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Check Out The United Way- Thomas Jefferson Area “All Around Town” Auction in Charlottesville February 3-10

February 1, 2010 by Sasha Farmer · Leave a Comment 

The United Way- Thomas Jefferson Area is holding their All Around Town Auction from February 3-10, and there are definitely some great items up for auction, all for a great cause!

The All Around Town Auction features tons of participating companies around town, all of whom have different auction items present at their stores and shops, that shoppers may bid on while they peek around.

All proceeds benefit the United Way-Thomas Jefferson Area toward furthering their mission to serve those at the greatest risk and with the greatest need.

Areas all over Charlottesville are participating, and are broken down into the following segments of town;

• 250 West
• 29 North
• Barracks Road
• Crozet
• Downtown Charlottesville
• Pantops/East

There are definitely plenty of stores participating, so if you’re out and about taking care of your shopping, or looking for the perfect Valentine’s Day gift, consider stopping in some of these stores to bid on their featured items.

Click here for a PDF Auction Brochure of all of the stores represented, along with their auction items! PDF Auction Brochure

Additionally, here is a brochure listing all auction items, and where they can be found! AuctionList2010.pdf

This is a great program, for a great cause- keep it in mind over the next two weeks!

Happy Shopping!

February Give Where You Live: Charlottesville’s Salvation Army Shoe Drive

January 30, 2010 by Sasha Farmer · Leave a Comment 

This month’s “Give Where You Live” focuses on the Salvation Army Shoe Drive.

U.Va’s Office of Community Relations and the Salvation Army are running a shoe drive!

This is a great chance to donate your used, but usable men’s, women’s and children’s shoes to those in need.

Monday Feb. 1 – Friday Feb. 5!

Drop Off Points:

• Fontaine Research Park (1st Floor Kitchen)
• Piedmont Center
• Health System Development (2410 Old Ivy Road)

Additionally, volunteers are needed for shoe sorting!

• February 12 @ 4:00P
• February 13 @ 12:00P

Click here for more information!

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Every month, I will post a segment called “Give Where You Live,” which will be focused on Charlottesville and the surrounding counties, reminding us of little things we can do to make our community a better place. There are tons of incredible non-profits and charities around the area, and hopefully these segments will help residents become more familiar with some of the different needs in the community and maybe even inspire some giving!   

I will try to post about a variety of needs and programs, from big to small, so if you know of a great local cause that is running a donation-based or volunteer campaign, please feel free to send the details my way and I will make an effort to include them in an upcoming “Give Where You Live”!

Building Goodness Foundation Accepting Proposals for Local Fall Building Projects

January 9, 2010 by Sasha Farmer · Leave a Comment 

The Building Goodness Foundation is a Charlottesville non-profit that focuses on construction improvements and renovations for communities and families in need. Their projects span the globe, from right here in Charlottesville to Mississippi, Guatemala, and Haiti. They are currently taking proposals for their upcoming Fall Building Project (which occurs in Charlottesville) and I would encourage anyone who is aware of a community or civic center, school, or library that is in need of some structural repair and renovation to submit a proposal to BGF!

From their monthly newsletter;

We are now accepting proposals for our third annual Local Fall Building Project. In partnership with local nonprofit agencies, BGF volunteers will donate hundreds of hours of skilled labor to consult, design, build or renovate a building that serves a community need in the Charlottesville/Albemarle area. Renovations or additions to existing buildings such as clinics, schools or community centers are examples of likely candidates. The Local Fall Building Project will not accept proposals for individual housing improvements.

Proposal applications for the Local Fall Building Project will be accepted until 5:00pm on Friday, February 26, 2010. A pdf version of the form is available here for download and also on our website. If you have questions, please contact Ethan by email or call the office at 434.973.0993.

Download the Request for Proposal here (aka the RFP pdf for BGF’s LFBP)

I hope you will consider submitting a proposal or perhaps volunteering with the Building Goodness Foundation!

Give Where You Live: December: Charlottesville SPCA Blanket Drive

December 29, 2009 by Sasha C. Farmer Realtor · Leave a Comment 

The December “Give Where You Live” focuses on the Charlottesville Albemarle SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals). They are currently partnered up with the City of Charlottesville for their 4th Annual Blanket Drive.   

There is no better time than now to support this drive, as I’m sure we are all mindful of the bitter temperatures Charlottesville has been experiencing! While we are all trying to keep warm from the bitter cold this winter, many of the SPCA animals are housed in outdoor runs and kennels and can use any extra warmth that we might be able to spare! If you have old blankets that won’t hold up in your home much longer, make sure to drop them off at the Albemarle SPCA (Berkmar Drive) or Charlottesville City Hall in Downtown Charlottesville!

[From 4th Annual SPCA Blanket Drive - NBC29]

Charlottesville is teaming up with the SPCA for the 4th Annual Blanket Drive to make sure man’s best friend isn’t left out in the cold.

The shelter houses dozens of animals, and while a lot of the kennels are indoors, several have an outdoor component as well. Last year, the drive brought in 600 blankets. This year the city is hoping for 750.

Susanne Kogut of the Charlottesville – Albemarle SPCA said, “It’s really incredible, I mean during the winter it gets pretty cold. We have the outdoor runs and it gets pretty cold no matter what you do so having the dogs have the blankets, it’s really awesome.”

If you would like to help, you can drop off your donation in the front lobby at Charlottesville City Hall or the Charlottesville – Albemarle SPCA on Berkmar Drive.

For more information, call 434-970-3129.

[Photo Credit: Charlottesville Albemarle SPCA]

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Every month, I will post a segment called “Give Where You Live,” which will be focused on Charlottesville and the surrounding counties, reminding us of little things we can do to make our community a better place. There are tons of incredible non-profits and charities around the area, and hopefully these segments will help residents become more familiar with some of the different needs in the community and maybe even inspire some giving!   

I will try to post about a variety of needs and programs, from big to small, so if you know of a great local cause that is running a donation-based or volunteer campaign, please feel free to send the details my way and I will make an effort to include them in an upcoming “Give Where You Live”!

Charlottesville is extremely lucky to have been the home of Dave Matthews!

December 24, 2009 by Sasha C. Farmer Realtor · Leave a Comment 

$222,000 lucky, in fact! Dave Matthews has again given out another set of grants to Charlottesville non-profits, totaling $222,000 in grants, and benefitting 39 grateful (and deserving!) non-profit organizations here in town. Evidently BAMA Works holds a competitive grant application process and selects the groups most in need of their funds every year (side note- this is very similar to the United Way’s Program Review and Funding Committee, that determines the allocation of the United Way’s grant monies each year.) We are blessed to have such strong supporters of our non-profits here in Charlottesville! Take a look at some of the grants, and what they are going to be used for.   

If any of the projects sounds interesting, I’d venture to say that many of these non-profits are likely looking for volunteers to help carry them out!

The following is a complete list (Credit to Newsplex.com):

1. Albemarle County Schools (Monticello High School) – $3,000 for school supplies, books, field trips, glasses, and clothing to financially needy Monticello High School students.

2. Albemarle County Schools (Stony Point Elementary School) – $1,000 stipend to a professional songwriter who will teach music literary to students in Pre-K classes.

3. Albemarle Pipes and Drums Band, Inc. – $1,500 for musical instruments for the volunteer Celtic band at various community functions.

4. Charlottesville Abundant Life Ministries – $5,000 to support a dance instruction curriculum to enhance the 5th-8th grade tutoring program at Walker Upper Elementary and Buford Middle School.

5. Charlottesville Area Dental Access – $10,000 to support the Community Children’s Dental Center that provides full service pediatric dental care for low-income children in Central Virginia.

6. Charlottesville City Public Schools (Adult Education Program) – $2,000 to help fund a one-day Festival of Cultures in Lee Park in the spring of 2010.

7. Charlottesville Jazz Society – $3,000 to fund educational program by which jazz artists teach local students.

8. Charlottesville Police Department Foundation – $10,000 to support police/community activities, including the Cops4Kids program that provides positive engagement with disadvantaged youth.

9. Children, Youth & Family Services – $8,000 to support the STAR Kids program that teaches positive social and decision-making skills to low-income preschoolers.

10. Covesville Child Development Center – $5,000 for scholarships to financially disadvantaged preschoolers from Albemarle and Nelson counties.

11. Fluvanna County Habitat for Humanity – $10,000 to help build one of five Earthcraft-certified homes for deserving Fluvanna County residents as a part of a new rural conservation cluster subdivision design.

12. Fluvanna County Schools (Fluvanna County High School) – $1,500 to help fund the Fluvanna County High School Blue and Gold monthly newspaper.

13. Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville – $10,000 to help complete critical electrical work at Southwood Mobile Park.

14. Hope Foundation, Inc. – $10,000 to support the Hope Community Center’s afterschool program for elementary and middle school children in the Tenth and Page neighborhood.

15. International Rescue Committee – $10,000 to create an emergency fund for medical and dental assistance to Charlottesville refugees whose health insurance programs do not meet their health needs.

16. James River Association – $5,000 to support education efforts of the Upper James Riverkeeper program.

17. Monticello Area Community Action Agency (MACAA) – $10,000 to fund the Hope House transitional housing facility for homeless families.

18. Meals on Wheels of Charlottesville-Albemarle – $9,000 to provide hot meals for seven homebound disabled clients for one year.

19. North Branch School – $5,000 for the Naomi Scherr Memorial Scholarship to provide tuition assistance to needy students attending the North Branch School in Nelson County.

20. People and Congregations Engaged in Ministry (PACEM ) – $8,000 to fund the salary of the Guest Advocate position to assist shelter guests by creating a relationship of trust and to provide information about jobs, housing, and identification documents.

21. Piedmont CASA, Inc .- $5,000 to support a part-time teen specialist position to increase the effectiveness of advocacy for teens (13 to18) who are victims of abuse and neglect.

22. Quest Institute, Inc. – $2,500 for the Books Behind Bars program that collects and provides books without charge to incarcerated individuals in Virginia prisons.

23. QuickStart Tennis of Central Virginia – $5,000 to introduce children throughout the CACF service area to the game of tennis.

24. Second Street Gallery – $2,000 to support Family Art Day and the Public Art Project which provide art education for the Charlottesville community.

25. Senior Center, Inc. – $5,000 to support arts and humanities programs to enrich the lives of area seniors.

26. Service Dogs of Virginia – $7,000 to provide a Service Dog Scholarship to support advanced training and placement of one diabetic alert service dog.

27. Spay/Neuter All Pets, Inc. (SNAP) – $2,500 to provide low-cost spay/neuter services to low-income residents of Louisa County.

28. Special Olympics Virginia – $7,500 to support a tennis tournament for individuals with intellectual disabilities in Charlottesville with participants from across the country.

29. Thomas Jefferson Area Coalition for the Homeless – $8,000 for supplies for the community kitchen at “The Haven at First and Market” (formerly known as the First Street Church Project) that provides daily meals and a food service job training program.

30. Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission/Jefferson Area Disability Services Board (DSB) – $3,500 to develop a home modification network for people with disabilities in the planning district.

31. Town of Mineral – $6,000 to modernize and expand Walton Park utilizing a plan by the Virginia Tech Design Group to attract more performing arts activities to Louisa County.

32. University Montessori School – $3,000 to complete construction of an outdoor classroom for environmental education classes.

33. UVA Rector and Visitors (UVA Children’s Hospital) – $3,000 to provide helmets to third grade children in Charlottesville and Albemarle, to be distributed through the Bike Helmet program.

34. Urban Vision – $8,000 to help start an incentive program for Friendship Court families with the goal to make families more self-sufficient.

35. Virginia Foundation for the Humanities and Public Policy – $3,000 for travel, lodging and honoraria for 10 authors/storytellers/illustrators to give presentations fostering the love of reading and literacy skills to local schools, youth and community organizations during the Virginia Festival of the Book March 17-21, 2010.

36. Virginia Organization of Consumers Asserting Leadership (VOCAL) – $5,000 to support Firewalkers: Changing the Story of Mental Health, a book and outreach project to educate the Charlottesville community about mental illness and to improve mental health services.

37. Wildlife Center of Virginia – $8,000 for environmental outreach programs for area elementary schools.

38. Wintergreen Adaptive Sports – $8,000 to support an ongoing sports program for wounded servicemen and women.

39. Writer House, Inc. – $3,000 for scholarship funds for disadvantaged youth to develop creative writing skills.

[From Dave Matthews Band Gives Back to Hometown]

[Photo Credit: http://wknc.org/blog/post/wp-content/uploads/dmb.gif]

Charlottesville's Big Warm Up: Donate Your Gently Used Coats for a Good Cause!

November 15, 2009 by Sasha C. Farmer Realtor · Leave a Comment 

[From Marnie Allen, community partner with MACAA- Monticello Area Action Agency]

I am excited to let you know about a collaborative effort that MACAA is participating in with The Boys and Girls Club, The Junior League, The National Coalition to End Homelessness, Sears and Land’s End. Once the coats are collected I will be in touch with area service providers to get a list of families in need and the coats will be distributed through the service providers.

You can get more information at the website www.bigwarmupcville.com

Digital Voter Guide for Albemarle Board of Supervisors and Charlottesville City Council

October 23, 2009 by Sasha C. Farmer Realtor · Leave a Comment 

Everyone in Charlottesville should go check out this excellent digital voter guide put together by Charlottesville Tomorrow and digitized by my good friends Cindy Marks at CatStone Press.

This is a great interactive guide with lots of live links to get in touch with several of the candidates and for listening to podcast interviews of each one. Have fun while getting informed.

Click here for the 2010 Digital Voter Guide

Avoid the Rapid Refund!

January 11, 2009 by Sasha C. Farmer Realtor · 1 Comment 

Dear anyone-who-doesn’t-like-to-throw-money-away,

Please do not pay money for instant tax returns this year! H&R Block and ProTax claim to be doing you a favor by charging you $375 for an instant tax return, but there are many places in Charlottesville and it’s surrounding areas that provide free tax return assistance beginning February 1. If you can fight the urge to file your tax return the day after you get your year end pay stub, you will save lots of money- and isn’t that the whole point of a tax return?

The AARP Tax Aides have several locations in the area (and they are also looking for additional volunteers for anyone who might be willing to help provide tax return support and counseling to the elderly or those in low income tax brackets- contact me for more information about this- it is an extremely rewarding program!)- all of their locations are listed below.

Charlottesville Area Locations;

• Friendship Court/Urban Vision Community Center; Monticello Avenue
• MACAA; 1025 Park Street
• Senior Center; 1180 Pepsi Center
• Albemarle County Office Building; 1600 5th Street
• PVCC; 501 College Drive

Surrounding Counties;

• Fluvanna County Library; 8880 James Madison Highway
• Madison Extension Office War Memorial Building
• Orange Extension Office; 146 Madison Road
• Nelson Memorial Library; 8521 Thomas Nelson Highway, Lovingston 

Some of these locations are by appointment only and others take walk-in’s, and more information will be released about their schedules soon.

Be a Mentor!

January 11, 2009 by Sasha C. Farmer Realtor · Leave a Comment 

I have been so excited recently about a new project I am undertaking with a handful of my fellow Leadership Charlottesville class of 2009 classmates. Leadership Charlottesville is a program through the Chamber of Commerce that takes 36 different civic-minded Charlottesville professionals through a series of sessions on different sectors of Charlottesville living. From the economy to the school system to the arts, we cover every major umbrella sector in Charlottesville, learning more about the needs in our community as well as the resources we can use while working towards remedying those needs. Once led through all of the sessions, the class presents different ?projects? that they?d like to tackle over the next 6 months of the Leadership Charlottesville program and breaks into teams to work on each. The project that I was extremely passionate about and chose to participate in was a community-wide mentor/tutor drive that would provide a pool of mentors/tutors for the many different organizations that need them in Charlottesville, and that will culminate in a one-day event very similar to a job fair, but that will be a recruiting fair for mentors. Having mentored/tutored through several of the organizations that we are collaborating with, I am extremely excited about this project and my team.

In our Leadership Charlottesville classes, we came to realize that in order to have a long-term impact on many of the troubling issues in our community, we needed to reach children from low-income families who are less likely to be involved in organized activities. One of our sessions was held at the Regional Jail and Juvenile Detention Center, where Charlottesville Police Chief Longo told us that the average age at which children make the decision to lead a life of crime and to become involved in gangs is 10 years old. These kids need mentors and tutors who will take an interest in them, share enrichment activities with them, provide tutoring and encouragement for their school work and help them raise their expectations for themselves.

There are many mentoring and tutoring programs in our community, each with a slightly different focus, but all need more mentors. The Volunteer Center recently surveyed these programs and most indicated that they do not have enough time or financial resources to adequately publicize their need for mentors.

We envision a month-long recruitment drive for tutors and mentors in our community, based loosely on a successful model in Jacksonville FL. It includes a public awareness campaign and also encourages companies to support their employees in becoming mentors. It culminates in a March event like a job fair in which those who have signed up or expressed an interest in mentoring can visit with the many local organizations that work with youth and find the right fit. Preliminary interviews and screening can be done at the event.

The United Way Volunteer Center is the community partner helping our Leadership Charlottesville group coordinate with mentoring programs and supporting the public awareness campaign that includes the 70 businesses and organizations that participate in the United Way Day of Caring. The publicity campaign will direct the public to the BeAVolunteer.info website to learn about mentoring and view local opportunities, and will capture contact information to extend invitations to the March event.

If anyone is aware of an organization in Charlottesville (or one of it?s surrounding counties) that may need more help recruiting mentors/tutors, please send contact information my way so they can be included in our collaborative effort. More importantly, if anyone has even a hint of interest in becoming a tutor or a mentor to a child, please be in touch! I would love to get you involved in our mentoring drive and will also offer to personally help match you with the organization and mentoring/tutoring opportunity that will best fit your personality and expectations! Mentoring is extremely rewarding, and each child in Charlottesville who is paired with a passionate mentor is infinitely more likely to become an active member of our community. I believe Colin Powell said very succinctly once in a speech about his passion for mentoring, that you will either spend time, effort, and money building up these programs and organizations to focus on outreach to children, or you?ll spend that same time, money and effort building jails.

Adopt Us! Bambi & Bucky

January 7, 2009 by Sasha C. Farmer Realtor · Leave a Comment 

Bambi (F) and Bucky (M) are another set of foster pups who will be ready for adoption from CASPCA on Monday. These two are SUPER cute and are extremely difficult to slow down for long enough to photograph!  I think they may be a lab/something mix and they will likely not get to be extremely large.  The have small paws and would be much larger by now if they were pure lab.

Click the link to see additional photos of Bambi and Bucky; 

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2244944&l=a2913&id=1503017

Adopt Me Too! Ivy

January 6, 2009 by Sasha C. Farmer Realtor · Leave a Comment 

Habitat For Humanity Dedications

January 1, 2008 by Sasha C. Farmer Realtor · Leave a Comment 

As a long-time Habitat for Humanity volunteer and recent Family Advocate here at the Charlottesville Habitat for Humanity, I am inclined to keep everyone updated with all of the incredible things Habitat is accomplishing for affordable housing in the Charlottesville and Central Virginia areas.

Great Habitat news- I just received a newsletter that stated the following;

Those of you who are new to Habitat may not know that, along with donating hours of sweat equity, our partner families also repay a portion of their home’s cost with an interest-free mortgage. On October 6th, Habitat For Humanity of Greater Charlottesville celebrated a wonderful milestone. Our very first mortgage with our very first partner family was paid in full- and early, no less! Surrounded by family, friends, volunteers, staff, and board members past and present, Phyllis Meredith celebrated the completion of her Habitat mortgage in the yard of the home that began Habitat’s mission in our area. Dick Miller, her family advocate from all those years ago, presented her with the framed paid- in-full notice.

What an amazing program to see come full-circle! HFHGC is now conquering the redevelopment of two huge trailer parks in the Charlottesville area and it will be interesting to see the wonderful things to come from their efforts! If you are interested in learning more about HFHGC or getting a front row seat to see what they are actually doing for the Charlottesville community, please join us this Saturday!