2012 Earth Day Festival and Earth Day 5K: Race Without a Trace.
April 21st in historic Manchester from 12noon till 7pm.
This years Earth Day Festival is shaping up as one of Central Virginia’s major festivals.  Earth Day Richmond is adding more vendors, improving our event layout, and new for 2012 is the Earth Day 5k: Race Without a Trace (brought to by Fountainhead Properties and EarthCraft VA).  Highlights this year included some of the best local food vendors, several great local bands for your listening pleasure, outdoor gear swap, a bike check for everyone who rides their two wheel traveler to the event (plus a thank you gift for being kind to our environment), a Bike Hub filled with local biking vendors, electronic recycling, and so much more.

The Enrichmond Foundation and the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority are pleased to announce that with the support of our corporate sponsor, Shoe City, a $1,500 scholarship will be awarded to a deserving high-school student this summer! Shoe City annually partners with community foundations and local radio stations to award college scholarships to high school seniors throughout the Baltimore, Washington D.C., Richmond and Norfolk areas. The scholarships are awarded to students based on academic achievement, financial need and community involvement. Scholarship awards can be used at degree-granting, non-profit, four-year colleges and universities in the United States that participate in the Federal Student Aid Programs (Title IV). Scholarships are paid directly to the educational institution and cover direct educational expenses charged to the student by the college or university. Expenses could include but are not limited to: tuition and fees, room and board, books and mandatory equipment.

Download the application here:

2012 SHOE CITY Application

The application must be mailed to The Enrichmond Foundation, postmarked no later than July 20, 2012.

Enrichmond Foundation
6 North Laurel Street
Room 307
Richmond, VA 23220

Who is eligible for this scholarship?
This scholarship is available to High School Seniors residing within a Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority community (RRHA) in the city of Richmond. Students with relatives working or volunteering for the Enrichmond Foundation, RRHA, Shoe City, or Richmond’s Department of Parks, Recreation, and Community Facilities are not eligible to apply.

Will I receive a check for my scholarship?
Scholarship funds are paid directly to the educational institution. The school will be instructed to apply the funds to the student’s account equally between semesters/quarters. Any funds in excess of a student’s remaining need will be returned to the Foundation.

Love watching basketball? Interested in helping the Enrichmond Foundation further it’s mission? Why not do both and volunteer with the Enrichmond Brew Crew at the CAA Championship Basketball Tournament March 2nd thru the 5th!

The Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) has asked the Enrichmond Foundation to manage beer sales at next weekends championship tournament. If you haven’t worked a beer truck at an event before it’s probably the easiest, most fun, rowdy time you can have volunteering for a good cause. Here are the specifics:

WHEN: March 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th
WHERE: Richmond Coliseum
WHO: During the CAA Championship (http://www.caasports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=8500&ATCLID=205339817)
FOR: Enrichmond Foundation (www.enrichmond.org)
PERKS: You get a fancy Enrichmond t-shirt, the chance to slip into a few games (VCU, JMU, W&M, George Mason, etc…), and you help a great cause.

There are 4 days and each day has been broken down into shifts of 5 people per shift. You can see the schedule for shifts (listed as the Enrichmond Brew Crew) by date and time at:
http://www.handsonrva.org/HOC__Volunteer_Opportunity_Calendar_Page

Take a look at what is available in the calendar, select the time(s) you may be interested in volunteering, and at the bottom of the description you will see a big button ‘Express Interest’. We can then add you to our schedule.

PLEASE pass this along to anyone you feel would be interested.

Hope to see you providing libations supporting Enrichmond and rooting for your favorite school (GO RAMS!).
Cheers!

NOTE: This is a weather sensitive event: If it rains, the volunteer opportunity will be canceled. =(

The Enrichmond Foundation and The City of Richmond Department of Parks, Recreation, and Community Facilities  invites you to the:

2012 Enrichmond Partner Meeting

Please join us and all of the Partners and Special Projects working under the Enrichmond Foundation fiscal sponsorship for the 2012 Enrichmond Partner Meeting. If you are an existing or past partner, or interested in becoming a partner with Enrichmond this is your event.

The event agenda will be:
Introduction: Dr. Norman Merrifield, Director of Parks, Recreation, and Community Facilities.

Enrichmond Update: Value in Partnership- Volunteers, Finances, and Procedures.

Visit: http://new.evite.com/services/links/X2HZE4SHY2 for registration.

Email jsydnor@enrichmond.org or call 804.646.0954 for additional information.

Every park Friends group could benefit from having at least one Certified Tree Steward among its members. A Certified Tree Steward will know how to make trees thrive and act as a liaison in arranging any needed Tree Steward assistance in planting, pruning or planning for these activities (with the approval of Parks officials, of course). The next training class begins Jan. 10 at the Round House in Byrd Park and will cover everything from tree biology and diseases to hands-on planting and pruning. Advance registration for the 11-week course is requested. See the details and ask questions at http://richmondtreestewards.wordpress.com/classes-2/

The year is coming to a close.  Thank YOU!- for supporting us in growing a better Foundation and building a better City.  It is time to be thankful and celebrate our accomplishments as well as reflect and learn from our mistakes.  As we begin evaluating 2011, it is helpful to look back at our past achievements. 

Send A Kid to Camp
Partnership with Department of Parks, Recreation, and Community Facilities

With the generosity of hundreds of listeners combined with the talents and energy of local DJs, the 2010 Send A Kid To Camp Radio-A-Thon raised over $25,000 for City youth to attend summer camp.  This event was sponsored by Radio One’s 92.1 POWER, 99.3 and 105.7 KISS, and 104.7 PRAISE.

Earth Day Event
Partnership with Style Weekly

An estimated 6,000 people attended our Earth Day festival. Through vendor support and food and beverage sales, Richmond’s Earth Day Festival raised nearly $9,000.  The focus of this event is to bring the community together to celebrate local efforts, businesses, organizations, music, and art around Earth Day.

Additional successes are detailed on our website: www.enrichmond.org

70+ partners = Limitless opportunities to help.

The Enrichmond Foundation has served as the main umbrella non-profit organization for numerous volunteer groups, civic organizations, and special initiatives in the City of Richmond for over twenty years. We now serve over seventy (70)+ partnerships and projects under the Enrichmond umbrella. Although our main service is fiduciary, Enrichmond has always assisted our partners with volunteer planning, coordination, recruitment, and management.

Why volunteer? When you volunteer you are giving something back to your neighborhood, City, or regional resource by lending a helping hand to our parks (like W. Byrd Park), recreational programs (like First Tee), or cultural offerings (like Dogwood Dell). What you may not realize is that volunteering also benefits you as an individual. There are many good reasons to get involved with Enrichmond and our partners, including learning something about yourself.

Our most recent match making effort connected Diamond Health care with Byrd and Forest Hill Parks. On November 6th Diamond’s employees will assist in park maintenance to provide a quality corporate volunteer effort. We are also recruiting volunteers for our upcoming Earth Day event on April 21, 2012.

If you have a project in mind and could use a helping hand, please contact us at 646-0954. We can help plan your project in-house or connect you to one of our outstanding partners like HandsOn Greater Richmond or Neighbor-to-Neighbor.

City’s “Imagine Festival” Celebrates Community Diversity

The City of Richmond will host the 7th annual “Imagine Festival” at Broad Rock Park on Saturday, October 8, from noon to 5 p.m. Admission to this community and family event is free.

The Imagine Festival is an exciting event offering diverse food vendors, dance performances, arts, crafts, exhibitors, and fun activities for the entire family.

This year’s festival will offer free health screenings through theUna Vida Sana program, as well as a variety of showcase sports games, such as soccer and softball. Approximately ten local community groups will be performing throughout the day.

The Imagine Festival began in 2005 as a community outreach event sponsored by Richmond’s Gang Reduction and Intervention Program. Since then, the City has sponsored the festival, which has grown larger with each year. For more information about the Imagine Festival, please call the City’s Hispanic Liaison Office at 646-0145.

El “Festival Imagine” Celebra la Diversidad de la Comunidad en la Ciudad

La Ciudad de Richmond celebrará la 7ta. Edición anual del “Festival Imagine” en el Broad Rock Park, el sábado, 8 de octubre, desde el mediodía hasta las 5:00 p.m. La entrada a este evento familiar y comunitario es gratuita.

El Festival Imagine es un evento emocionante que ofrece comida gratuita, presentaciones de danza, arte, artesanía, exhibidores y actividades divertidas para toda la familia. Un componente para el festival de este año serán exámenes básicos de salud a través del programa de Una Vida Sana, y también una variedad de juegos de exhibición de futbol y béisbol. Aproximadamente diez grupos locales estarán presentando durante el día.

El Festival Imagine comenzó en el 2005 como un evento dedicado a la comunidad y patrocinado por el Programa para Richmond de Intervención y Reducción de Pandillas. Desde entonces, la Ciudad ha auspiciado el festival, el cual se vuelve mayor con la edición de cada año. Para más información acerca del Festival Imagine, por favor llame a la Oficina de Enlace Hispano de la Ciudad al 646-0145.

It takes a village to raise a rock climber and Raheem Smith is no exception. Passages Adventure Camp has worked cooperatively with the Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities (DPRCF) and Enrichmond for more than a decade to provide hundreds of grants to deserving Richmond Families to send their children to our sweet summer camp on Belle Isle. Raheem represents what we hope will become a significant trend. He passed Level III in our rigorous Rock and River Master Program and participated in his first week of Advance Climbing Camp!

This is an incredible accomplishment on both ends of the climbing rope. On our end of the rope we know it takes Campers a week or more of Passages to pass each Level in our Program and we are extremely proud of the passion Raheem has for climbing and the outdoors. The DPRCF, Enrichmond, and Page Luxmore from the MICAH committee at St. Paul’s Church have all made it possible to provide continuous support for Raheem to attend Passages for 4 summers. As for Raheem, he was super-psyched to make it all the way to Advance Camp to work with our elite Guides and build his hard and soft skills in hopes of applying for a job at Passages next summer as a Climbing Counselor In Training.

This summer Passages had 160 Staff with more that 90% of them returning from the previous summer. Our Counselors in Training (CIT) each submitted a 3-page job application, participated in a 40 minute one-on-one job interview, had their references checked, reviewed a 13-page in-depth job description and did a follow up phone interview all before being selected to join our Staff. All staff take part in a 45-hour training in addition to being certified in Community First Aid and Adult / Child CPR. CITs contributed more than 3200 hours of volunteering at Passages this past summer in addition to gaining invaluable life skills and having a complete blast.

A historic park rivaling any in the country.

William Byrd Park, popularly known as Byrd Park, is centrally located in the City of Richmond, Virginia.  The park is well known for its landmarks including

the city reservoir, the Carillon and Dogwood Dell.  In addition, Barker Field dog park, the tennis courts, the Vita Course, and the paddle boats are among the many other attractions that entice visitors from the City and the surrounding counties.