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nonprofit television

BUZZ to Produce 6 Arts & Cultural Episodes in 2022 900 506 Michael Hemphill

BUZZ to Produce 6 Arts & Cultural Episodes in 2022

We are BUZZing about our new partnership with the City of Roanoke and Roanoke Cultural Endowment to produce six episodes in 2022 that feature our region’s arts and culture … and the organizations that make it possible. 

Read the news release issued Feb. 17 by the Roanoke Cultural Endowment.

As BUZZ creator Michael Hemphill shares in the news release: “Our very first BUZZ episode was produced at the start of the pandemic and featured Southwest Virginia Ballet. Given the challenges that permeated our country during this time, the beauty and joy of the ballet’s music and dancers offered comfort. That’s the power of art. We’re honored to share that story and bring more ‘buzz’ to the artists and organizations who provide that to Roanoke.”

The first episode of this 6-part series, airing Feb. 23 on Blue Ridge PBS, showcases how Roanoke’s arts and cultural nonprofits have survived the pandemic, and are now collaborating with the Taubman Museum of Art to present the weekend-long Roanoke Arts Pop! on March 4-6.

LeadPoint Digital, led by BUZZ veteran and AAF Roanoke president Carrie Cousins, works in this episode to give arts in Roanoke more “buzz.”

“12 Buzz4Goods” Song 900 506 Michael Hemphill

“12 Buzz4Goods” Song

Here on the 12th day of Christmas, BUZZ creator Michael Hemphill presents his “12 Buzz4Goods” song!

Here we look back on the 12 nonprofits that have been featured on BUZZ since our debut in August 2020 on Blue Ridge PBS. We also thank our sponsors and the marketing pros who gave these organizations more “buzz.”

And we look ahead to an exciting 2022!

  1. Southwest Virginia Ballet & Carrie Cousins
  2. Healing Strides & 5Points Creative
  3. Mill Mountain Zoo & Wordsprint
  4. RAM House & Wheeler Digital
  5. Eastmont Community Foundation & Wordsprint
  6. Feeding Southwest Virginia & Access
  7. Virginia811 & Carrie Cousins
  8. Giles County & 5Points Creative
  9. Blue Ridge Women’s Center & Wheeler Digital
  10. Christiansburg Institute & Soectrum Media Solutions
  11. Children’s Assistive Technology Service & 5Points Creative
  12. Habitat for Humanity of the New River Valley & 5Points Creative

Christmas Special featuring Nonprofits’ Holiday Music 900 599 Michael Hemphill

Christmas Special featuring Nonprofits’ Holiday Music

Merry Christmas! Instead of our usual show featuring marketing tips and tools for nonprofits, our Christmas Day “Buzz4Good!” on WFIR features recent musical performances by our region’s nonprofit community.

Listen to Buzz4Good! Christmas Special

So in this sneak peek of our Christmas Day show, we share with you performances from:

  • Opera Roanoke
  • Blacksburg Children’s Chorale
  • Roanoke Valley Children’s Choir
  • Blacksburg United Methodist Church
  • Our Lady of Nazareth
  • Roanoke Catholic School
  • Patrick Henry High School

And tune in Christmas Day at 4 pm to WFIR for an additional, one time only broadcast of the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah by the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra.

I hope you enjoy our nonprofits’ sounds of the season as well as a wonderful Christmas, and that we all commit ourselves to being even more of a buzz4good in 2022.

Always buzzing,
Michael Hemphill
Creator of BUZZ

Habitat for Humanity of the New River Valley wraps up 2021 for BUZZ 900 518 Michael Hemphill

Habitat for Humanity of the New River Valley wraps up 2021 for BUZZ

As originally broadcast on Nov. 3, 2021, on Blue Ridge PBS …

Home is where the heart is, but it’s where your money is too. And for most of us money determines not only the type of home we can afford but its condition once we move in. 

For more than 35 years, Habitat for Humanity of the New River Valley has been dedicated to building quality affordable housing for low-income families.

Now the nonprofit embarks on a visionary new mission: creating task forces in individual communities that can serve as first responders for people in need of critical home repair. Helping Habitat launch this initiative are our friends at 5Points Creative, plus a familiar face to BUZZ, Eastmont Community Foundation, which we featured in December 2020.

Together, they’re working to build a program that may one day become a model for our entire country … ensuring that the real value of our homes isn’t measured in dollars, but in heart. 

Episode 12 revisits Mill Mountain Zoo & EastMont Community Foundation 1024 576 Michael Hemphill

Episode 12 revisits Mill Mountain Zoo & EastMont Community Foundation

As originally broadcast June 16, 2021, on Blue Ridge PBS …

In 2020 BUZZ featured two nonprofits in dire need of a marketing makeover: Mill Mountain Zoo (Episode 3) and Mountain Valley Charitable Foundation (Episode 7).

Mill Mountain Zoo in Roanoke, Va., wondered if the word “zoo” had too negative a stereotype … nor best captured its mission and vision.

Meanwhile in Montgomery County, Va, Mountain Valley Charitable Foundation wondered if its name accurately described the community it served … after all there are lots of mountains and valleys.

Thankfully, marketing specialist Wordsprint was willing to provide pro bono rebranding for both organizations. In Episode 12, we revisit these nonprofits to see how they’ve incorporated Wordsprint’s marketing makeovers to help them achieve more … buzz!

BUZZ is a program of AAF Roanoke and is sponsored in part by the Virginia Film Office – VIRGINIA IS FOR FILM LOVERS.