Champions for Children

Children First and the Children First Board of Directors recognizes and appreciates the commitment and dedication of the champions listed below.

Thank you for making a difference in the lives of children!

March 2010 - Patti Sutherland and the Hudson Ambassadors from Owen High School
Patti Sutherland, Assistant Principal at Owen High School and breeder of  Newfoundlands, established a therapy dog program in schools over ten years ago when she was an elementary administrator. Five years ago she began bringing Hudson to work at Owen for one special needs student who required extra attention and support. The student flourished and from that beginning, Hudson’s Ambassadors, a club open to all students was started.  Over time Hudson’s Ambassadors has grown into an innovative and popular group with 2-3 therapy dogs reporting for daily duty. Students walk, feed and care for the dogs that attend classes and have been known to “sing” in chorus. The group is also a great support for students who are at risk for not graduating, as members of the club must attend school regularly and work hard in their academic classes.

January 2010 – LEAF In Schools & Streets
LEAF was founded in 1995 and incorporated as a non-profit organization in 2004 when they created  (Lake Eden Arts Festival) in Schools and Streets a collaborative outreach program designed to reach youth of different socio-economic backgrounds in WNC by matching performing artists to schools, educational centers and housing communities where they lead hands-on workshops, residencies and interactive performances.  Since the inception, they have worked with 89 artists, 38 schools, 23 afterschool programs or community centers and held over 200 outreach programs. Over 20,000 youth have experienced a LSS program.  Over 2,000 youth have performed onstage at LEAF including many from our Learning Centers.

LEAF began working with Children First/CIS in 2007. Since then we have had two artists at each of our Learning Centers with the children performing at the May festival. The artists have ranged from African drumming to dance to spoken word. LEAF is held twice a year, in October and May. In October we are guests of the festival which gives the children and their parents the opportunity visit the festival and get excited for their performances in May. LEAF has been extremely generous in allowing our children to come and encouraging their parents to come as chaperones. 

November 2009 - Jennifer Mayer
Once in a while you meet someone who doesn’t hold back on getting things done.  For me, that person is Jennifer Mayer.  I first met Jennifer through a Rotary Club.  She joined the club and immediately went to work contributing her talents.  The Rotary Club of Asheville West was supporting the Resource Center’s annual Rummage Sale, and Jennifer volunteered to take all of the left over clothes from the sale to the flea market to sell. She arranged transportation, pick-up and sale of the merchandise and presented Children First with proceeds from the sale.  I knew Jennifer owned Charlotte Street Computers and thought that she must be extremely busy since I’d been seeing the computer store springing up all over town.  Yet, she had time to arrange and sell our leftover Rummage Sale items!

A couple of weeks ago, The Project MARCH Coordinator reported that the Pisgah View Learning Center was receiving a computer lab thanks to the generosity of Charlotte Street Computers and the Asheville Housing Authority.  Here was Jennifer again, generously giving back to the community.  The computer lab is fabulous, and has brought the Pisgah View Learning Center to “state of the arts” status.  Barbara Norton, the Project MARCH Coordinator stated that our children would not have a computer lab without this generous donation.  Barbara states that “children and staff now have access to a beautiful computer lab.  The children are excited to see the computers and can’t wait to get on them.”   As if this was not enough, all of our Project MARCH students, along with many of their siblings and parents (over 100 in number) were treated to a Preview Night performance of Peter Pan thanks to Power On Community sponsored by Charlotte Street Computers and Asheville Community Theatre.  Power On Community assists non-profit organizations by providing them with opportunity to participate in designated Preview Night performances at Asheville Community Theatre

All of Children First/Communities In Schools joins me in extending our appreciation and thanks to Jennifer Meyer for her unselfish contributions to her community.  I recently attended a gathering where this quotation was passed out.  It is from The Scottish Himalayan Expedition by W.H. Murray, 1951, . . .”Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too.  All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred”.   We thank Jennifer for her commitment to making her community a better place to live for all its citizens. 

August 2009 - Loretta Andrews
My first encounter with Loretta Anderws was through a phone call.  She had called the Family Resource Center at Emma wanting to know about North Carolina’s commodities program and thought it would be a great idea if we, the FRC@E, became apart of the program.  Since that first phone call, Loretta has gone above her call of duty in supporting Children First/Communities in Schools of Buncombe County and the Family Resource Center at Emma.  She began with rallying up woman at her church group to make Easter Baskets for the children in the Emma Community.  Each basket was filled with activities, candy and most of all chocolate all for the children!  She also provided the Resource Center with frozen foods for our food pantry days, and one day while walking her out to the car she said, “Do you all need seedlings for your community garden?  My family owns Broad River Botanicals and I can have them grow some for you!” 

I had the privilege of going to Broad River Botanicals when the seedlings were ready and Loretta and I enjoyed a nice picnic lunch on her daughter’s property and then loaded the van with carrots, cabbage, squash, cantaloupe and all kinds of yummy veggies and herbs for the garden!  Currently, all the veggies are thriving in our garden and will feed a multitude of families in our community.

Loretta is now working diligently with the woman’s group to fill back to school back packs for the children along with helping us at our annual Rummage Sale.  She single handedly rallied up a group of woman to take a private Mind the Gap tour which opened the eyes of so many other citizens that were not aware of what we do or why we do it!

It is an honor to know such a woman with complete passion for helping others unselfishly.   She has shared with me her goal, and that is to have the name Children First/Communities In Schools be the first agency to come into people’s minds when they are thinking about giving and/ or sponsoring a non profit organization.  I have witnessed her “go get’um” attitude and don’t doubt she will see this goal through.  She does improve the lives of others in more ways then she is aware of.  For me, she has done that just by allowing me to get to know her…and to think it all started with a phone call about commodities.  Loretta Andrews is a Champion for Children every day!!

August 2009 - Greg Dillingham and the Asheville Breakfast Rotary Club
Greg Dillingham and the Asheville Breakfast Rotary Club have been a supporter of Children First/Communities In Schools of Buncombe County.  Members of the organization recently attended a Children First/CIS Mind the Gap tour.  The impact from the tour prompted this organization to ask how they could help the children and families that we serve.  Spearheaded by Greg Dillingham, club members rallied together to organize four food drives for the food pantry at the Family Resource Center at Emma to help prevent children and families from going hungry at night and on the weekends.  The Asheville Breakfast Rotary Club is helping to take a positive stand and stomp out hunger in our community.  Their first donation of food boxes helped put food on a dinner table for an unemployed single mom of three, provided a hot meal for an elderly man on a fixed income and assisted a grandparent in feeding her grandchildren she is raising.  These are just a few examples of how valuable the donations were to everyone.

We truly appreciate the members of the Asheville Breakfast Rotary Club for helping us support the children and families that we serve in Buncombe County. 

June 2009  - Bet Sefer Religious school of Beth Israel synagogue
In November of 2008, the children of Bet Sefer Religious School made bookmarkers for all of our children and also donated their favorite books. The 32 children of Bet Sefer provided each of our 63 children with two books to take home over the holidays, so our children could not only read them, but keep them as well. I was invited to the religious School for a ceremony where the children sang and presented me with the books and basket of book makers. They also donated larger study references and books for our Learning Center libraries. Our Learning Center children excitedly ran up to me on the day they received their books and showed me exactly what they were given. It was a sweet and joyful moment.

The Bet Sefer Religious School also sponsored a toy drive this winter. The school generously donated gently used toys that have completed two toy rooms and several toy tubs for our third Learning Center (which does not have space for a toy room). These toys included: trucks, cars, Barbie dolls, Baby dolls, doll houses, stuffed animals, toy horses, blocks, rhythm instruments, learning toys, and lots of videos. We even received one Leap Frog pad!  I wish you could have seen the children’s faces as they opened up the new toy room at Deaverview Learning Center! They were filled with smiles and laughter. For weeks now, many of our children at all of our Centers have been playing and exploring with these treasures. Our children may never have had the chance to explore these toys, if it weren’t for the caring, kind, generosity of the Bet Sefer children and their families.

Without asking, some of the families also donated clothes for our children. Some of these clothes not only helped the Learning Center children, but the children in our Emma community as well.

I honestly didn’t know how we would have been able to provide this addition for our children to learn, not only creativity, social growth, hands on skills and development, but true academic learning through this kind of giving.

As the Jewish Community express thankfulness – Todah Rabah! To the children and Families of BetSefer Religious School,

May 2009 - Cliff Dodson
Cliff Dodson has been advocating for children as a public school educator for 29 years. He has served the youth of Buncombe County as the Superintendent of Buncombe County Schools for nine years. He was recently selected as the 2009 NC Superintendent of the Year by the NC Association of Educators. Mr. Dodson has also been very active on community boards and councils (including Children First and United Way), many of which serve children and youth. As an avid biker, Cliff has participated in Toys for Tots and collects an office full of toys!

April 2009 - Janirve Foundation
Charles Dyson contacted us after reading a newspaper article on the sparse food pantry shelves at The Family Resource Center at Emma (FRCE) and suggesting that CF/CIS submit a request for support of FRCE. Consequently, Janirve gave Children First/CIS $7500 to support emergency/crisis needs at the FRCE. Janirve has financially supported FRCE over many years and has been very generous to other community agencies that serve the children in this community.

March 2009 - Deb Venable and Kate Fisher, Isaac Dickson School
Deb Venable is the parent volunteer at Isaac Dickson.  Though her role is very localized at Dickson, she is an amazing advocate for children and this nomination may lift her into greater community action.  She spends hundreds of hours at Dickson helping teachers and advocating for parent involvement.  Kate Fisher is a parent at Isaac Dickson who has single handedly brought our gardens into the role of real educational opportunities and has tirelessly engaged the garden program at Pisgah View, ASAP, and many other community organizations to support children in gardening and healthy eating.

February 2009  - Jason Ingle
Jason, managing broker, and members of the Buyers Agent of Asheville donated gifts to the Children First/CIS Family Resource Center at Emma to help 16 children have a Merry Christmas.  “After attending the Children First/CIS Mind the Gap tour and meeting the kids that they serve at their Project MARCH Learning Centers, I wanted to reach out and help,” said Ingle.  “I work with a great group of individuals who also believe in giving back to the community and we wanted to help during this holiday season.”

Jason also serves at the Chairman of the United Way’s Highland Circle and is a project coordinator for Hands On Asheville’s Meals of Hope program.

January 2009 - Rotary Club of Asheville West
As its service project, Rotary Club of Asheville West has adopted the Family Resource Center at Emma.  The Rotary Club has provided for the needs of Emma residents in many different and creative ways:  they have supported the Holiday Giving Program by providing food boxes filled with staple food items that every family can use and that the Resource Center is seldom able to supply.  In addition to a turkey or ham for 25 to 30 food boxes for Thanksgiving, they have supplied items such as cooking oil, butter, milk, flour, eggs, fruit, and pumpkin pies.  They have also provided up to 21 $50 gift cards to Wal Mart as a donation to the giving program. The club plans to repeat their giving this year.  They were also instrumental in introducing the Resource Center to local Insurance Underwriters who also continue to contribute to Emma residents during the Holidays.  Rotarians donate to the clothing closet and participated in the Rummage Sale this past August by securing the Go Mini where we were able to store donated items as well as giving their personal items.  One creative way they contribute to the Resource Center is by helping to build the Resource Center’s Children’s Library.  Each week at its meeting, Rotary invites guest speakers to present the program for the week.  As a gift to the speaker, Rotary presents the speaker with a children’s book and asks that the speaker sign the book and present it to the Resource Center for its children’s library.  We currently have close to 30 books donated by the Rotary Club of Asheville West.  Recently, the Resource Center was visited by a Rotarian who noticed that the food pantry was “pitifully low” in food.  He rallied fellow Rotarians to donate food items and raised $250 to put food on the pantry shelves. 

December 2008 - Nieshea Johnson
Nieshea came to the Resource Center 18 months ago as a volunteer to help fill her time while her three boys were in school. She quickly learned her way around the Center and did everything from organizing the clothing closet to cleaning and stocking the food pantry shelves.  As she became more comfortable with Center programming, Nieshea acted as a receptionist for the Center and when encouraged to do so, she applied for and was hired as a VISTA through Communities in Schools.  She has provided help with the annual Rummage Sale, the Holiday Giving Program, United Way activities, and anything else she was asked to do.  Even though her time as a VISTA ended this past August, she has continued to order MANNA for the Center and has picked up the food and stocked the shelves every Tuesday.  She now serves on the Resource Center Advisory Council as an Emma community member. 

November 2008 - Robin Merrell
Robin is the senior housing attorney at Pisgah Legal Services where she has worked for 8 years representing the legal interests of low-income families.  Robin is a native of Western North Carolina and is a graduate of Wake Forest University and the University of North Carolina School of Law.  In addition to chairing the West Riverside Operation Weed and Seed Steering Committee, Robin is the Vice President of the Community Housing Coalition of Madison County.  She recently finished leading a collaborative process to develop an affordable housing plan for the City of Asheville and is the author of “Looking Homeward: the 10 Plan to End Homelessness in Asheville and Buncombe County”.

October 2008 - West End Bakery
September 2008 - Dripolator Coffeehouse
We would like to recognize Kim and Jay from the Dripolator and Cathy and Krista from West End bakery for their business’ commitment to promoting civic-engagement by hosting our inaugural Morning JAVA events. Both businesses were immediately receptive to our idea for offering their patrons a chance to write/call their state legislators on our policy issues. Each helped us identify best times for our hour-long outreach and were very accommodating to our needs and to the general experiment of a new program. As a result of their hospitality and partnership, 92 people contacted state legislators on important advocacy issues like child health insurance, child care subsidy, Earned Income Tax Credit, and Juvenile Crime Prevention Council funding. Legislators took notice of this expanded community voice and we were proud to be part of combined efforts statewide that helped move these and other issues forward. We greatly appreciate this partnership for our first six Morning JAVAs and look forward to future JAVAs as the year progresses. Again, thank you for your hospitality and civic-mindedness – your help in our advocacy work makes you both Champions for Children!

August 2008 -  Elementality
Jordana Thompson and Donnaleta Twist, owners of Elementality, a store in the Asheville mall showcasing hand-made jewelry and art, first contacted Children First/CIS to learn more about our community garden out at our Family Resource Center at Emma.  With a strong commitment to environmental issues, sustainability, and supporting the local economy, the owners of Elementality endeavored to show their appreciation for what Children First/CIS does for the community by hosting community shopping nights at their store the first Friday of every month!  The first Friday of each month offers regular shoppers and newcomers the opportunity to have first dibs at new products, enjoy music and refreshments, and give back to the community by having 10% of their purchases go towards Children First/CIS. 
We are so very appreciative that Jordana and Donnaleta sought us out and that our community visions have aligned in such a way as to create a strong and mutually beneficial relationship.  We appreciate Elementality’s dedication to supporting their local community, both the local artists and entrepreneurs that they showcase in their store and the youth and families that they are helping to support through Children First/CIS.

June 2008 - US Cellular
US Cellular has strengthened the power of many students in West Asheville.  The driving force of this partnership was spearheaded by two US Cellular associates, Wendy Forbes and Page Porter.  Forbes and Porter first contacted Children First/Communities In Schools (CIS) of Buncombe County about how their organization can give back to the community and make a difference in children’s lives.  Their passion and commitment to help at-risk children, and youth and their families, has been contagious throughout their organization from the frontline sales personnel to the corporate offices.

US Cellular’s contributions to Children First/CIS include sponsoring children by providing toys and clothes at Christmas, donating $3,500 to the Children First/CIS Project MARCH Learning Centers, donating their time to help promote Read Across America and Dr. Seuss’s birthday, celebrating Earth Day by volunteering their time at the Children First/CIS Family Resource Center at Emma and $500 for supplies to build a vegetable washing station in the Emma Community Garden and to clear and mulch a hiking trail along the perimeter of the Center and Emma Elementary School.  The day’s highlight was when the US Cellular associates spent the afternoon planting vegetables and herbs with students from the kindergarten classes at Emma Elementary School. 

As if that is not enough, US Cellular has provided five cell phones and free cell phone usage for a year through their US Cellular Community Phone program.  These phones are designated for the staff at the Project MARCH Learning Centers and for Children First/CIS student fieldtrips and summer camp.

US Cellular exemplifies the meaning of volunteering and contributing their time and resources to Children First/CIS.  US Cellular and its associates truly are Champions for Children

May 2009 - Lynn Scarborough – Mission Hospitals, Emma Clinic
“I want to nominate Lynn Scarborough and Mission Hospitals as Champions for Children.  Lynn called the Resource Center during the Holidays and asked if we had sponsors for all of the children we wanted to help.  We said that we were close but needed a few more sponsors.  Lynn stated that she would send an email to her co-workers at Mission Hospitals to see if any of them wanted to help out.  As a result of her email, we secured enough money and help from several departments to both feed and provide gifts for all of the children and families on our list”.
Lynn has been a consistent force in the Emma community, staffing the clinic for at least ten years…  She had been able to build trust and relationships within the community. She collaborates with DSS and the Family Resource Center at Emma to help strengthen and improve the lives of children, youth and their families living with the Emma community.  We appreciate the work that she does and her continued support.

March 2008 - Sujei Quintero Perez
Sujei is a 5th grader at  Emma Elementary School. All her family is from Mexico and she came to the US when she was one year old. During the summer and while good weather allowed, she used to help as much as ten children, from kindergarten to 3rd grade, with their homework.  She used to go house to house picking up the children so their moms knew they were going to be with her doing homework.  She used to go to a neighbor’s house with a big porch and a nice big table and helped her students there. I asked her about her inspiration and she told me her mom always talks about sharing what we know or do best. Mrs. Quintero is one of our Motheread moms and when Sujei comes with her to some of our events she always helps with the children in a loving and nurturing way. I highly recommend her as a Champion for Children candidate to recognize her kindness and to encourage her to continue her path of solidarity and teaching.

February 2008 - Becca Dion
Becca has dedicated her life's work as a champion for children. Becca has been the Director of Valley Child Development Center, a Buncombe Co. Child Care Preschool for the last 12 years and a school teacher for many years before that. Every day, Becca's leadership provides a nurturing, caring environment for young children, their families and her staff. No matter how busy she is, she is always available with a positive attitude and a great sense of humor to listen to and support those around her. She is truly a champion for children and their families.

January 2008 - Barbara Edwards
As a past volunteer at the Family Resource Center at Emma, Barbara gave of her time unselfishly, often times eight hours a day, sometimes more, providing any services that were needed.  She would help staff the front desk, pack food boxes, and sort the clothing closet.  She would always willingly do anything that was asked of her, despite her own health problems.  We are thankful for the time she has given us.

December 2007 - Ms. Cynthia Sellinger
Cynthia is the principal of Vance Elementary School of Human Diversity and Ecology. She has been an educator in Asheville City Schools for 26 years. She began as a chorus teacher at Asheville Middle and then moved into administration as the assistant principal at both Randolph Elementary School and Vance Elementary School, where she now serves as principal.

As principal of Vance she has worked to revitalize the school with a new magnet theme and has entered the school as a NASA Explorer School. The front yard at Vance is now a huge community garden where people from West Asheville can often be seen picking vegetables and flowers, and visiting. Cynthia’s warm and lively personality has been the real magnet for the school. She is always welcoming to families and to other professionals and cares deeply about her school and the children in her school.

Novebmer 2007 - Ms. Kristi Neal
Kristi Neal has been a strong voice on behalf of children in a variety of settings. As a Reverend Deacon at St. James Episcopal Church (Black Mountain) she helps lead their Children's Sabbath and reminds the congregation of the needs of our communities children - especially those living in poverty. She is a member of the Children First Advocacy committee and served on the McDowell County Board of Education. Ms. Neal's professional work also involves helping children - she is the guidance counselor at Owen High School. She is a great asset to Children First and we are grateful to be working with her.

October 2007 - Ms. Jean Meyer
Jean is a dedicated volunteer at the Children First Family Resource Center at Emma. Thanks to Jean's persistence at the Resource Center, we were able to secure donations of yarn for our knitting/crochet circle meetings on Tuesdays.  Jean also never fails to check on the clothing closet and keeps it organized and in great shape.  Jean also helps in the community garden and often volunteers on Saturdays weeding other garden plots and making sure that we have what we need to keep the garden in good shape.  She willingly does whatever we request of her and recently brought in school supplies and office items for the Family Resource Center.

September 2007 - Ms. Cathy Pollock
Cathy has chaired the Early Childhood department at A-B Tech since 1993. Her leadership has made A-B Tech's programs among the best in the state. The vast majority of individuals working in early childhood in our region have taken classes at A-B Tech. The curriculum prepares individuals to work with children from infancy through early childhood in diverse learning environments. Thousands of children and families through the years have been the beneficiaries of the rigor and care that Cathy brings to teaching and administering our programs. For all her many accomplishments, if you ask Cathy what part of the job she likes best, her face lights up and she talks about the children she interacts with in her many site visits. She simply loves children and wants the best for each of them

August 2007 - Julia and Phillip Gibson
The Gibsons are long-time, consistent supporters of our Family Resource Center at Emma; supporting its work as donors and volunteers. As volunteers, they enjoy the personal interactions at the Center. The Gibsons fondly recall a Christmas volunteer experience where they really got to know a family they were helping when they were invited in for dinner and sent home with fresh tamales. They believe wholeheartedly in the programs offered through the resource center and show their appreciation by helping out in any way that they can. We thank the Gibsons for their generosity!

July 2007 - Ms. Minnie Jones - Pisgah View Community
Ms. Jones was the first to integrate public housing in Asheville. She has been a long-time tireless advocate for the children living in the Pisgah View Community and continues to do so today. Ms Jones provided on-site programs for children and youth for over 20 years, started an on-site health clinic for residents, and facilitated the partnership with Manna Foodbank to open a food pantry in Pisgah View. Those of you who know Ms Minnie know that she is high spirited and advocates for those who cannot speak for themselves.

June 2007 - Carol Ray - Claxton Elementary School Principal
Carol has served as an administrator in the Asheville City School System for 13 years, as the principal of three city elementary schools, and the Executive Director of Elementary Education. She was honored as the Western Region principal of the year in 2001. Carol facilitated the partnership with the city elementary schools and Children First to fill needed school positions such as teacher assistants and volunteer coordinators with Project POWER/AmeriCorps members.

May 2007 - Brenda Logan
Brenda is leaving her role as Chief Juvenile Court Counselor (a position she has held for the past 7 years) to become a part-time supervisor so that she will have more time to stay home with daughter. Brenda is a former Children First Board Member; member of the Juvenile Crime Prevention Council; and member of the Children's Collaborative. Her dedication and passion for our community's children is evident in her work and volunteering.

April 2007 - George Ettwein and Black Forest Restaurant
George and his staff have been so generous and thoughtful in selecting Children First as beneficiaries of their annual Oktoberfest celebrations, raining funds for the important work that we do in our community.   Those staff and Board Members who were lucky enough to work these festivals have enjoyed themselves thoroughly; celebrating great food, drink and music.  We are grateful for this very worthwhile partnership and appreciate your local business support.

March 2007 - Howard Hangar and the Jubilee! Community
Our March Champion for Children is Howard Hanger and the Jubilee! Community. We are grateful for their continued support of Children First and for financially supporting our Family Resource Center at Emma's Emergency Assistance fund since 2001.This fund allows Children First to meet immediate needs of families and help them through crises. We are able to provide utility assistance, food supplementation, and emergency financial aid in large part due to Jubilee's generosity.  Children First, with the support of Jubilee!, empowers families to reach their full potential.

February 2007 - Dr. Ben Bailey

January 2007 – Kelly Webb and Asheville Fire and Rescue
Children First is grateful for the support Asheville Fire and Rescue has provided to Safe Kids WNC in their mission to reduce preventable injuries to children. Kelly and Asheville Fire and Rescue have done tremendous work to educate our community’s families about child seat safety and childhood injury prevention.

December 2006 – Captain Tim Splain and APD

November 2006 – Harriet Marlor

October 2006 - Hope for Horses

September 2006 – Emma United Methodist Church

May 2006 - Cindy Lawler

Cindy was recognized as a champion for children by her commitment to making healthy changes in the school food environment (reference the specifics: taking out fryers, rinsing meat, switching to skim and low-fat milk, etc.)

She got on board early with the Farm to School program, being one of the first in WNC to source locally grown produce for the ACS district, benefiting not only farmers and the local economy, but offering children the chance to eat fresh produce and connect to their agricultural heritage.  She began Farm to School in ACS in Dec. 2004. Through her Farm to School work, approximately 4,400 children in ACS have the opportunity to eat fresh, locally grown produce in the school cafeteria

Cindy participated in a national farm to school survey, allowed Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP) to interview all her cafeteria managers, and she includes Isaac Dickson’s Eat Better Learn Better and ASAP in cafeteria manager meetings

April 2006 - JaneAnne Tager

JaneAnne is a mother of 3 and started by making change happen in her own children’s school (Isaac Dickson). She wrote a grant to the Buncombe County Medical Society to get three Community Supported Agriculture shares (CSA) of fresh produce for the school and funds for weekly cooking classes and monthly cooking demonstrations

JaneAnne Picks up the CSAs at the tailgate market, stores it overnight in her refrigerator and brings it to school the next day – delivering it to the school cafeteria manager. She helps lead the cooking classes or recruits parents/chefs to come to the school. She distributes information about CSAs to parents at Isaac Dickson. She also sends home healthy recipes regularly to Isaac Dickson families.

March 2006 - Ms. Co-Wefa Lyda

Co Wefa Lyda grew up in an orphanage ~ Eliada Homes for Children. She has been a foster parent of 5 children over the past 35 years ~ still for Eliada Homes. She is an adoptive parent of 2 children.  Co Wefa is a board member of the NC Foster Adoptive Association.   She is a certified trainer for foster parents ~ locally and statewide. She is also a certified trainer in CPR and first aid for the American Red Cross. Mrs. Lyda co-chairs our Children's Collaborative Training Team ~ which teaches the System of Care Protocol to service providers and families ~ to assure that families have a clear voice during Child & Family Team meetings.

February 2006 - Families Together

Families Together, Inc. has helped the Juvenile Court Counselors as they struggle with case management services and they have provided service at no cost until Medicaid can be worked out for several children.  That's a huge offer when trying to arrange placements for kids, trying to keep them from long term detention stays, and trying to move cases along.  It's that kind of stepping up to the plate that makes things happen for kids in our community.

January 2006 - Ms. Beattie O’Brien

Bettie has worked in the Childcare field since 1980---for 25 years she has been a true advocate for children with special needs.  Bettie worked with children in Cherokee County from 1980-1989.  In 1989 she joined the team at Buncombe County Child Care Services.  Beattie ran the SNAP (Special Needs Assistance Program) until 2003.  This program enabled child care providers to work effectively with children with special needs.  In 2001, Beattie also began working with the Buncombe County after-school programs.  She currently oversees 18 after-school sites.  Beattie’s greatest strength is her genuine caring and concern for the kids, the parents and her staff.

Group Honors Children's Advocates 

Celebrating Dr.Olson Huff

Bob Burgin:  Special Man With a Mission