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nonprofit

25th BUZZ stars West End Center + 5Points Creative 900 503 Michael Hemphill

25th BUZZ stars West End Center + 5Points Creative

As originally broadcast Oct. 19, 2022, on Blue Ridge PBS …

In the 1970s during summers and after school, children often wandered the streets without supervision of Roanoke’s West End, a neighborhood defined by poverty and crime, vacant lots and vandalized buildings. But then a group of churches and civic groups came together to establish West End Center as a safe haven — and more importantly, hope — for the neighborhood children.​

Today, West End Center serves about 150 children each year, providing them and their families with low-cost academic enrichment, wellness programs and leadership training to become productive, responsible adults.

BUZZ partner 5Points Creative returns to provide a comprehensive marketing package to promote West End Center to a wider audience.

Funding for this episode comes from the Louise R. Lester Foundation and Freedom First Credit Union.

BUZZ nominated for Kendig Arts & Culture Award 900 524 Michael Hemphill

BUZZ nominated for Kendig Arts & Culture Award

Definitely the “who?” in this Who’s Who list of 2022 Perry F. Kendig Arts and Culture Awards Nominees … but we are buzzing by this surprising honor.

Founded in 1985, the Kendig Awards is a programmatic offering between Roanoke College and Hollins University honoring:

  • Individual Artist
  • Arts and/or Cultural Organization
  • Individual or Business Arts Supporter

This year’s nominees:

  • Michael Hemphill: “a true believer in partnership, collaboration, and lifting up the arts community in Virginia’s Blue Ridge through his company Buzz4good.”
  • Seth Davis “has inspired thousands of children and teenagers with the gift of music.
  • Doug Jackson: “long-serving and faithful ally of the arts … invested in finding ways to make the arts compelling and accessible to all.”
  • Michael Mansfield: “director, actor, guest artist and designer, and teacher whose talents have been experienced by every theatre in Virginia’s Blue Ridge.”
  • Sandra Meythaler: “choreographer, dancer, and teacher who has been at the helm of Roanoke Ballet Theatre since 2007.”
  • Roanoke Valley Children’s Choir “has served the people of the Roanoke Valley for 34 years by meeting the musical needs of our young people.”

We look forward to celebrating with these exceptional artists at the awards reception Oct. 11!

New Buzz stars Saint Francis Service Dogs 900 670 Michael Hemphill

New Buzz stars Saint Francis Service Dogs

As originally broadcast Sept. 21, 2022, on Blue Ridge PBS …

For more than 150 Virginians with disabilities, dogs are not only best friends, they literally make life meaningful and possible.

Since 1996, Saint Francis Service Dogs has provided incredibly trained four-legged caregivers that assist in daily living for families confronting autism, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, rheumatoid arthritis, brain injuries, amputations and paralysis.

Lesser known is the fact that these dogs also provide service to inmates at Bland Correctional Center who help raise and care for them through a prison puppy program. And they provide comfort and calming in facilities throughout Virginia, namely Blue Ridge Autism and Achievement Center.

Dog-lover and marketing maven Carrie Cousins, director of marketing at LeadPoint Digital, returns to BUZZ to help Saint Francis Service Dogs enhance its popular “Barks & Rec” fundraiser. 

Please join us in thanking these sponsors for making this episode possible:

BUZZ Season 3 premier features Grandin Theatre Film Lab 900 504 Michael Hemphill

BUZZ Season 3 premier features Grandin Theatre Film Lab

As originally broadcast August 10, 2022, on Blue Ridge PBS …

Since 2016, Grandin Theatre’s Film Lab has provided an after-school program for high school students eager to learn how to make movies.

But dozens of films later — some of which have received EMMY awards and been screened in festivals around the world — and the Film Lab remains somewhat unknown despite the fact it’s earned its own red-carpet treatment.

Using Film Lab’s own tools and talents, BUZZ seeks to shine a spotlight on this amazing program with a special hour-long episode that launches of our third season on Blue Ridge PBS.

BUZZ features Roanoke’s Healing Arts to conclude Season 2 900 506 Michael Hemphill

BUZZ features Roanoke’s Healing Arts to conclude Season 2

As originally broadcast July 27, 2022, on Blue Ridge PBS …

Throughout his life, Dr. Robert L.A. Keeley was not only known for his medical talents in the Roanoke Valley, but his musical gifts as well. So much so that upon his death, Carilion Clinic in collaboration with the Keeley family founded a Healing Arts program.

Today, Carilion Clinic offers a variety of “healing arts” resources such as artists-in-residence who provide therapeutic treatments to patients and staff.

Other nonprofits are also working in this space. Roanoke Symphony has partnered with Anderson Music Therapy on regular programs for memory-loss nursing home residents. Taubman Museum of Art hosts “healing ceiling tiles” in which community members turn ceiling tiles into artwork that’s hung in Carilion Clinic patient rooms. And 5 Points Music Sanctuary provides help for everyone from children with autism to adults suffering from depression.

This episode is the third of a 6-part series of BUZZ focusing on Roanoke’s arts and cultural nonprofits, produced in collaboration with the Roanoke Cultural Endowment, City of Roanoke, and Carilion Clinic.