Saturday, June 4, 2016
Graniteville • Vaucluse • Warrenville
Vol. 2, No. 6
Let’s Celebrate!
by Anne Fulcher
It’s that time of year my friends: kindergarten graduations, high school graduations and college graduations. A time to celebrate progress and growth and celebrate the arrival of summer. But Lauren Haley and I are happy to celebrate the one year anniversary of the GVW Report. I look back to this time last year and we had no idea how we would be received or if we would have sponsors. We have been truly Blessed by the GVW communities and beyond and the response we have received regarding our community activism newspaper. You see, it is not JUST a newspaper, it’s a newspaper promoting community growth and redevelopment. It all began with a workshop in January of 2015 for the Graniteville Brownfield Project. I had just came on board as the Community Coordinator and Edie CorleyStone wrote that she wished the people of the GVW areas had a newspaper where they could find out what was going on in the place they called home. Edie planted the seed and since I had worked with the Aiken Standard in advertising previously, I knew what needed to be done. I took the seed and fertilized it, nurtured it with love from the people in the area and watched it grow. I knew this paper needed to be dif-
ferent, not one with advertisers, but with sponsors who had a vested interest in the area. The Medical University of South Carolina Department of Public Health Sciences was our first major sponsor. Thanks to Dr. John Vena, the GVW Report was off and running. Then Aiken Technical College and Dr. Susan Winsor were next to hop onboard. The Aiken Regional Medical Centers decided to be our major sponsor and we finally grew roots and became sturdy and healthy. With each edition our sponsorship grew to include USC Aiken, Minitor’s Market, Bobby’s BBQ, Rural Health Services, Inc., the Midland Valley Area Chamber of Commerce, and Savannah River Nuclear Solutions. We could not have grown without the support of these local businesses. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart! In June of 2015, the GVW Report was a 12 page publication with a total of 4000 printed by the Aiken Standard. Initially, 2500 were inserted into papers of the subscribers of the Aiken Standard in the GVW areas. It came out on the first Saturday of each month and 1500 were then distributed to local businesses. I delivered the newspapers to the local businesses and it allowed me to gain valuable feedback from the community. The wonderful staff of the Chick-n-Snack will never know how much they have meant to me over the past year. While weary from all the deliveries, they always shared with me how their customers loved the publication and how the true test was if they found any in the
trash, which they never did. I knew we had arrived when I began getting calls from the locals saying they were running out before the next edition was published. As my love and pride grew for our little bit of heaven, so did the paper. This anniversary edition is the largest yet with 24 pages and 7000 printed. Our most recent edition to the paper was a student page where a student/students from schools in the GVW area submitted articles to be published. I had a wonderful English teacher in Mrs. Carol Armstrong, who instilled the love of writing in me. I felt it was my responsibility to pay it forward. We were excited to have the approval of the Aiken County School System and thus the Student Page began in March of 2016. While in training with the Environmental Justice Academy, I have been asked to help other communities develop their own community activism newspaper. I am currently under contract to help an organization in Charleston develop theirs. With growth we have also gained momentum and have been recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency, the Environmental Justice Council as well as the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. As I finish this editorial, it is 1:00 a.m. and I have been working on the paper for over 4 hours. It’s a true labor of love and while it may not feel like it when I wake up in the morning, when I see it in print this weekend, well it truly is like giving birth to a baby. Each and every month I am in
awe of how it came together under the talented hands of Lauren Haley who is the true artist of this publication. While I take care of the words, stories, and sponsorships, Lauren is the artist that makes it look as beautiful as it does each and every month. I could NEVER have done this without her wonderful gift. In closing, there are a few more people I would like to recognize. I want to take the time to thank Dee Taylor, Advertising Director of the Aiken Standard. I went to her with a vision and she believed in me and let me take the reins and set the goals and standards for this publication. Dee has always been a great support system for me and I know I can always count on her for guidance when needed. I also want to thank Mel and David Minitor for giving out the GVW Report to each and every customer who comes through Minitor’s Market. Their support has been beyond belief. And finally, I want to thank each and every one of you who picks up this special part of my soul every month. Without you, the readers, we would be nothing but paper with words. But you have told me what you wanted and I have and will continue to listen and print what the GVW Communities want to read. From the bottom of my heart I thank you all.