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roanoke virginia

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. 

Celebrate BUZZ Anniversary on Aug. 3 630 485 Michael Hemphill

Celebrate BUZZ Anniversary on Aug. 3

It’s hard to believe that BUZZ made its Blue Ridge PBS debut on Aug. 5, 2020, with episode 1 featuring Southwest Virginia Ballet and marketing specialist Carrie Cousins.

We invite you to CELEBRATE our anniversary and PREVIEW our 13th episode on Tuesday, Aug. 3, at 6:30 pm at the Grandin Theatre. The event is free. Beer, wine, soft drinks, popcorn and candy will be available for purchase from the Grandin. (Pre-party for AAF Roanoke members and previous stars and supporters of BUZZ starts at 6:00 pm).

The event is free. Beer, wine, soft drinks, popcorn and candy will be available for purchase from the Grandin.

Register for BUZZ Anniversary

Our newest BUZZ is a special two-part show featuring the Christiansburg Institute, with Spectrum Media Solutions, that airs Aug. 4 and Aug. 11 on Blue Ridge PBS. 

For 100 years, the Christiansburg Institute stood as one of the finest schools for Black Americans in Virginia. Founded in 1866 just a year after the Civil War put an end to slavery, Christiansburg Institute became a testament to African-American self-preservation, educating thousands of students on its 185-acre campus. Education giants such as Booker T. Washington served as superintendent. 

But in 1966 school integration finally took hold in Virginia … and Christiansburg Institute’s legacy was quite literally whitewashed away. Its academic buildings were shuttered. Its students scattered to previously whites-only schools. Its land subdivided and sold off. Today all that’s left is one abandoned building on four acres.

But there’s a group of passionate people dedicated to preserving its history … and creating a catalyst for community conversations, racial justice and change. 

We thank Woods Rogers Attorneys at Law, Community Foundation of the New River Valley, and Partners in Financial Planning for their sponsorship support of this episode … and all of you who have been part of BUZZ during our inaugural year. 

C.A.T.S. to be featured on upcoming BUZZ 720 518 Michael Hemphill

C.A.T.S. to be featured on upcoming BUZZ

We are BUZZing 🐝 to announce that we start production later this month on a new episode featuring Children’s Assistive Technology Service — a no-cost resource for children with disabilities in Virginia who need adaptive equipment and whose families have limited resources.

The episode will air in September on Blue Ridge PBS and VPM. Sponsorship support for this show is being provided by ABLEnow, which helps individuals with disabilities save money to pay for qualified expenses, without being taxed on the earnings — and in most cases, without losing eligibility for certain means-tested benefit programs.

Thank you, ABLEnow, for being a buzz4good for Virginia families in need!

BUZZ features Blue Ridge Women’s Center 600 337 Michael Hemphill

BUZZ features Blue Ridge Women’s Center

As originally broadcast on May 5, 2021, on Blue Ridge PBS …

A woman confronting an unexpected pregnancy too often doesn’t know where to turn. Blue Ridge Women’s Center wants her to turn to the nonprofit and its free resources that support her pregnancy, her transition to motherhood, or her decision to make an adoption plan. 

Through an array of radio stations and digital marketing pros, Mel Wheeler, Inc., is spreading the nonprofit’s mission to help women “feel empowered to make the best decision for themselves and their families.”

This episode is sponsored in part by Beacon Wealth Consultants.