Featured Grant Recipient:
Mountain Kids, Inc.
A
$1,000 grant from the Community Foundation assisted Mountain Kids, Inc. in
Tazewell, Virginia with its Kids Club art project.
Using two $500 awards from the Ruth Creasy and A. Elmo Fleshman Fund and the Janie Poteet Light Fund for Art Studies, Mountain Kids purchased materials for a variety of different arts projects, and connected students at Raven Elementary School and North Tazewell Elementary School with area artisans for classroom activities over a period of months beginning in October of 2009.
Raven Elementary hosted a local artisan every other month, while Tazewell Elementary hosted a local artisan in December 2009 and April 2010.
Mountain Kids’ goal is to enable the children of Tazewell County to fulfill their potential and to share their talents and gifts with others, and sponsors projects such as Mountain Mentors to mentor middle school students faced with social challenges and who are academically at risk, and its Dental Referral Program, which provides a full range of dental services to low income families.
The organization's programs promote increased self-esteem, increased school attendance, improve academic skills, and provide social support, cultural activities and career exploration.