Jenspiration
NextHome announces new charity partnership with Canine Companions for Independence
NextHome has announced a new national charity partner, Canine Companions for Independence®, a non-profit with the primary purpose to enhance the lives of people with disabilities by providing highly trained assistance dogs. The partnership will drive national donation efforts from its local offices to generate additional funds that will provide Canine Companions assistance dogs to children, adults and veterans with disabilities free of charge.
The partnership with Canine Companions was revealed during the fourth annual NextHome conference, held recently. The three-day event in Las Vegas brought together hundreds of NextHome franchisees, brokers and agents from across the country to take a first peek on trending industry insights and introduce new programs, such as this partnership.
“As a firm believer in investing in your own team and giving back to local communities, it made perfect sense to associate NextHome with an organization that is equally dedicated to society by delivering the greatest resources to individuals in need,” states Chief Executive Officer James Dwiggins. “Our hope is that our match-made partnership with Canine Companions for Independence will enrich the lives of those people through the support of our offices, agents, followers, friends and families.”
Canine Companions introduced the concept of assistance dogs for people with physical disabilities in 1975. With professional instructors who possess hundreds of years of cumulative experience in both training assistance dogs and being able to instruct people with over 60 different types of disabilities, Canine Companions is now known as the largest provider of assistance dogs in the world.
“We’re excited about this new partnership with NextHome and appreciate that they share our belief in the value of collaboration and community,” adds Paige Mazzoni, chief executive officer of Canine Companions for Independence. “With the support from NextHome and their franchise with hundreds of offices across the nation, we’ll be able to unite more people with dogs in a powerful program that opens up new opportunities and new possibilities and allows us to expand the work that we do that improves the quality of life for so many people.”
NextHome is encouraging its members, friends, families and supporters to help raise funds to support the mission of Canine Companions for Independence. Donations will allow Canine Companions to continue to provide expertly trained assistance dogs and follow-up services free of charge to adults, children and veterans.
To learn more about the new partnership and ways to support Canine Companions for Independence, please visit cci.org/nexthome.
By RISMedia Staff
Jenspiration
Merikit Uganda Rotary Global Grant – Water!
Kathy Napier, member of the Rotary Club of Warren County, presented “Uganda 2019” a voyage to Africa with George Karnes, Ron Napier, Beth Waller, Liz Gibbs, and other Rotary International Rotarians. The main purpose of the trip was to attend the dedication of the Sam F. Owori Memorial Wash Global Grant Project.
The idea of a project in Uganda began at the Governor’s training, where 30 rising district governors from Zone 29 and 30 met and decided on a project to honor the incoming Rotary International President, Sam Owori, who was from Uganda. Sam, who had been elected to serve as president of Rotary International in 2018-19, would have been the second African Rotary member, and the first Ugandan, to hold that office. The idea was to construct a well for a school in Uganda to honor Sam. And George, as the incoming District Governor for District 7570, was put in charge of obtaining a global grant for this purpose. Sam was thrilled at the idea of the project.
Unfortunately, after surgery, Sam died, and it looked like the project would pass with him. There was a groundswell of support for a project in Uganda to honor Sam’s memory and the proposed project in Merikit. George expanded plans for the original project to bring a much larger water system to Merikit, and enlisted the aid of other Rotary Districts and Clubs, to support the larger project. As a result, more than $228,000 was raised from 42 Rotary Districts and 22 Rotary Clubs. Rotary International partnered with the Clean The World organization, and the project became the Sam F. Owori Memorial Wash Global Grant Project.
Merikit, the remote village where Sam had grown up, is a community of 4,000 people which grows to 10,000 during the day. The grant provides a solar-powered pump water system for more than 3,000 homes and the local maternity ward. On one of his visits to the village with Walter Hughes George found that the local medical clinic required the presentation of 100 liters of water during the dry season before they would allow pregnant women to enter the facility and have their babies. As a result, many babies were born on the steps of the clinic.
Also sanitation was a problem, with the lack of latrines. This all would change as a result of the grant: the new system pumps water into the huge steel water tank, which holds more than one hundred thousand liters of water. The project also provides five schools in the area with disposable toilets, and the village received two micro flush toilets. The maternity ward now has a hot shower for its patients. No longer would pregnant women deliver their babies on the steps.
The grant also provided for the training of forty-eight toilet makers, giving these craftsmen a source of income. Thirty school teachers and ten health workers have been trained as trainers, in order to improve on sanitation, health, and menstrual hygiene for girls. A water users committee has been trained and equipped to maintain, sustain, and manage the distribution system.
On October 26, 2019, a day-long ceremony was held to officially transfer the project to the villagers, with Sam’s wife Nora in attendance, along with Kathy, Ron, and George, Rotary Club members from Kampala, and Ugandan governmental officials. It was a joyous occasion and a lot of fun, culminating with everyone dancing. Kathy said that she was struck by the friendliness of all the people in Uganda. Known as “the Pearl of Africa,” Uganda is a developing country with a bright future. After presenting a brief history of the country, she noted a striking statistic about Uganda: the media age in Uganda is 16.7. Forty-six percent of the population is 14 or under; and another twenty-one percent is aged 15 to 24.
During the trip they also visited the Light Up Front Royal Academy, a school started by Beth Waller in December 2017 in the remote village of Bunyade,Uganda. It provides educational facilities for the children of the village. The school, which has an excellent reputation, now serves more than 200 children, and Beth is actively working to improve the school.
Message from Beth: “I’m so honored to be a part of the Rotary family and to witness the amazing work they are doing in Uganda, all over the world and in my own community. I’m looking forward to an even brighter future of global impact work now that I am a Rotarian and connected with fantastic like-minded individuals working together to make more of a difference on our planet.”
Finally, after the celebration, they toured the Murchison Falls National Park, where the animals were more than happy to greet and perform for visiting Rotarians.
Watch this video of the entire presentation:
Watch this video by Beth Waller and George Karnes:
For more information, please go to www.warrencountyrotary.org
This story is a collaborative effort by Hank Ecton & Jennifer Avery.
Photo credit: Kathy Napier (picture quote by Jenspiration)
#RCWC #RotaryConnectsTheWorld
Ugandans gift local businessman with goat for providing fresh water to African village
Jenspiration
Rotary Club of Warren County collecting donations for local thermal shelter
Do you have a middle school student at Skyline Middle School? The Skyline Middle School Interact Club is collecting new sheets and blankets for our local thermal shelter. Please make sure all blankets and sheets are still in the new wrappers/containers. White twin sheets and light colored blankets are the best and are easier to clean.
If you are not familiar with our Front Royal Thermal Shelter, here is some information provided to us by Michelle Smeltzer, a member of the Rotary Club of Warren County and Community Liaison for the Department of Social Services:
“The Front Royal Thermal Shelter gives the homeless of Warren County a place to stay warm during the winter months. The shelter is not in a fixed location – rather it is a cooperative effort by eight churches in the area, including New Hope Bible Church, Front Royal United Methodist Church, Front Royal Presbyterian Church, Marlow Heights Baptist Church, Riverton United Methodist Church, Virginia Hills Church, First Baptist Church and Dynamic Life Church. The guests are provided supper at about 7:30 each evening, and the volunteers join them. After supper, the volunteers join them and they play a variety of games, watch TV, or simply lie down on their cots after a tiring day. As the guests noted, this makes them feel as if someone really cares about them. Michelle said this makes a world of difference to them, because they too often feel alone and abandoned, as if the outside world ignores them. The following morning several of the churches provide breakfast, and some provide a bagged lunch when they leave for the day. The guests are assigned a cot when they arrive at the church, and that is their bed for a week. There are separate sleeping areas for men and women, and the program does not allow guests or volunteers with the program until they are at least 18 years of age because they are a no-barrier shelter. This year the shelter has also made arrangements, with the help of the Warren County Humane Society, to provide shelter for homeless pets of the guests.”
Michelle Smeltzer, a member of the Rotary Club of Warren County.
Remember – there are still many cold days ahead! Current update: The Front Royal Thermal Shelter’s greatest need is cash donations at this time: Here is an easy PayPal link. You can also visit their website to donate or learn more.
Together we are making a huge difference in this community! Thanks to all!
Community Events
WomenGathering with Joanne Mulherin & Chateau O’Brien Wines
Photos by Jennifer Avery
The Front Royal Women’s Resource Center hosted a combination monthly WomanGathering this week and a new membership drive. The guest of the evening was wine tasting expert Joanne Mulherin with Chateau O’Brien Wines. Her presentation was absolutely excellent combining wine making facts, humor, geography, and history. What a great experience!
Watch the video to see Joanne in action and learn a thing or two about wine. To learn more about Chateau O’Brien click here.
Guest Speaker: Joanne Mulherin
Topic: Wine Tasting with Chateau O’Brien Wines & FRWRC Membership Drive
Learn more about FRWRC supporting local women. Levels of Support – you decide:
- Individual Membership – $35 – $50 – $100 – $500+
- Business Partner – $100 – $200 – $500 – $1000+
About FRWRC
The Front Royal Women’s Resource Center is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1996 to provide a support network for women in Warren County. Through monthly networking meetings, yearly grant presentations, special events, email connections and program activities, we have forged a link between women in our community. www.frwrc.org.
Jenspiration
Rotary Club of Warren County – Reaching Out Now
The Mission of Reaching Out Now, Inc: Through Academic and empowerment we support and encourage under-served school aged girls (6th through 12th grade), and young women to live victoriously and not defeated; to reach their full potential.
We support their schools by embracing, empowering and engaging students. We serve by implementing programs and will challenge students to rise above life’s circumstances to become their better selves.
Anne Cobb (above left) and Samantha Barber (above right) brought the message of hope embodied in their program “Reaching Out Now,” which they presented to the Rotary Club of Warren County. Both women have been involved in education and educational programs for many years and informed us of a program designed to mentor and assist girls in middle school. In the future they have plans to expand the program to carry it into high school and to include boys as well.
As Anne noted, she had had the benefit of mentors throughout her life, from her church, sports, school, and parents, but many of these girls in middle school haven’t had this assistance. As she said, “what we are doing is providing a safety net for these girls.”
And they are not working with the top academic students, rather with students who are having academic problems or behavior and developmental problems–boys and girls who need to be nurtured–someone to get to know them and guide them through middle and high school, until they are 21. As Samantha said, she has been there and she knows some of the problems they are facing.
At this point, they are working with about 20 students in what is called a “Girl Destiny Program,” meeting with them two or three times a month, taking them places and building up their self-confidence and view of themselves. For example, they took the girls to Heaven, a beauty salon in Winchester. The owners of this salon closed their shop and gave the girls a make-over. Anne and Samantha have also provided workshops since the program was launched at Skyline Middle School in September. And it has included programs such as True Colors, allowing them to recognize their own personalities, and Love Languages. They are also working with the students to do community hours, to prepare scholarship applications, to learn financial literacy, as well as preparing them for academic and career readiness. And even though they have only been offering the program for a few months, it is already showing benefits. As one principal noted, “You can see the changes taking place–they are standing taller, they are getting involved in their academics, and they are talking.” As Anne said, “Imagine what they will be like at 21.”
Anne and Samantha are working within a framework developed by the National Office of School Councilor Advocacy, which helps prepare the students for college or for a career. As Anne noted, not all these students will go to college, and the point is to prepare them for life. They are also pulling people in from the community to meet with the girls, to provide assistance and workshops. The point is to establish networks between the schools and the community to talk about what we can do to make our community life better while assisting these students.
To celebrate the end of the year, they plan an Awards Dinner on May 15, much like a Rotary Gala, in which they will recognize the girls for the wonderful work they have done. Other plans include holding a round-table forum (tentatively set for March 17) with community leaders and business owners to join with educators and have a networking session and talk about what we can do to make our community better.
For more information, please go to www.warrencountyrotary.org
Story and photo: Hank Ecton
Video credit: Dave Hardy
Community Events
Holiday Party moments from the Front Royal Women’s Resource Center
The Front Royal Women’s Resource Center celebrated the holidays this week with their annual Holiday Party. Hors D’Oeuvres were by Downtown Catering and were absolutely delicious! Lovely arrangements were done by Joey Waters. Christmas music set the mood by T.E.D.Trio – Tim Grant, Eric Olson, and Dwight Myers. Enjoy these photos by Franzi Lee!
The mission of the Front Royal Women’s Resource Center is to provide support, education and information to women in Warren County for the empowerment of their personal, family and work lives. Please visit www.frwrc.org to learn more! If you are interested in attending their next event, you are in luck! Wine Tasting Uncorked on January 16th is sure to be a hit: CLICK HERE for more details.
Community Events
Magical Santa moments & the Rotary Club of Warren County elves
North Pole magic happened right here in Front Royal, VA as the Rotary Club of Warren County hosted Santa and Mrs Claus for “Saturday with Santa!” Local middle school Interact students helped with crafts and cookies were served. Well over 50 wide-eyed little ones sat on Santa’s lap as the grown ups captured the moment with a picture.
