Public schoolchildren in the New River Valley will now have a greater opportunity to experience college campus life with a current student in College Mentors for Kids, thanks to a $15,200 donation from the 100+ Women Who Care NRV Chapter.
Of three not-for-profits presented at the spring meeting held last month, the 100+ Women Who Care NRV Chapter membership voted to award this quarter’s donation to College Mentors for Kids.
The mission of College Mentors for Kids is to connect college students with the most to give to kids who need it most. The funds received from 100+ WWC will go towards the match support costs necessary to sustain the local chapters at Virginia Tech and Radford. The contribution will help with chapter operations, liability management and mentor screening, training for college student volunteers, and general support of the Virginia Tech and Radford University chapters. This donation will help College Mentors for Kids provide even more children in the New River Valley with a college mentor. The schools served by the Virginia Tech chapter include Blacksburg Middle, Margaret Beeks, Kipps, and Prices Fork Elementary Schools. The Radford chapter serves Belview Elementary School. Details on College Mentors for Kids can be found at: www.collegementors.org.
100+ WWC member Gunin Kiran stated, “Shortly after Virginia Tech President Sands and Dr. Laura Sands moved to Blacksburg in 2014, they had a gathering for the education community at their residence. There I heard about College Mentors and had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Stephanie Kohls, Regional Director of Development and Community Engagement. At that time, they were just serving one of our elementary schools. As a [school] board member and an education advocate, I got very interested in promoting College Mentors at every chance I got so more of our schools will take advantage of this great opportunity. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the wonderful and generous ladies of 100+WWC!”
Dr. Laura Sands, first lady of Virginia Tech and professor of Human Development, has been a longtime supporter of the College Mentors mission. She stated, “College Mentors for Kids fosters children’s interest in college by giving them opportunities to learn and develop friendships in the college environment. It provides college mentors the opportunity to inspire children to go to college.”
Vice President for Fundraising at the Virginia Tech chapter, Roz Henley stated, “College Mentors for Kids has been my favorite part of college. I love getting to see the little buddies grow throughout the year and gain more confidence in themselves. They start to think to the future and create goals for themselves that they believe they can attain.”
To date, the 100+ Women Who Care NRV have donated more than $62,000 since their first meeting in April of last year. Thanks to a 50% matching grant from The Secular Society, the group’s impact is magnified to benefit local not-for-profits throughout the New River Valley. All interested women are invited to join the 100+ WWC to support local not-for-profits that make the New River Valley a better place to live. The group’s membership area includes the counties of Montgomery, Giles, Pulaski, Floyd and the City of Radford.
The 100+ WWC meet quarterly on the third Tuesday of January, April, July, and October. Committed members donate $100 every quarter, and each meeting lasts no more than one hour. For more information, visit www.100womenwhocarenrv.com or email Sarah Black, Alexa Casey, and Beth Parker at nrv100wwc@gmail.com. Their next meeting is Tuesday, July 18, 2017 at 6:15pm at Bull & Bones at First & Main in Blacksburg.
