BRCC EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION, INC
Spring 2021
Friday Night Al Fresco
S pring is here, and it’s the perfect time of year to get outside and dine “al fresco”—in
the open air! What could be better than enjoying a gourmet picnic for two (or more) along with our wine pairing of Bluestone Vineyard Viognier—all while supporting Blue Ridge Community College? Funds generated from this event will allow the BRCC Educational Picnic Menu Foundation to support our students, college and Pimento Cheese Biscuits community. Smoked Trout Rillettes Crostini (Smoked Eggplant Crostini*)
Chef Mike Lund designed the menu to be enjoyed at room temperature, ideally beside a mountain stream or beautiful rolling meadow with friends and family. With so many lovely outdoor wonderlands in the Shenandoah Valley (including your own backyard), the possibilities are endless! The picnic will be packaged in an insulated bag, ready to pick up and devour immediately, or anytime over the weekend.
Salad of Local Lettuces, Roast Beets, Shaved Fennel & Apple, Spiced Pecans and Herb Vinaigrette Cornflake Crusted Picnic Chicken (Quinoa stuffed Zucchini Parmesan*) Asparagus Antipasti Mediterranean Orzo Salad Tiny Espresso Chocolate Mousse Wine Pairing (included): Bluestone Viognier
Please visit https://www.brcc.edu/edfound/ friday-night-alfresco for online ordering and payment options, and for our full event partner listing. The BRCC Educational Foundation thanks our generous partners for this event:
*vegetarian option
Reservations required Friday, May 14, 2021 Curbside pick-up 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. Robert E. Plecker Workforce Center $150 per picnic for two
Platinum Partners
Diamond Partner Gold Partners
Chair Matthias N. Smith , Vice Chair Andrew P. Vanhook, Secretary John A. Downey , Treasurer Cynthia F. Page Kenneth R. Boward Rob W. Cale Karen C. Clark
Kenneth S. Cleveland III Douglas G. Driver Steve Elkins
Silvia T. Garcia-Romero Teresa H. Gauldin Dinah Gottschalk
Mary Louise Leake Mary McDermott Thomas C. Mendez
David R. Metz Paula C. Moore Tassie L. Pippert
Justin T. Rexrode William M. Saxman Jr. Alan L. Shelton
Linnea J. Spradlin Pamela K. Ungar
Community Link is an official publication of the Blue Ridge Community College Educational Foundation. It is distributed to friends in the Shenandoah Valley, as well as BRCC faculty and staff, and is published quarterly by the Development Office, Blue Ridge Community College, Weyers Cave, VA 24486. If you have any questions or comments regarding this publication, please contact Angie Glenn, Development Services Coordinator, at (540) 453-2307 or glenna@brcc.edu.
Friday Night Bites a Tasteful Success!
Commencement Update
I n response to Governor Northam’s Plan for Safe In-Person Graduations and Commencements, Blue Ridge Community College has modified its graduation plan. The ceremony itself will remain virtual and will be broadcast at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, May 8, 2021 on BRCC’s YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/BRCCVirginia.
Tassie Pippert is ready to begin the Friday Night Bites cooking class while Andy Vanhook checks his prep list.
O ver the past year, the BRCC Educational Foundation Board and staff have learned to pivot and create new and unique
fundraising events that we hope our supporters enjoy. Our goal has been to build events that inspire learning, fun, and a sense of togetherness – all in support of our community’s college, BRCC. Apparently, our collective idea of fun also always involves food! On Friday, February 26, 2021, it was our privilege to bring Chef Tassie Pippert directly into supporters’ kitchens via live video stream. Tassie, a local chef and wine expert, host of the longrunning show WVPT Cooks and VPM’s Un-Wine’d, and a proud BRCC alumna, is also a current BRCC Educational Foundation Board member. She shared her culinary expertise and led us in an evening of cooking, learning, and laughter. Seasoned chefs and novice cooks alike learned new cooking tricks while preparing a fabulous menu of antipasto salad, chicken piccata, and a simple, show-stopping tiramisu. Her sous-chef, Andy Vanhook (also a Virginia community college grad and BRCCEF Board member) helped Tassie throughout the night. Appeal Productions produced the event for BRCC, and more than 60 chefs-in-training joined us online that night. We heard many success stories from participants, and had requests to repeat this event! We are thrilled to report that our Friday Night Bites fundraiser, along with its sister event, Friday Night Al Fresco, have raised almost $30,000 thus far in proceeds and sponsorships! Make plans now to support Friday Night Al Fresco, and purchase a gourmet picnic Tassie Pippert tells Andy Vanhook he’d better roll up his sleeves and to-go for curbside pick-up on May get to work! 14. Please visit https://www.brcc. edu/edfound/friday-night-alfresco to learn more, for online ordering options, and our full event partner listing.
However, we are now able to offer a drive-through photo opportunity on graduation day! On May 8, from 11:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m., BRCC graduates from the classes of 2020 and 2021 may come to campus to take a photo with BRCC President John Downey. Graduates will receive more details in the coming weeks. On March 27, we held a drive-thru for graduates to pick up their caps, gowns, tassels, and diploma covers. More than 90 grads took advantage of the event, and others can order their regalia online. While the Governor’s plan offers permission to hold in-person graduations, the restrictions for social distancing still prohibit BRCC from offering an in-person ceremony as our facilities and size of the campus commons cannot accommodate the required spacing.
SFCS Wins Award for BRCC Bioscience Building
S
FCS, a senior living, education and civic/public architecture, engineering, and interior design firm based in Roanoke, Virginia, has been recognized with an Outstanding Designs Award for their work on BRCC’s Bioscience Building which opened in fall 2019. In recognizing SFCS for this honor, American School & University noted:
“The new Bioscience Building is envisioned to expand support of bioscience fields and promote the establishment of new programs to meet industry needs in emerging fields. The planning considers industry training in the research laboratory arena and evokes the feeling of a high-tech teaching laboratory on a four-year college campus. The Bioscience Building includes flex lab space, which can quickly transform to meet the changing needs for agricultural and pharmaceutical biosciences training. The building is shared with the nursing program and offers specialized nursing facilities. The design not only makes the building a showcase for bioscience education but also creates a central collaborative student zone with transparency into these specialized spaces.” The BRCC Educational Foundation is proud to have provided funding – thanks to your support and investment – to equip the Nursing and Emergency Medical Services labs in the state-of-the-art Bioscience building. With expanded vaccine production locally at Merck and the current need for trained nurses and paramedics, the Bioscience building is a significant asset to our community.
Addressing Food Insecurity at BRCC
Scholarship Updates
T his academic year, BRCC has been primarily delivering classes online via Zoom. However, our students, while not on campus, continue to experience food
insecurity. Since we have been unable to keep our on-campus food pantry open and provide lunches for students in need, Beyond the Blue (a student service club for those enrolled in the Human Services degree program) and the BRCC Educational Foundation initiated a grocery card giveaway to assist students. For many, the grocery card program has filled a gap during this challenging year. Eligible student applicants during the fall semester received $2,800 in grocery cards. The number of student applicants significantly increased during the spring semester, reflecting job losses and financial struggles during the pandemic. During the spring semester, the Educational Foundation and Beyond the Blue provided $3,700 in grocery cards to students. The funds for these grocery cards were provided by a generous grant from the Anthem Blue Cross / Blue Shield Foundation. The response from students has been overwhelming; students have shared their stories of personal struggles and are so grateful for the help from BRCC.
You Can Make a Difference
B lue Ridge Community College is doing everything we can to keep our students on track with their educational plans, and the Foundation is vital to helping make that possible. By making a gift to the Blue Ridge Fund now, you give the Foundation the flexibility to respond to the College’s needs in a timely and effective manner. Thank you for your continued support! Online giving options can be found on our website at https://www.brcc.edu/edfound/donate-online.html
If you are shopping online already, it is easy to support BRCC. Every Amazon purchase you make can support the BRCC Educational Foundation, and it’s as easy as using the following link to shop: https://smile.amazon.com/ch/54-1328809 Also, make sure you turn on AmazonSmile on your smartphone! Open the app and find ’Settings’ in the main menu ( ). Tap on ‘AmazonSmile’ and follow the onscreen instructions to turn on AmazonSmile on your phone.
Pictured from left to right: Dan Layman, President and CEO, Community Foundation of the Central Blue Ridge; Mary Pavlovskaya, Business Deposit Services Officer, F&M Bank; John Downey, BRCC President; and Amy Laser Kiger, Executive Director, BRCC Educational Foundation.
I n March, representatives from F&M Bank and the Community Foundation of the Central Blue Ridge presented the Blue Ridge Community College Educational Foundation with a $2,000 check to support scholarships for students from Augusta and Rockingham Counties.
As always, we are appreciative of our many scholarship supporters! So far this academic year, more than $384,000 in scholarships has been awarded to 190 deserving students. While we are not able to host our annual scholarship luncheon for student scholarship recipients and scholarship donors, the BRCC Educational Foundation put the money that was budgeted for the luncheon to good use. The Foundation supported the purchase of a new scholarship award management system for the BRCC Financial Aid office. It is expected that this new system will streamline and improve the scholarship award process.
New Automotive Lift Installed
I n addition to the significant support provided directly to students, the BRCC
Educational Foundation is also making meaningful investments in academic programs within the college. The Foundation recently purchased a new lift for the Automotive Analysis & Repair Program. The lift has some useful features that have considerable benefits for students. It is supported by lifting columns at all four corners for excellent stability (the old unit only had two columns). The weight capacity on this new unit is 15,000 pounds, so there is considerable safety margin there for any vehicles utilized in instruction. This exact lift design is commonly used in industry, so students will encounter it in the workplace. With the four column design, the entire center section is open when lifted, allowing excellent access to all parts of the vehicle necessary during steering, suspension, and alignment operations. The new lift was installed in January, just in time for students to begin using it in conjunction with their alignment class.
Curbside pick-up, 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. Robert E. Plecker Workforce Center $150 per picnic for two, reservations required Information & Online Purchase: https://www.brcc.edu/edfound/ friday-night-alfresco
Friday, May 14, 2021
Friday Night Al Fresco—A Gourmet Picnic To-Go!
Save the Date!
Blue Ridge Community College Educational Foundation, Inc. P. O. Box 80 Weyers Cave, VA 24486 (540) 453-2211 www.brcc.edu/EdFound Non Profit Org. U. S. Postage and Fees Paid BRCC