VCU's Virginia Mentoring Partnership Announces Outstanding Mentor and Mentoring Programs Awards

Awards ceremony planned during statewide conference on Feb. 10

Mike Porter
VCU Communications and Public Relations
(804) 828-7037
mrporter@vcu.edu

2/3/2010

Virginia Commonwealth University's Virginia Mentoring Partnership will honor two individuals and two organizations for outstanding efforts that make a difference in the lives of children.

The honorees will be recognized during the 8th Annual Virginia Mentoring Awards & Statewide Conference on Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2009, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Jefferson Hotel in Richmond.

The following people will be recognized as outstanding individual mentors of the year:

Marty Bland, Capital One Mentorships Program, Richmond, has mentored two students at Broad Rock Elementary School for each of the last three years and is being recognized for his efforts to recruit, lead and mentor.
Robert N. Melvin, Ph.D., Success-Oriented Students (S.O.S.) Youth Empowerment Program, Woodbridge, is being honored for more than 25 years of work in youth development, including helping young people rebuild their lives after incarceration.
The following organizations will be recognized as outstanding mentoring programs of the year:

Richmond Public Schools is being recognized for developing relationships with community partners for recruiting, training and coordinating volunteers to mentor children. Currently, 850 partnerships reach more than 5,500 students.
The Bucknell-West Potomac Mentoring Partnership, Fairfax County Public Schools, Alexandria, is being recognized for a program that pairs high school mentors with elementary school mentees for tutoring and other activities after school.
The Virginia Mentoring Partnership is a nonprofit agency that was founded in 1994 and operates as part of VCU's Division of Community Engagement. The partnership provides training and technical assistance to mentoring programs throughout Virginia and has prepared more than 20,000 Virginia volunteers for their roles as mentors and tutors.

For story as posted on VCU News site: http://www.news.vcu.edu/news/VCUs_Virginia_Mentoring_Partnership_Announces_Outstanding_Mentor

VCU AmeriCorps volunteers participated in "A Day On" to celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Mike Porter
VCU Communications and Public Relations
(804) 828-7037
mrporter@vcu.edu

1/20/2010

Members of Virginia Commonwealth University's AmeriCorps program participated in a four-day community service effort as part of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

"Hands On Greater Richmond" sponsored "MLK Day 2010: Make it a Day On...Not a Day Off!" Jan. 15 through Jan. 18 as part of a national effort to honor the legacy of King by promoting thousands of community service projects.

"We wanted to get people to really think about Dr. Martin Luther King by getting involved and doing something that benefits the greater community," said Erin Burke Brown, VCU AmeriCorps program director.

Some of the 57 VCU AmeriCorps members served as "project captains" and others signed up as volunteers, joining hundreds of others on 21 service projects across the Richmond area.

VCU AmeriCorps volunteer Candice Nunnally spent the weekend working on six different projects. Nunnally helped Association for Retarded Citizens participants at their popular bingo night; worked in a community garden at the Fulton Community Center; toured Richmond with third graders to teach them about the city's history through the Blue Sky Fund Explorers Program; painted and cleaned the Children's Museum of Richmond; built, installed and repaired cages at the BARK dog adoption and rescue farm; and served dinners and greeted community members at the Boaz and Ruth Martin Luther King Jr. celebration.

During the rest of the year, Nunnally volunteers at E.S.H. Greene Elementary School in South Richmond, where she offers reading support to the children.

"I like working for AmeriCorps because it gives me the opportunity to work with different non-profit groups and learn about different areas of Richmond and discover resources that I didn't know about before," Nunnally said.

VCU AmeriCorps volunteer Joshua Russell usually spends his time helping children at Richmond's Chimborazo Elementary School learn to read, but on Monday he was part of a crew that painted the walls of a computer lab used by children and community members at the Carver-VCU Partnership office. It was Russell's first "Day On" experience.

"That office really serves as a community center for the Carver neighborhood. I thought it was important because as a public space, it doesn't have to be dingy," Russell said. "About a dozen of us from VCU AmeriCorps and West Broad Church of Christ took part. As we painted, we talked about Dr. King's idea of a beloved community."

VCU AmeriCorps member Sarah Harris worked with secondary students at the Steward School, a private school in Henrico County. They created art to be displayed in Richmond's Fairfield and Woodville elementary schools.

"The experience really made them aware of opportunities to serve. They realize that opportunities to help others are closer than you think," Harris said.

Harris tutors children at Woodville throughout the year.

VCU's AmeriCorps program is supported by the Division of Community Engagement.

"MLK Day 2010: Make it a Day On...Not a Day Off!" is also supported by The City of Richmond Volunteer Solutions, Hanover County Department of Community Resources, the Junior League of Richmond and the United Way of Greater Richmond and Petersburg.

There are still plenty of opportunities to volunteer throughout the year. For more information visit VCU's Caring to Act Calendar or Hands On Greater Richmond.

For original news story as posted on VCU News: http://www.news.vcu.edu/news/VCU_AmeriCorps_volunteers_participated_in_A_Day_On_to_celebrate

Financial donations are needed now; longer term efforts to be organized
Mike Porter
VCU Communications and Public Relations
(804) 828-7037
mrporter@vcu.edu

1/15/2010

Members of the Virginia Commonwealth University community are encouraged to contribute to relief efforts in Haiti in the wake of a 7.0 magnitude earthquake that rocked the Caribbean country on Tuesday, Jan 12. Haitian officials estimate that tens of thousands of people have died and describe the damage as catastrophic.

VCU students, staff and faculty can have the greatest immediate impact by donating money to the American Red Cross or another reputable relief organization, according to Cathy Howard, Ph.D., vice provost for community engagement.

"There are two phases for providing relief and recovery assistance following a disaster," Howard said. "First, professional organizations like the American Red Cross will respond and the best way to assist these efforts is with financial contributions."

Howard said after immediate life-sustaining relief is provided, the next phase is recovery and development.

"It is in this second phase that our efforts at VCU could be most helpful. In the days ahead, I will be in touch with key organizations in the Richmond area that have a sustained presence in Haiti to determine ways that we can assist their efforts," Howard said.

Howard said the university community will be notified as additional opportunities to help become available.

The Commonwealth of Virginia Campaign, the CVC, has established a system for state employees to contribute to ongoing earthquake relief efforts in Haiti. Funds donated to the CVC, the workplace giving program for state employees, will be forwarded to the International Disaster Relief Fund of the American Red Cross.

To give to the Earthquake fund, VCU employees are asked to:

Write a check or money order to "Red Cross International Response Fund"
Mail or hand deliver to the CVC office at:
CVC - Disaster Relief
Dept. of Human Resource Management
101 North 14th Street - 12th Floor
Richmond, Va., 23219

Checks will be forwarded directly through the Red Cross Disaster Services for immediate use.
Gifts by credit card (MasterCard and Visa) can be made using a standard CVC pledge card. Enter the charity code as "9999" and mail the pledge form to the address above.
Cell phone users may also donate in $10 increments to the Red Cross by texting the word "Haiti" to the number 90999. The donation will be recorded and included in the user's cell phone bill.

For more information about the activities of the Red Cross in this disaster, go to www.Redcross.org.

For original news story posted to VCU News: http://www.news.vcu.edu/news/VCU_community_encouraged_to_participate_in_Haiti_relief_efforts

The Council for Community Engagement (CCE) at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) announces the availability of funds to support VCU faculty and staff projects that will enhance and increase university engagement with the greater Richmond community and will contribute to the research and teaching of VCU units. The Council will offer a maximum of $20,000 per project.

VCU will host two informational meetings to provide opportunities for networking, to discuss multiple approaches for addressing priorities identified by the greater Richmond community, and to ask questions about the Request for Proposals. These meetings will be held on the Monroe Park Campus at the Scott House (909 West Franklin Street, conference room) on January 26, 2010 at noon and on the MCV Campus at the Center for Clinical and Translational Research (1200 East Clay Street, conference room) on January 27, 2010 at noon.

For more information and grant criteria, please see the 2010 Request for Proposals.

The Spring 2010 off-campus graduate art schedule is now on-line. Click here to view the Spring 2010 off-Campus Graduate Art schedule.

Mike Porter
VCU Communications and Public Relations
(804) 828-7037
mrporter@vcu.edu
10/30/2009

Community service is a central focus of the VCU experience, and throughout any given school year, students, staff and faculty spend thousands of hours participating in food collections, clothing drives, after-school mentoring, cleanup campaigns and other activities.

Now it has become even easier to get involved in projects in the Richmond region.

Virginia Commonwealth University's Division of Community Engagement and the Council for Community Engagement have launched a new "Caring To Act Calendar," allowing individuals or groups to volunteer for or sponsor worthwhile community projects.

"We got the idea last year when we were putting together the 40 Acts of Caring, a collection of university-community projects that reflect our engagement with the community in honor of VCU's 40th anniversary celebration," said Catherine W. Howard, Ph.D., vice provost, Division of Community Engagement. "We were just humbled by the quality and variety of activities. People started asking - how can we get involved? And we started to think about how we could coordinate some of these efforts to have an even larger impact on the community."

Howard's division recognized the value in creating a single location where anyone interested in volunteering could learn about projects and easily sign up. The division joined forces with "HandsOn Greater Richmond," which has a similar mission and already has an online site for matching volunteers with community service organizations.

Once the infrastructure was in place, the division sought submissions from the university community for worthwhile projects for the calendar. Community Development Coordinator Ron Brown carefully put together a list.

"This is a great opportunity for students, employees and alumni to sign up for some university-endorsed community service projects," Brown said. "It's a fun way to participate in a meaningful activity as a team and a great option for student organizations."

VCU's community service leave policy provides 12-month employees with 16 hours of paid leave each calendar year to participate in volunteer community service organizations.

"One reason this is organized is that we heard so much from VCU staff about their desire to be involved in community-based service activities," Howard said. "The calendar will allow staff to use their community service hours for university-sanctioned events."

Upcoming opportunities for involvement include "Project Homeless Connect," on Nov. 19 at the Richmond Convention Center, where volunteers can assist homeless people obtain community resources, and a month-long kids' winter coat drive coordinated by the VCU Staff Senate and YMCA of Greater Richmond. A complete list may be found at the Caring To Act Calendar. Volunteers can register at HandsOn Greater Richmond.

For more information, contact Ron Brown at rbrown34@vcu.edu or 804-827-1904.

The VCU News Center link to this story is http://www.news.vcu.edu/vcu_view/pages.aspx?nid=3117