We’re nearing the end of the year, and there is a lot happening in Virginia’s nonprofit community. We have lot of coverage coming up about holiday events and happenings, so keep an eye out for those. In the meantime, here’s this month’s Phil-In.
Youth Wellness Focus of New Charlottesville Alliance
Hey, FYI, there’s a new nonprofit alliance in C’ville called…wait for it…FYI. The memorable acronym stands for Flourish Youth Initiative, a partnership among five nonprofit organizations focused on youth wellness. One of the cofounders describes it as “a whole, wraparound holistic service for the youth, mental, health, physical health, just help them with school and just everyday life.” The five groups are: Wartime Fitness, Love No Ego, H.E.R. Sports, The Art Bar, and Legacy Driven. Charlottesville’s 29News has more details here.
Stepping Up to the Plate
Diversity Richmond has launched a campaign for a new Virginia license plate, an initiative which it hopes will raise visibility and help create a climate where the LGBTQ+ community feels safe, included and welcome. Revenue-sharing plates – in which the sponsoring organization receives $10 per plate – are popular in the commonwealth with more than 100 organizations currently with plates. Diversity Richmond needs 450 initial buyers in order to go forward. Want to know more? Here’s the full story from the Virginia Mercury.
A Terror-able Halloween Fundraiser
When Donald Totty, a master deputy in Virginia Beach’s Sheriff’s Office, turned his Kempsville home into the “VB House of Torment,” it wasn’t just to put some Halloween fright into local kids. Visitor donations went to Connect With a Wish, a Hampton Roads nonprofit that supports local kids in the foster care system. “What Connect with a Wish does for these kids is just unimaginable,” Totty says. WAVY10 has the full story.
One More Election Story
An Arlington-based advocacy organization invested close to $900,000 on a ballot measure in (of all places) South Dakota. The nonprofit group, Article IV, threw its support behind Amendment H, a proposed change to the state’s voting procedures that would have allowed voters to rank their preferences for candidates in an open primary in all state and local races. With 99% of the vote counted at press time, the measure was opposed by almost two-thirds of the votes cast. Read the Daily Progress story.
