Smith Mountain Lake Gives kicks off its 4th giving day, with hopes of raising over $200,000
One way you can give this year is to our furry friends through the Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center. It treats thousands of threatened and endangered species each year. Covering the Commonwealth from Harrisonburg to the North Carolina border, completely for free.
'A lot of rehab costs, to get food, medicine, some medical equipment like a fundus camera. Capio-graph which reads CO2 for patients. We need some specialized medical equipment. We're also going to use it for facility maintenance,' said Chester Leonard, the center executive director, 'A lot of our animals around here do quite a number on our enclosures, so they require constant around the clock maintenance to make sure they're receiving the highest possible quality care.'
You can also give to the Southern Virginia Child Advocacy Center, a completely free program that supports children who have faced abuse. The director tells WFXR the center worries about some federal cuts and says financial support has dropped over the past five years.
Smith Mountain Lake fundraiser to support ecosystem and wildlife
She says the donations would go to ensure every child that walks in feels supported and empowered to heal.
'When you have a kid on site, you're going to want to make sure that you have electricity, that you have a bathroom with running water, that you have the paper products and soaps to support good, clean hygiene,' said Joyce Moran, the executive officer/director of the advocacy center, 'It's a matter of making sure that we have the supplies to write the court reports on or the internet to run for, you know, run the forensic interviews.'
Leonard says every dollar counts- so no matter how much you give- these organizations will be grateful.
'We need your support, but also other nonprofits in SML Gives that need help too. It's a wonderful day of giving and it helps all the struggling nonprofits right now,' said Leonard.
The SML Givesmission statement states that since it covers mostly rural communities, nonprofits play a vital role in addressing the challenges they face, andthe event is a call to action for the community it loves.
You can click here to learn more and donate.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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San Francisco Chronicle
23-06-2025
- San Francisco Chronicle
Comedy and crime fighting join forces for police learning leadership skills
CHICAGO (AP) — Three dozen police captains pair off in a Chicago conference room to play a game: They must start a sentence with the last word their partner used. Many exchanges are nonsensical, full of one-upmanship using difficult words and laughter. But the improvisation game eventually makes sense. 'What we are trying to do, is get you to listen to the end of the sentence,' says Kelly Leonard, wrapping up the improvisational exercise. 'If my arm was a sentence, when do most people stop listening? Always the elbow! But then you're missing everything that goes after... and sometimes that's critical information.' The police captains who have flown in from departments across the country nod. 'I definitely do that," some call out. Officials at the University of Chicago Crime Lab's Policing Leadership Academy brought members of The Second City, Chicago's storied improv theater, to teach police leaders the more diverse skills found in improv exercises — like thinking on your feet, reserving judgment and fully listening. The academy, a workshop taught over five months, tackles some serious topics like to make data-driven decisions or how to help officers handle on-the-job trauma. Improving social skills 'We call it yoga for social skills,' said Leonard, the vice president of Creative Strategy, Innovation and Business Development at The Second City. The skills might not apply to all policing situations in the field, but being a better listener or learning to take a breath before responding can make for better leaders, according to Tree Branch, a strategic client partner at The Second City Works. The creation of improv and of The Second City is rooted in social work. Both trace their beginnings to Viola Spolin, who created some of the exercises still used in improv while she was a resettlement worker in the 1920s helping immigrant children and local Chicago children connect. Spolin was also the mother of Second City cofounder, Paul Sills. The Policing Leadership Academy's creators believe those skills can also help meet their goals to increase community engagement, improve officer morale and ultimately reduce violent crime. 'We are trying to make the case that you can do all three things," without compromising one over the other, said Kim Smith, director of programs at the Crime Lab. The academy is focused on working with leaders from departments dealing with high levels of community gun violence and pays for them to fly to Chicago one week a month to attend the five-month training. Crime Lab researchers found that district and precinct captains have the largest potential impact on their colleagues, despite often receiving little leadership training for the job. A precinct could have high marks for morale, community relationships, or be making a dent in crime numbers, but if the captain changes, those gains could plummet, researchers found, even if the community, the officers and everything else stayed the same. Professors, researchers and police leaders teach courses on topics like developing transparent policing cultures, using and collecting data, managing stress and building community partnerships. So far, about 130 police leaders from about 70 departments including tribal police departments and even a police inspector from Toronto have participated. Communication is key Capt. Louis Higginson with the Philadelphia Police Department said the academy provided a much broader training than the two weeks of police job training he got before being promoted to captain a little more than a year ago. 'The big thing for me was thinking about the things we allow to happen because they've been that way before us,' he said. 'And the ways we can change the culture of our district by changing the thinking around why we do things.' He said he did some of the improv exercises with his wife and daughters when he returned home and it opened up communication in a way he hadn't expected. 'I think it opened their eyes, like it did for me,' Higginson said. Albuquerque Police Department Commander Ray Del Greco said he's still thinking more about how he communicates weeks after the improv class. 'When people talk to you and come to have you help solve their issues, to be able to push your ego out and worry less about your own agenda and listen, that's an understanding of leadership,' Del Greco said. 'To me that was the most valuable class we had.' The student becomes the teacher Academy leaders stressed the learning doesn't stop at graduation. They create communication channels so classmates can continue to support each other, they encourage captains to put on trainings with their departments, and participants are required to implement a capstone project that lasts well past the last day of class and addresses a real problem in their district or department. Many of the projects implement programs to address specific crimes, like involving the community in programs to prevent car thefts or piloting drones as first responders. One previous graduate created a partnership with community groups to increase community pride and reduce gun violence by reducing quality of life issues like littering, overgrown lots and graffiti. Stephen Donohue, a San Jose Police Department captain and recent academy graduate, is creating an early intervention system focusing on officer wellness. A typical system might flag citizen complaints or driving accidents, but Donohue's program gathers input from supervisors and peers to flag when an officer is taking on too much on-duty trauma, such as multiple murders or shooting investigations within a short time. 'It's a Venn diagram between training, wellness and internal affairs," he said. "And we can help them, we can lessen use-of-force complaints and allegations, offer better training and improve services put out by the department.' The trainers hope in a few years more captains and officers will be saying 'yes and' during improv classes. They are keeping tabs through a randomized control study on how well the overall training works. And with that evidence they hope funders, police departments or other universities will help expand the trainings to more departments. 'We want there to be rigorously tested scientific evidence behind this,' said Academy Executive Director Meredith Stricker. 'We work to design a curriculum to ultimately make better leaders and better policing. The participants definitely talk about the improv class as one of their favorites. We hope all of it will work in tandem.'
Associated Press
23-06-2025
- Associated Press
Comedy and crime fighting join forces for police learning leadership skills
CHICAGO (AP) — Three dozen police captains pair off in a Chicago conference room to play a game: They must start a sentence with the last word their partner used. Many exchanges are nonsensical, full of one-upmanship using difficult words and laughter. But the improvisation game eventually makes sense. 'What we are trying to do, is get you to listen to the end of the sentence,' says Kelly Leonard, wrapping up the improvisational exercise. 'If my arm was a sentence, when do most people stop listening? Always the elbow! But then you're missing everything that goes after... and sometimes that's critical information.' The police captains who have flown in from departments across the country nod. 'I definitely do that,' some call out. Officials at the University of Chicago Crime Lab's Policing Leadership Academy brought members of The Second City, Chicago's storied improv theater, to teach police leaders the more diverse skills found in improv exercises — like thinking on your feet, reserving judgment and fully listening. The academy, a workshop taught over five months, tackles some serious topics like to make data-driven decisions or how to help officers handle on-the-job trauma. Improving social skills 'We call it yoga for social skills,' said Leonard, the vice president of Creative Strategy, Innovation and Business Development at The Second City. The skills might not apply to all policing situations in the field, but being a better listener or learning to take a breath before responding can make for better leaders, according to Tree Branch, a strategic client partner at The Second City Works. The creation of improv and of The Second City is rooted in social work. Both trace their beginnings to Viola Spolin, who created some of the exercises still used in improv while she was a resettlement worker in the 1920s helping immigrant children and local Chicago children connect. Spolin was also the mother of Second City cofounder, Paul Sills. The Policing Leadership Academy's creators believe those skills can also help meet their goals to increase community engagement, improve officer morale and ultimately reduce violent crime. 'We are trying to make the case that you can do all three things,' without compromising one over the other, said Kim Smith, director of programs at the Crime Lab. The academy is focused on working with leaders from departments dealing with high levels of community gun violence and pays for them to fly to Chicago one week a month to attend the five-month training. Crime Lab researchers found that district and precinct captains have the largest potential impact on their colleagues, despite often receiving little leadership training for the job. A precinct could have high marks for morale, community relationships, or be making a dent in crime numbers, but if the captain changes, those gains could plummet, researchers found, even if the community, the officers and everything else stayed the same. Professors, researchers and police leaders teach courses on topics like developing transparent policing cultures, using and collecting data, managing stress and building community partnerships. So far, about 130 police leaders from about 70 departments including tribal police departments and even a police inspector from Toronto have participated. Communication is key Capt. Louis Higginson with the Philadelphia Police Department said the academy provided a much broader training than the two weeks of police job training he got before being promoted to captain a little more than a year ago. 'The big thing for me was thinking about the things we allow to happen because they've been that way before us,' he said. 'And the ways we can change the culture of our district by changing the thinking around why we do things.' He said he did some of the improv exercises with his wife and daughters when he returned home and it opened up communication in a way he hadn't expected. 'I think it opened their eyes, like it did for me,' Higginson said. Albuquerque Police Department Commander Ray Del Greco said he's still thinking more about how he communicates weeks after the improv class. 'When people talk to you and come to have you help solve their issues, to be able to push your ego out and worry less about your own agenda and listen, that's an understanding of leadership,' Del Greco said. 'To me that was the most valuable class we had.' The student becomes the teacher Academy leaders stressed the learning doesn't stop at graduation. They create communication channels so classmates can continue to support each other, they encourage captains to put on trainings with their departments, and participants are required to implement a capstone project that lasts well past the last day of class and addresses a real problem in their district or department. Many of the projects implement programs to address specific crimes, like involving the community in programs to prevent car thefts or piloting drones as first responders. One previous graduate created a partnership with community groups to increase community pride and reduce gun violence by reducing quality of life issues like littering, overgrown lots and graffiti. Stephen Donohue, a San Jose Police Department captain and recent academy graduate, is creating an early intervention system focusing on officer wellness. A typical system might flag citizen complaints or driving accidents, but Donohue's program gathers input from supervisors and peers to flag when an officer is taking on too much on-duty trauma, such as multiple murders or shooting investigations within a short time. 'It's a Venn diagram between training, wellness and internal affairs,' he said. 'And we can help them, we can lessen use-of-force complaints and allegations, offer better training and improve services put out by the department.' The trainers hope in a few years more captains and officers will be saying 'yes and' during improv classes. They are keeping tabs through a randomized control study on how well the overall training works. And with that evidence they hope funders, police departments or other universities will help expand the trainings to more departments. 'We want there to be rigorously tested scientific evidence behind this,' said Academy Executive Director Meredith Stricker. 'We work to design a curriculum to ultimately make better leaders and better policing. The participants definitely talk about the improv class as one of their favorites. We hope all of it will work in tandem.'
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Yahoo
WFXR partnering with Feeding Southwest Virginia, Goodwill Industries of the Valleys for ‘Hunger to Hope' food drive
ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR) — Food insecurity impacts people all across southwest Virginia and in Roanoke. The WFXR crew is teaming up with Feeding Southwest Virginia and Goodwill Industries of the Valleys to combat hunger in the community with the 'Hunger to Hope' food drive on Friday. 'It's real and it's here,' said David Dantzler with Feeding Southwest Virginia. 'It's probably on your street. Food drives like this bring both awareness, and they bring food. Obviously, the food nourishes our neighbors, and from there, they can lead healthier, happier lives.' According to Feeding America, food insecurity impacts nearly 15 percent of all people and 20 percent of children across southwest Virginia. That number rises to one-in-four children across Roanoke City, and the summer is a time when access to food can be the toughest it is all year. 'Food insecurity goes up in the summer,' said Dantzler. 'School's out, kids are home, they're not getting their meals at school, so we see our numbers increase and our numbers are already high.' Feeding Southwest celebrates partnership with key speakers There are eight drop off locations for donations all across the Roanoke Valley. List of drop-off locations: Market on Melrose – 2502 Melrose Ave NW A, Roanoke, VA 24017 Vinton Store – 907 Hardy Road, Vinton, VA Hunting Hills Store – 4335 Pheasant Ridge Road, Roanoke, VA Hollins Store – 6315 Archcrest Drive, Roanoke, VA Cave Spring Store – 3206 Electric Road, Roanoke, VA Salem Store – 1493 E. Main Street, Salem, VA West Salem Store – 1830 West Main Street, Salem, VA Daleville Store – 125 Commons Parkway, Daleville, VA From 9 a.m. until 7 p.m., the WFXR team will be at Market on Melrose, which ended a decades-long food desert in Northwest Roanoke when it opened on Melrose Avenue last fall. 'We want to eliminate poverty and part of that is meeting people's needs and no one should be hungry,' said Chelsea Moran with Goodwill Industries of the Valleys. 'That's really where this partnership will thrive.' Feeding Southwest Virginia is accepting monetary donations and any non-perishable food items, with a focus on high-protein foods. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
