“Dare to Dream” awards made at a “breakfast/non-breakfast” by Front Royal women’s group

An annual breakfast recognizing nine “Dare to Dream” candidates sharing more than $8,000 to help make their dreams a reality became, due to the coronavirus, a “no breakfast/breakfast” on-line where this year’s presentations were made by the Front Royal Women’s Resource Center (FRWRC).

Despite the international tragedy of the virus playing out this year, FRWRC was determined to publicly honor its 2020 list of women, selected from many who dared to dream, breakfast or no breakfast, and did so March 26. The FRWRC, established in 1996, launched “Dare to Dream” in 1999, meanwhile raising more than $100,000 for the program.

In a statement issued on-line, the Front Royal women’s organization said, in part: “One of the things our breakfast does that is subtle but extremely powerful, is to tell each of the grantees that we believe in them. Each of them has a story that touches us deeply and in turn, connects us to them and to each other. So now, in this extremely challenging time…we need to find other ways to reach out to touch, and to inspire, each other.”

Reach out they did, naming Megan Vardiman this year’s winner of the top award, the Elaine Bromfield Memorial Scholarship, including a check for $1,500. Megan, mother of four young children and enrolled at Lord Fairfax Community College (LFCC), dreams of becoming a psychologist, specifically helping women heal from trauma. Currently, she volunteers at Blue Ridge Hospice, and with Young Lives, a program offering support to teen mothers.

Other “dreamers” include:

• Diana Cercy of Linden ($900) who brought her Healing HeARTS Toolboxes and workshops from Prince William and Fauquier Counties. She is expanding her non-profit to cover her new community and Warren County schools.
• Mary Cook of Browntown Road, an artist, whose dream is to offer free arts experiences to children and adults in need. She received a check for $900 to purchase materials for mobile art workshops.
• Taylor Fletcher was awarded $1,000 for her nursing studies at LFCC. Taylor’s dream is to become a Nurse Practitioner,
  encouraged by her experience with caring for her ailing grandmother.
• Mia Coffman, a Front Royal native now in her junior year at the University of Lynchburg where she is working toward a degree in special education. Her dream is to teach children with special needs. She received $600 to cover tuition costs for a class next semester.
• Amanda Horn, a fine art major at the Art Institute of Chicago and George Mason University, mother of two, with a current focus on painting plants and wildlife. She has shown and sold her work at wineries, art shows, and festivals, also murals in and on buildings locally. Her dream is to further share her paintings in the area. She received $1,000 to purchase a portable art display system.
• Eka Kapiotis, who established Valley Health’s Reiki Training Program, is a Cranio-Sacral Therapist (CST) dreaming of becoming a certified CST therapist at the highest level – that of “Diplomate.” She was award $600 toward the cost of gaining this certification.
• Meghan LeCompte is a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) and a medical technician at the Senior Living Center in Front Royal. She also volunteers at Warren County Fire and Rescue while studying for her Registered Nurse (RN) degree next year. She was awarded $1,000 for school expenses.
• Laura Ruby received $600 toward her dream of better addressing the needs of underserved populations, a trend. she discovered after opening Ruby Yoga in Front Royal three years ago. Specifically, she seeks training in kids’ yoga and in traumatic-informed yoga.

At its first on-line breakfast, FRWC noted that the year 2020 marks the 100th anniversary of congressional ratification of the 19th Amendment in which “women’s right to vote was enshrined in the U.S. Constitution.”