Nancy Bell, left, is the Coordinator for Smart Beginnings Franklin Patrick. Shown with her is Pat Koger, Executive Director of United Way of Franklin County.

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Local Counties Receive $50,000 Grant for Smart Beginnings

Initiative Funding Supports Early Education Initiative in Franklin & Patrick Counties

Woking together, Franklin and Patrick counties have received a $50,000 planning grant for their Smart Beginnings Initiative

The statewide initiative brings people together to help Virginia’s youngest citizens, ages prenatal to five, be better prepared for success in school and in life. The grant was awarded by the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation (VECF).

The grant will be used to fund a comprehensive community assessment of early learning needs in Franklin and Patrick counties, as well as the development of a leadership council for the new initiative and the creation of a long-term strategic plan that will be executed in the initiative’s service area.

The planning grant period begins in October 2009 and will end in early 2011. The United Way of Franklin County will serve as the grant manager and fiscal agent. For more information, visit www.smartbeginningsfp.org.

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About Smart Beginnings of Franklin and Patrick Counties: Smart Beginnings of Franklin and Patrick Counties is a collaborative partnership of public and private agencies, businesses, and individuals serving Franklin County and Patrick County, working to enhance the quality of services for young children. For more information, call Nancy Bell or Pat Koger at (540) 483-4949.

About the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation: The Virginia Early Childhood Foundation is a public-private partnership with a mission to provide collaborative leadership to foster Smart Beginnings for all young children in Virginia and through them a vital future for the Commonwealth. For more information, visit www.smartbeginnings.org or call (804) 358-8323.

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Your Dollars at work! Did you know...

Helping Hands:

For $50, we can give a family food (for several days depending on size of family)
For $40, we can provide motel accommodations for one night for a homeless person.
For $100, we can help a family avoid an electric termination.
For $150, we can help avoid eviction from a dwelling.
For $200, we can help a client obtain emergency heating fuel.
For $25 to $100, we can help with prescription medication.
For $25, we can almost fill a gas tank for the average car.
 
At present, we average giving about $1,200 every day we are open for emergency needs.
 
 
Boy Scouts:

$25       provides one (1) Cub Scout Day Camp campership
$50       provides two (2) Eagle Scout Award presentation kits
$50       provides one (1) Cub Scout Adventure Camp campership
$90       provides one (1) Boy Scout Summer Camp ½ campership
$190     provides one (1) Boy Scout Summer Camp full campership

 
Goodwill:

$31 buys services for one day for a disabled member of our community who cannot work elsewhere and has no other funds to work here. (Services are vocational and life skills training, plus the opportunity to earn a paycheck)

 
Free Clinic:

$4.89 will provide a 30 day prescription
$549 will provide for diabetic for a year.( Includes 4 doctor visits, medications, eye exam, foot exam quarterly lab testing and a glucometer and strips. If you compare to regular costs that would be more than $5,000)

Girl Scouts:
For the Girl Scouts Virginia Skyline Council:
$12 supports the annual membership for one girl
$50 sends one girl to a summer day camp program
$75 provides program material for two scout troops
$120 supports five new troops
$195 supports programming for an entire year for one girl

 
Hospice:

$35 will provide a hospice patient a medical alert button for a month
(We have paid for heating bills, groceries, firewood, phone cards, med alert buttons for patients whom are alone during day. Bills vary in cost from $35/month for med watch button up to several hundred for food and heating bills.)
 
Note: Hospice uses United Way monies for things insurance won’t pay. They told me about using our funds to bring a brother or sister to see the dying relative. The two hadn’t spoken for years, but were able to reconcile before it was too late.
 
 
YMCA:

Donations make education, child care, recreation, and mentoring experiences available to area children, teens, and families who cannot afford to pay full fees.
 
$25 helps provide one month of full membership for a deserving teen
$50 helps provide a scholarship for any YMCA  child or teen development program
$100 helps give one child a full week of YMCA day camp, including field trips
$150 helps support a family with one month of after-school care for a child
$250 helps underwrite a youngster's full year of swim team classes
$500 helps send five pre-school children to the YMCA "Land of Wonder" for a week
$1,000 helps underwrite one month of work with high-risk teens


Blue Ridge Legal Services:

$40 will provide a low-income person with a legal consultation about a troubling legal question.