Lake Toxaway Charities
Serving Transylvania County for more than 40 years
Transylvania County Farmer’s Market
The mission of the Transylvania Farmers Market is to encourage and promote local agriculture, horticulture, value-added, and craft industries in Transylvania County, North Carolina; to provide producers a site to market their goods directly to residents and visitors; to provide consumers a market to obtain quality goods directly from local producers; to promote health, wellness, and a sense of community. During the pandemic and this time of uncertainty, the farmer’s market has also expanded their efforts in the fight against food insecurity and how that affects our community.
Individuals who are more at risk during the pandemic due to pre-existing conditions and health concerns mean they need to shop for food in a more distanced and safe fashion. Older citizens with mobility issues also need a way to access fresh local foods. Lake Toxaway Charities is pleased to award a first-time grant to the Farmer’s Market to provide for free curbside shopping area as well as for the advertising, support, and management of that area.
Veterans History Museum of the Carolinas
The mission of the Veterans History Museum of the Carolinas (VHMC) is to honor our nation’s veterans, to educate the public about our country’s military history and the contribution of our servicemen and women, and to preserve important and unique historic artifacts. The VHMC reflects a love of country and gratitude to those who serve it by remembering and celebrating their service.
Lake Toxaway Charities is pleased to support the Veterans History Museum of the Carolinas in 2021 with a grant to fund an important exhibit at the museum, a 1943 Willys MB Jeep generously donated to the museum by a collector. The museum will provide Transylvania County with a dynamic, accessible exhibit that will bring this artifact’s WWII history to life. This is the first grant to the Veterans History Museum from Lake Toxaway Charities.
2021 Grant Assessments:
Handshake America
The Handshake America Scholarship Program consists of eight scheduled sessions between the Students and their Handshake Coaches over the course of a year. The sessions are mostly workshop-type group discussions focusing on the Handshake 5Practices: Perseverance, Passion, People, Positivity, and Presence. Students learn from their Handshake Coaches, peers and special guests who provide different perspectives on what it takes to be successful.
Lake Toxaway Charities is pleased to collaborate with Handshake America in 2021 for the first time with a grant to establish the Handshake program for students in Transylvania County and Western Carolina.
2021 Grant Assessments:
Big Brothers Big Sisters of WNC
The heart and soul of Big Brothers Big Sisters are the “Bigs” volunteer mentors. As BBBSWNC expands in Transylvania County, a minimum of 30 “Bigs” willing to work one on one with at-risk youth will be needed for as little as a few hours per month.
Lake Toxaway Charities approved a grant request in 2021 to support BBSWNC’s continue its work in cooperation with Rosman schools. BBBSWNC worked closely with school administrators and educators to receive “special permission” to conduct programming in the schools using a COVID conscious protocol. This project will build on the momentum created by an influx of new support received from the Dogwood Health Trust to expand its programming into all 18 Western North Carolina counties including Transylvania County. BBBS has hired an experienced program coordinator to serve in Transylvania County. This person has the ability to recruit and train knowledgeable and compassionate volunteers, Bigs”, who understand the issues/barriers to success facing at-risk youth, “Littles”. These barriers are intensified for youth who reside in low-income families. They are more likely to experience poor academic performance and fall behind due to poor attendance, higher suspension rates and dropout rates. The highly regarded BBBS service delivery method is known for building effective and trusting relationships between “Bigs” and “Littles” that lead to vastly increasing resilience and potential success in at-risk youth.
Lake Toxaway Charities is pleased to support this worthy program for at risk youth.
North Toxaway Baptist Church Food Bank
The North Toxaway Baptist Church Food Bank was established in 2005 to provide for those in need in the local area, distributing food twice a month. In 2015, the Food Bank teamed with Manna Food Bank in Asheville, paying a small delivery fee and a portion of costs for the purchased food. Volunteers from the church congregation and others work every other week to help unload trucks, stock shelves, fill food boxes, and distribute food to over sixty registered families from the Lake Toxaway, Sapphire and Quebec communities. Thanks to funding from Lake Toxaway Charities and others, the North Toxaway Baptist Church Food Bank continues to offer much needed food assistance in western Transylvania County.
Lake Toxaway Charities supported North Toxaway Baptist Church Food Bank in 2020 and 2021 with grants to help provide nourishment for families in need.
Learn More: https://www.mannafoodbank.org/agency/north-toxaway-baptist-church/
2021 Grant Assessments
The Children’s Center of Transylvania County
“The Children’s Center is an agency working to stabilize, support and improve the lives of children and families in Transylvania County. We provide space for supervised visitation for families when children are in DSS custody, one-on-one mentoring programs for improving parenting skills, emergency assistance and many school programs. We strive to stop the cycle of child abuse and neglect in our community. We are able to provide many of these services at no cost to our families thanks to the generosity of Lake Toxaway Charities.”
Learn More: https://www.thechildrenscenteroftc.com/
Transylvania Vocational Services
TVS provides day programming for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities with a focus on enrichment, community engagement, preparation for employment, and skills for independence. Lake Toxaway Charities grants help TVS enhance art activities, create areas for peace and tranquility, and promote learning and engagement.
Lake Toxaway Charities supported TVS in 2020 and 2021 with grants. These grants were used to fund various projects, including:
Enhancements of a sensory room for options for individuals to have a restful, calming area to settle themselves. The purchase of a SMART TV/Zoom panel to help TVS maintain a connection with participants who are attending programs through a virtual platform and do not feel safe attending the program in person during the COVID pandemic. Funding was also provided for the purchase of additional tablets for participants to use. Technology has been essential for the development of coping strategies and independence for individuals with significant communication barriers. Art supplies, games, and other materials for activities were also funded.
Learn More: https://www.tvsinc.org/
Bread of Life
At Bread of Life, the simple fare is as plain as our purpose: to share our food with those who have none. We are here to serve everyone – the unemployed and underemployed, single parent families, the elderly and neighbors with physical or emotional disabilities. We serve a hot meal six days a week and feed anywhere from 150-200 of our neighbors each day. Since 2005, Lake Toxaway Charities has been partnering with us at Bread of Life, providing funding for food and capital needs so that we can continue to share meals and love with our neighbors in Transylvania County.
Learn More: http://breadoflifetc.org/home0.aspx
Creating a Family
This national non-profit has a local chapter in Brevard. Its role is to support adoptive, foster and kinship families. Foster and kinship parents (most often grandparents) are on the front line of child welfare caring for neglected and abused children. These children are often left with both physical and emotional scars from childhood trauma. These are often expressed in challenging behaviors and learning challenges, which are exacerbated by a change in routines, loss of structure, and increased in stress in their lives and families. Children in foster and kinship care in Transylvania County are likely to have been exposed to alcohol and drugs prenatally with resulting behavioral and educational issues. Through Creating a Family programing these valued foster and kinship families and the children in their care receive counseling and guidance.
In 2020 Creating a Family received a grant from Lake Toxaway Charities to create and distribute Grandparents Raising Grandkids Resource Kits to grandparent-led families in Transylvania County. The 2021 grant is the next step in the process of supporting these vulnerable families.
The Grandparents Raising Grandkids Resource Kits were the first step in reaching these families by cataloging the local resources that will help these families thrive and creating a Distribution Network of stakeholders to help get this information into the hands of struggling families. The next step is understanding additional needs, identifying missing services, spurring collaboration, and raising awareness throughout the community of the importance of grandparents raising grandkids and this population’s needs.
The 2021 Grant will help accomplish the following three goals: understanding the needs of grandparent-led families in Transylvania County, organizing the stakeholders that work with these families to collaborate on meeting these needs, and raising awareness in the greater community of the importance and needs of grandparent-led families.
All of us have a stake in the stability of these families and Lake Toxaway Charities is pleased to partner with Creating a Family to support adoptive, foster and kinship families in Transylvania County.
For additional information, please contact www.CreatingAFamily.org. or Cecily Timmons, Development Director, at Cecily@creatinngafamily.org.
Feedback in Support Grandparents Raising Grandkids Resource Kits
Helping Grandparents Succeed Grant Supported by the Lake Toxaway Charities
The Grandparents Raising Grandkids Resource Kits have been an amazing resource for our growing population of grandparents who are now raising their grandkids. It has been so helpful for me to have something tangible to give them to make it easier for them because most of these families are really struggling. In addition to the trauma of being taken away from their birth parents, many many of these kids have also experienced exposure in utero to drugs and alcohol, which makes raising them even more challenging. So many of the grandparents we have do not really know about the local resources that are available so the roadmap is especially helpful. Of course, they also really appreciate the Ingles gift cards because money is tight for all of them. Thank you for these kits.
Megan Monk
Guidance Counselor, Brevard Academy