WHAT WE'VE ACCOMPLISHED SO FAR:
--Events: We've hosted quite a few events in the Summers County community so far. We kicked off with our first fundraiser via indiegogo online from December -January. Then Hinton's Got Talent in January 2014 which featured 15 different young people ranging from 7-20 years old who showed off their musical talents in front of a sold out house. The objective of this event was to feature the talents of our county's young people and show everyone just what wonderful kids we have right here at home. Then there was Spring fling which raised money to buy chairs to donate to the Summers County Memorial Building. The 2 Spring Fling events were Hinton Game Night where contestants were Hollywood Squares, Family Feuders and Smarter than 5th Graders (not too many were smarter though.) Game night was hosted by WVVA's Janna Brown and featured Squares such as WVVA's Kristen Connor, Hinton Mayor Joe Blankenship and many more. We raised around $2,000 dollars for those chairs. Our next event, A Step Forward: Don't Let Drugs Control Your Life with special guest speaker Tiffany Eis was a drug awareness event for 2 days in April which reached aproximately 900 people in total (including the entire student body of Summers Co. Middle and High Schools plus 2 nights at the Ritz open to the public). Our goal here was to educate the general public and young people about the ramifications of drugs on the human body in addition to providing them with resources for themselves or someone they know who has an addicition. We were pleased to have Summers County Narcotics Anonymous and REACHH (a local women's and children's resource center) present the night of the event and lending support.
--Contests: We held a local photo contest and awarded two winners. First prize went to a local organization called the Summers County Twirlers, a young group of little girls who work and practice hard to perfect their baton twirling skills. These girls, along with their volunteer leader, Miss Patty inspire the county with their hometown spirit. The award money was spent on girls who couldn’t afford new batons.
--Media Attention: HHF has been featured in WV South Magazine's Dec/Jan 2014 edition, our Hinton's Got Talent winners, Chosen Generation Bluegrass peformed live on RadioAM1380, HHF has been on WVVA News multiple times, interviewed with WOAY and had the wonderful opportunity to have both of these fantastic crews as well as WVNS-TV 59 present at most of our events. The Register Herald regularly publishes our events on their calendar as well so keep your eyes peeled! Did we mention the Hinton Newspaper? We've been in there too. Find out more at: http://www.hintonhope.com/ #!untitled/c1kct
--Infrastructure: We have a growing number of volunteers both in the Hinton & Summers County areas of WV in addition to volunteers in other states who grew up in Summers County. These include volunteers from as far away as Los Angeles, CA. We’ve also acquired an environmental scientist, Maryam Azad who will work in the areas of the ginseng project that require professional, scientific assistance.
-- We have incorporated with the State of West Virginia and have filed for our 501c3 Non-Profit status.
--We are currently working with a local school to present surveys to the kids to find out their interests in order to build the YLSC youth program. OUR PROJECTS:
--Through the Ginseng project we are seeking to boost the economical potential of the county. Ginseng is a native plant to the Appalachian region and requires mountains, a canopy of trees and cold winters—everything we have—in order to flourish. With prices ranging from $300-900 per dried pound for simulated, wild grown ginseng (organic) it is the perfect alternative to mountain top removal mining, and it provides a sustainable industry for local citizens. We will sponsor up to 20 individuals for the next 4 years to become the VERY FIRST GINSENG CULTIVATION PROGRAM in the state.
--YLSC: To lower youth drug & crime rates by creating a fun, engaging alternative program with perks and opportunities. (I.E. 1 segment of the program is a yearly art contest for schools countywide. The winner’s work will then be painted by a local artist as a mural on one of the dilapidated buildings in the downtown area. This achieves 4 things: (1) It gives the kids an opportunity to participate in a project with visible results and gives them a sense of hope, pride and belonging while returning art education into their lives. (2) It beautifies the town and makes it more appealing for visitors and residents. (3) It gives local residents a sense of pride about their hometown. (4) It provides jobs for a local artists.
--The Summers County Cookery also targets the economical sector and will involve mass community involvement. Through a county contest we will select local recipes—jams, preserves, candies, cookies, homemade soups—and produce them in mass to sell through an online market. There will also be the opportunity to sell through grocery distributors like Trader Joes and Whole Foods who support community development projects through food supplies. Each product will have a photo of the local resident whom the recipe came from and a small blurb about that person. We will use only fruits and vegetables from local farmers who will be taught to grow organically, and therefore the products can be marketed as organic (no chemical fertilizers, pesticides, hormones) and fair trade (providing a fair price for local, developing communities). FIND OUT MORE:
www.hintonhope.com
