn (left) and Donna Kelly, Co-Chairs of the Bluefield, Virginia Beautification Commission, receive the award for the replacement of picnic tables in Jack Asbury Park.

 

 

Lesley Catron, Town Clerk (left), and Kim Hernandez, Executive Assistant, receive the award to help fund the installation of audible pedestrian signals at the four-way intersection downtown.

 


 

Grant Awards for 2012

 

The Community Foundation of the Virginias, Inc. is pleased to announce it has approved 30 grant awards for 2012. These awards totaling more than $50,000 represent the Foundation’s 16th annual grant cycle supporting local nonprofit groups and community projects. 

 

Go here to see the organizations and projects the Foundation has funded this year.

 


 

Featured Grant Recipient:

Beautification Commission of Bluefield, Virginia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Town of Bluefield is in the process of installing three new signs to welcome people to town.

 

 

 

 

 

Read more about it

 

 

 

 


 

Featured Grant Recipient:

Child Protect of Mercer County

 

 

 

 

 

 

Child Protect of Mercer County conducted a car seat installation and inspection event.

 

 

 

Read more about it

 

 

 


Community Foundation Awards $52,000 in Scholarships

 

The Community Foundation of the Virginias has awarded 56 scholarships from the nearly 100 students who applied in the 2012 Scholarship Cycle that concluded earlier this month. The Scholarships Committee evaluated more than 200 applications, and submitted its recommendations to the Board of Directors on May 8, and the Board approved awarding more than $52,000 to assist deserving area students in furthering their education.

 

The awards came from 17 individual scholarship funds, and benefit students from Bluefield, Graham, Hurley, Pikeview, Princeton, Tazewell, Richlands, and River View high schools, as well as several existing college students who qualified for awards to continue their education, and one home-schooled student.

 

The following funds awarded scholarships this year:

   The Alex Mahood, Jr. Scholarship Fund
   The Alfred and Shirley Wampler Caudill Scholarship Fund
   The C. B. and Ora Hunter Hancock Memorial Scholarship
   The Doctor Jack Walter Witten Scholarship Fund
   The E.R. Gillespie Scholarship Fund
   The Maurice and Grace Hanna Weinberg Scholarship Fund
   The Graham High School Scholarship Fund
   The Harman Masonic Lodge #222 Scholarship Fund
   The James and Rebecca Steorts Fund
   The Joetta Collins Hooker Memorial Scholarship Fund
   The Joshua Lee Shutt Memorial Scholarship Fund
   The Kendrick Scholarship Fund
   The Lindsay Rebekah Haun Memorial Scholarship Fund
   The Max and Virginia Kammer Family Scholarship Fund
   The Rose Sinicrope Scholarship Fund
   The Roy R. Raub M.D. Memorial Scholarship Fund
   The William G. Skewes Scholarship Fund


The Community Foundation thanks Scholarships Committee members Carole Dodson, Chair; Mary Azzo; Gene Bailey; Carl Gillespie; Eugenia Hancock; Mary Raub; Jim Steorts, Bettye VanDyke and Susan Whittaker, for their diligence in the scholarship application evaluation process.

 

 


 

 

Featured Grant Recipient:

The Wade Center

 

 

 

 

The Wade Center reopened with a Summer Camp program for kids in 1st through 8th grades.

 

 

 

Read more about it

 

 


 

Featured Grant Recipient:

City of Princeton Fire Department

 

 

 

A grant from the Community Foundation of the Virginias, Inc. helped the Princeton Fire Department in purchasing a piece of equipment to help protect firefighters and also find and rescue people trapped in burning buildings.

 

Read more about it

 


 

Featured Grant Recipient:

Gary Bowling's House of Art

 

 

Gary Bowling's House of Art received a grant to support a creative art activity for kids.

 

 

Read more about it

 

 


 

Featured Grant Recipient:

W.I.S.E. Women's Resource Center

 

 

The Foundation is pleased to have been able to assist W.I.S.E. through a grant in 2011 in its efforts to help women remain or become self-sufficient.

 

Read more about it

 


 

New Board members join the Community Foundation

 

The Community Foundation of the Virginias, Inc. held its Annual Meeting Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at its offices in Bluefield. The primary item of business was the election of Officers and Board Members.

 

Officers for 2012 are:

President - Charles Carter

Vice President - Julie Johnson

Secretary - Betty Bailey

Treasurer - Matt Martin

Two new members were welcomed to the Board of Directors, Scott Keim, filling an unexpired term ending in 2013, and Dewey Russell, joining the Class of 2016.

 

Other Board members reappointed to the Class of 2016 are: Mary Azzo, Betty Bailey, Matt Martin, Kermit Moore, Susan Cooper-Snyder, Bettye VanDyke, and Jenny Ware.

 

Listings of other Board members and Committee members can be found by following the "About the Foundation" link at right.

 


 

 

Community Foundation of the Virginias, Inc.

128 North Street  ● P.O. Box 4127  ● Bluefield, WV 24701

Phone: 304-324-0222  ● Fax: 304-324-7716

Email: admin@cfvinc.org

 

                   

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The Community Foundation of the Virginias, Inc. is a proud member

of the following organizations:

 

    

 

The South Bluefield Merchants and Professional Association

 

 

 

 

Community Foundation

of the Virginias, Inc.

128 North Street  ●  P.O. Box 4127 

Bluefield, WV 24701

Phone: 304-324-0222 

Fax: 304-324-7716

Email: admin@cfvinc.org

 


 
     

 

 

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