Reaching Out Now: Love and Collaboration at Heart of Community Dinner

“It’s all about collaboration,” said Samantha Barber, president of Reaching Out Now (RON), as adults who had been relieved of their children sat down to a delicious Valentine’s Dinner prepared by culinary artist Devin Smith and his students at the Blue Ridge Technical Center Culinary Arts program. Organized by RON as the Better Together Family Night Out, this event took place at Skyline Middle School, starting at 5 p.m. and lasting until 7 p.m. on Wednesday, February 14. While their children enjoyed a range of activities and ate pizza in an adjacent room, parents were invited to relax while Warren County teachers temporarily assumed the job of childcare.

Families enjoy a Valentine’s dinner at Skyline Middle School, thanks to Reaching Out Now.

Indeed, the history of RON has been one of collaboration. Barber and Robert Johnston, principal of Skyline Middle School, have been friends for a few years now; their passion for children and their passion for the Lord are two of the things that solidify their partnership. In 2022, as RON had been transitioning from an organization focused on developing leadership in young women to one that could be inclusive of young men, Johnston emailed Barber while she was in church and shared with her an inspiration for taking RON to a new level. Prior to this development, through the Linda Kroll Family Meal Program, RON was able to meet a need during the pandemic by delivering seventy-five thousand meals – per individual – to families in need. But Johnston had a vision for expanding the outreach.

The sermon Barber was hearing that Sunday was about flinging open the doors and being welcoming to people, and she told him. “Oh my gosh, this is what we need to do with Reaching Out Now,” Johnston said on Wednesday evening at the Valentine’s dinner, describing his reaction to that synchronicity on that Sunday, “and we need to invite people into our buildings and collaborate more with our communities and do these types of meals.” Indeed, the vision has expanded, and Wednesday evening’s Valentine’s dinner was proof of its success.

(L) to (R): Reaching Out Now President Samantha Barber, her daughter Kendallee Walker, and Reaching Out Now Vice President Sina May.

Initially established in 2008, RON began its work by developing leadership in young women, then blossomed to include young men. After closing temporarily in 2014, it reopened in 2019, once again focusing on young women. But as its vision has expanded, despite the hardships of the COVID-19 pandemic, RON’s focus is once again all-inclusive, extending to both young men and women in the development of leadership. What began as a COVID-targeted meal service, relying on Devin Smith and the Blue Ridge Technical Center has now blossomed into an events-oriented program. This focus would not be possible without a close partnership with the school system. RON has many faces, including a drive to sponsor athletics through their Safe at Home program. Their Youth Empowered for Success (YES) leadership program continues to thrive as well.

Above: Volunteers serve food to the Valentine’s Day crowd. (L) to (R): River Pangle, Beverly Sims, Cheryl Cullers, Dawn Clark, and Arazely Zinn. Below: Culinary artist Devin Smith stands with two volunteers, Beverly Sims to the left and Cheryl Cullers to the right.

“Every time we’ve said we needed something, we’ve prayed about it, and He has always provided,” said Marlena Conner, RON’s Middle School Liaison. As RON expands even more to include a Youth Center, Barber emphasized how important it is to be in a close relationship with the Warren County Public Schools. “Our relationship was embedded in the school system,” Barber said. “And it still is,” she added. “It forever will be.” Johnston added: “It’s so much about what the kids need and where they are and meeting them where they are and building them up to where they can be and where they need to be and their potential in the future: that’s why I do it, that’s why they [RON] do it, that’s why we partner with them.”

This partnership will be crucial as RON moves forward with the Raymond E. Santmyers Student Union and Activity Center, a place where young people will come to be nurtured and loved as they figure out what they want to do with their futures. What has been born out of many meetings and much prayer is now flourishing as RON looks back on a successful year in the same moment that they look forward to a year that is kicking off well, no small victory being that their income has been greater than their expenses.