Little Red Stocking Campaign winding up

Staff are out collecting the Little Red Stocking donations from around town. It is hard to tell at this point how the campaign went; we will have to wait for the Go-Mart and One Stop totals to come in from our main office. We are gratified by the support shown in this campaign. We have also received several very generous individual gifts this holiday season from on-going major donors. The "in-kind" donations have also been very much appreciated and indicative of strong community support for our mission.

Last Event of the year?

Friday, December 31st at 4 pm, Lisa is having a holiday meal for the Transitional Living Program youth. Its a pretty safe bet to say this is the last event in an action packed year of good events for the TLP program.

End of the Year

As 2010 winds down, we take a deep breath and acknowledge all the busy activity at the CHS-Parkersburg site throughout the year. The staff work very hard to fulfill the mission of CHS in their work with area children and families. Our services run a full spectrum of pre-natal to young people transitioning to adulthood. Throughout the year we serve hundreds of children and their families and provide countless hours of quality care to some of our community's neediest children, youth and families. 2011 promises to be an equally hard working year for CHS-Parkersburg, with much effort put into maintaining the quality programs and looking for new opportunities to serve. Thanks to all the staff and all the community supporters of our work for a fine year.

Johnny Cash Tribute - February 26, 2011

A Johnny Cash Tribute on February 26 at 6 Pence Pub in Parkersburg will kick off the 2011 Americana Music Tribute Series for the CHS-Parkersburg site. Look for more details in the coming weeks. This is an annual event now, and brings out a lot of local music fans, as well as being a fund raiser for the Mid Town Family Resource Center and its work with neighborhood children and families.

Ritchie County strategic planning

Shelley and I met with Jennifer Davenport in our Ritchie County office Monday to do some strategic planning for 2011. This was a lively and energizing meeting, which will hopefully set some goals and direction for this "sub-site" of the CHS-Parkersburg site. Jennifer has done some great community engagement, and has realistic but ambitious goals for providing more services to children and families in Ritchie County for the agency. Look for information about these developments in early 2011.

Foster Care Focus Group Discussion

Kathy Johnson, a consultant who works with the agency on our strategic planning, and Mark Drennan from the administrative office, came to CHS-Parkersburg yesterday to begin discussions about how the agency can increase our foster care placement numbers in conjunction with the agency's strategic goals. Carna was a helpful resource for Kathy and Mark, as we discussed our experiences here in Parkersburg getting foster care off the ground over the last few years. Further discussions at other foster care sites of the agency will occur, and then a united focus group sometime after the first of the year, will hopefully yield some strong results on this strategic goal.

United Bank

Yesterday we were visited by Richard Adams, CEO of United Bankshares, Inc. and two of the young leaders within the local offices of the bank. Richard has met with us twice before to learn about CHS-Parkersburg, and the work we do. He shows keen insight into the role of CHS-Parkersburg in local services to children and families, and has been very deliberate in exploring the ways United Bank can support our work. Besides a contribution to our work, he brought the two young leaders, to see about ways the Bank employees could contribute to our mission and work in the community. This good start will continue into 2011, with some exciting potential.