Community Almanac
Smoky Mountain News
Knights of Columbus feed first responders Members of Franklin’s Knights of Columbus recently honored local police, firefighters and Emergency Medical Services with a free lunch. The event is dubbed “Back the Red, White and Blue BBQ” to correspond with the colors associated with each of the first responder organizations often seen on bumper stickers and flags: red for firefighters, white for EMS and blue for police officers. The members of local Knights council 8363, and other parishioners of the St. Francis of Assisi Church cooked hamburgers and hot dogs for first responders. Founded in 1882, the Knights of Columbus is an international Catholic, family fraternity dedicated to charity, faith, unity and patriotism with more than 1.9 million members. For more information, visit kofc.org.
Zonta Club donates to Special Liberty Project The Zonta Club of the Franklin Area presented $10,000 to the Special Liberty Project to help fund its monthly retreats for the military widows. This funding was made possible by Zonta’s first “Taste of Tuscany” event, held in collaboration with Slanted Window Wines on Sept. 11, and by the many sponsors, donors and attendees who made the event a success. The Special Liberty Project is a national nonprofit organization that serves veterans, spouses, and their families with outdoor-centered programs designed to help veterans come to terms with civilian life and to help families heal from the loss of veterans through combat and suicide. The Zonta Club is part of an international organization dedicated to the support of women through advocacy, education and empowerment.
Dogwood Invests in new health care professionals Dogwood Health Trust recently awarded more than $1 million over three years to the Center for Native Health to further strengthen and expand The Medical Careers and Technology Pipeline for Indigenous and rural Appalachian students. Started in 2010, MedCaT is an academic-community partnership between Wake Forest School of Medicine, Western Carolina University, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Mountain Area Health Education Center and the Center for Native Health. The MedCaT program is designed to create pathways and address barriers for students — specifically Indigenous and rural Appalachian students — by integrating cultural education into the traditional health and biomedical science curriculum and teaching paradigm. With the grant from Dogwood, program leaders
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Center, Restoration House in Bryson City, Swain County Family Resource Center, the Community Kitchen in Canton and Vecinos Farmworker Health Program also received wellness grants.
Support KARE’s Festival of Trees This year, KARE — Kids Advocacy Resource Effort — celebrates its 30th year of serving children and families in Haywood County by seeking to end child abuse through advocacy, education and support. Revenue from KARE’s annual Festival of Trees helps support that effort. The event will be held virtually, and dozens of packages for KARE’s online auction are already online. Bid on specially decorated trees, or Airbnb stays, fishing trips and more. Visit kare2021.ggo.bid to learn more. Deadline for bids is 9 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 30.
Laura Herndon joins CFWNC now have the resources for data collection tools to track the long-term progress of students and help ensure their success in a health care-related field. Dogwood’s grant also will fund a weeklong immersive experience at WCU in addition to the week at Wake Forest, and more students will be served during the school year through WCU’s Learning Labs. Additionally, because of Dogwood’s investment, a new partner specializing in cancer research has signed on, creating opportunities for expanded partnerships with regional medical centers, and the ability to bring in more guest speakers and mentors in the field giving students access to Native role models. Students who are interested in applying for a future cohort can visit centerfornativehealth.org/research or email centerfornativehealthinfo@gmail.com.
Haywood foundation community grants The board of advisors of the Haywood County Community Foundation recently announced $4,150 in local grant awards from its community grantmaking fund. The board granted $1,650 to the Fines Creek Community Association for the Fines Creek Community Association MANNA pantry refrigerator replacements; $1,400 to Clothes to Kids of Haywood County, Inc. for Starting a New Chapter; $600 to KARE, Inc. for child medical evaluations in Haywood and $500 to HIGHTS for Healthy Foods for Compass Program. For further information, visit nccommunityfoundation.org.
Waynesville Altrusa supports students Altrusa International of Waynesville has decid-
ed to retire its popular annual fundraiser — Soup & Cornbread Day — but still needs the community’s support to raise funds for student scholarships. Altrusa has established an endowment fund with the Haywood County Schools Foundation that will allow it to grant a minimum number of scholarships in the coming years but the club wants to do more than the minimum. Each year Altrusa receives more than 100 applications from graduating seniors requesting financial assistance. With donations from both individuals and businesses, the club can continue to assist deserving students. To support this cause, send a donation to Waynesville Altrusa, P.O. Box 947, Waynesville, 28786; or to Haywood County Schools Foundation, 1230 N. Main Street, Waynesville, NC 28786 (include notation on check for “Altrusa”).
IMPACT distributes nonprofit funds Now in its third year of regional grant funding, 90 local nonprofits from across Western North Carolina are WNC Bridge Foundation’s 2021 IMPACT Grant recipients, with awards totaling $3,900,000. Home repair for the elderly, access to dental care, and academic tutoring for youth are examples of how grant funding will impact communities across Western North Carolina. Providing free legal assistance to seniors through their Elder Law Program will be the focus of Pisgah Legal Services’ 2021 IMPACT Grant. Haywood County Meals on Wheels and Mountain Projects also received grant funding for elder care projects. The Giving Spoon in Swain County currently provides an average of 700 meals per week to those in need. An IMPACT Grant will support the capacity of this organization. Haywood Pathways
The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina recently announced that Laura Herndon, an attorney and skilled advancement officer, has joined the staff as Vice President of Development. Since 2013, Herndon has worked for UNC Asheville in a variety of roles, most recently serving as Associate Vice Chancellor, External and University Relations, a leadership position with responsibility for planned giving, alumni and constituent engagement and donor relations. Herndon’s deep connections within the community, understanding of the region, extensive work with donors and legal background make her ideally suited to lead CFWNC’s development efforts. Herndon is a graduate of Wake Forest University and Cumberland School of Law, Samford University. She is an active community member having volunteered with the Junior League of Asheville, Children’s Welfare League, Leadership Asheville, Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce and others.
Randy Hughes named Grand Marshall The Franklin Chamber of Commerce announced that Randy Hughes will serve as this year’s Grand Marshall during the Christmas parade. Hughes served as the Toys for Tots Coordinator for the past 15 years, along with his wife, Irene, serving as many as 15 counties at one time. He currently serves as the coordinator for Macon, Jackson, Swain and Rabun counties. This will be Hughes’ final year to serve as coordinator. “I got hooked the very first year I volunteered when I saw the face of a little girl receiving a baby doll. That is all it took. Since 2012, we have distributed 91,374 toys to 16,584 children. Through so many generous donations, we have been able to purchase $205,638 worth of toys over the past nine years,” he said.
