BUZZ is now on in California!
Carol Jessee, former executive director of Southwest Virginia Ballet, which we featured in our first episode in 2020, texted us: “Just got a note from a friend who lives in LA saying he turned his TV on and there I was! The ballet Buzz4good was on!!! WOW! Congrats!”
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We hope you enjoy this highlight reel of our Top 10 buzz-worthy moments of 2023 … and look forward to highlighting and helping even more nonprofits in 2024!
No. 10: The Y is more than a workout as we showed in our episode starring YMCA of Virginia’s Blue Ridge. See the stories of some at-risk teens served by “Rise 540.” Watch full episode.
No. 9: Nonprofits literally do everything – from homeless shelters and children’s art programs to organizations like the Regional Accelerator and Mentoring Program that helps entrepreneurs design cutting-edge drugs and patent portable optical laser cutters. Watch full episode.
No. 8: The Roanoke City Public Schools arts program teaches kids how to dance, sing, paint, sculpt, play a stringed instrument, march in the band, produce digital music … and recycling and turtle-stacking? Watch full episode.
No. 7: How excited was the Community Foundation of the New River Valley when it soared past its goal for the 10th annual GiveLocalNRV? Watch full episode.
No. 6: With its scenic waterfalls, hiking trails, gurgling streams and star-gazing skies, Alta Mons pulses with divinity for the thousands of people who retreat each year at the 800-acre eastern Montgomery County camp. But its human heart beats within one man: Jim Pearman. Watch full episode.
No. 5: We buzzed at the chance to talk to Virginia Tech’s Liz Kitley, Kenny Brooks and Brent Pry for our episode starring The Hokie Way, which helps VT athletes use their Name, Image and Likeness to promote local nonprofits. One of those nonprofits is the Lifering Foundation, founded by Kelly Woolwine amidst incredible suffering. Watch full episode.
No. 4: We’re fortunate to have Dan Mirolli in our hive as our cinematographer. His work really buzzes in our episode featuring The Least of These homeless ministry at night. Watch full episode.
No. 3: How proud is Norma Mondragon’s mother for the life she has built thanks to Literacy Volunteers of the New River Valley? Watch full episode.
No. 2: BUZZ creator Michael Hemphill returns to his hometown of Birmingham where he connects with old friends and his alma mater to produce episodes on four impactful nonprofits that began airing in December on Alabama Public Television.
No. 1: In our most viewed video of 2023, musicians Bryan “Harvest Blaque” Hancock and J.P. Powell – joined by Roanoke Symphony maestro David Stewart Wiley, Opera Roanoke’s Brooke Tolley, Roanoke Cultural Endowment’s Shaleen Powell, and the Roanoke Valley Children’s Choir – provide the artistic beat for what makes Roanoke, Virginia, a great place for business. Watch full episode.
BUZZ creator Michael Hemphill has been named to the Virginia Business list of “100 People to Meet in 2024.”
Appearing in the December 2023 issue, Hemphill was part of the “Impact Makers” category:
A native of Birmingham, Alabama, Michael Hemphill moved to Virginia in 1997 when his wife was doing her residency in family medicine. Since then, Roanoke’s been his home and he’s helped tell the region’s stories throughout his career, including as a former reporter for The Roanoke Times, as a marketer, and now as host of the Blue Ridge PBS TV show “Buzz.” The show’s focus is on nonprofit groups in the Roanoke and New River Valley regions and the good they’re accomplishing. Hemphill also started Buzz4Good, a pro bono marketing company that helps attract volunteers and donors to nonprofit organizations. Outside of work, Hemphill enjoys traveling, and in 2015 he followed the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada, catching soccer matches across 8,000 miles and five time zones.
Tune in to Blue Ridge PBS on Wednesday 7:00 p.m. to watch BUZZ! New episodes air each month! Here’s the schedule of upcoming shows now through August.
Thank you for being a buzz4good in 2022 and looking forward to more BUZZ 🐝 in 2023!
In our 2022 Year in Review, we feature the great work that nonprofits do in Virginia, and we highlight the marketing professionals who donated their time and talent to help these organizations attract more donors, volunteers and clients to their cause.
In 2022, these pros provided pro bono website development, social media campaigns, rebranding, new logos, free billboard and print advertising, and on and on, all to help nonprofits achieve more buzz!