GVCO Caring Hands News
WOW! What a great finish to an extraordinarily successful 2021 for our GVCO Caring Hands student leadership and volunteers.

In the last four months of the year, Caring Hands student volunteers donated hundreds and hundreds of hours of time to community service. And at the same time, GVCO Caring Hands raised thousands and thousands of dollars for numerous local charitable causes. It's a tremendous show of philanthropy by everyone involved with GVCO Caring Hands, as well as the Great Valley community as a whole.
 
Below are some of the most recent initiatives and some great opportunities for 2022.
Home of the Sparrow


Our Caring Hands group did a fabulous job with our partnership with Home of the Sparrow and their "Winter White Out" initiative. In the final week of the year, GVCO delivered a truckload of paper goods and cleaning supplies to assist Home of the Sparrow with their mission of helping women and children in Chester County who are facing homelessness

About 25 GVCO Caring Hands student volunteers dug in and helped the French and Pickering Conservation Trust with planting over 800 trees at a nature preserve in Glenmore.
In early December, GVCO partnered with GWES PTO and their winter coat drive. It was a tremendous success with 125 winter coats being donated for local people in need. In mid December, GVCO was connected to administrators at Devereux Behavioral Health Services who were very excited and very much in need of the coats .
 
After a few emails with the admin office in Devon, we were e-introduced to some programming coordinators at Devereux locations on Sugartown Rd. and the Boot Rd. community. It was a great fit as they collaborated and determined each individual need for each coat. 
 
On New Year's Eve, the coats were delivered, and distributed New Years Day weekend! Devereux was very appreciative and thought it was a tremendous undertaking and donation. Kudos to the GWES PTO and the Great Valley community for their geneosity and support.
"Good Neighbors" Initiative
Holiday Gift Wrapping
In late November, the Caring Hands student volunteers wrapped over 400 gifts to give local senior citizens for the holidays. Santa arrived at the Phoenixville Area Senior Center bearing gifts as GVCO Caring Hands donated the gifts as part of its Good Neighbors initiative, hoping to bring some joy at the PASC's holiday get together!
And Surrey Services for Seniors delivered hundreds of gifts donated by GVCO Caring Hands to many of the homebound senior membership during the holidays. https://www.facebook.com/SurreyServices/videos
"It's one thing to be a part of an organization. It's another thing to be a part of the community."
Travis Kelce
Looking ahead in 2022

GVCO Caring Hands plans on keeping up the momentum from 2021 into the New Year. Below are some of the opportunities for our student volunteers for this winter and spring:
 
  • Monday, January 17th is MLK Day, is a national day of community service. We will be reaching out tomorrow with a way that each one of the student volunteers can get involved with community service right from their kitchen or living room this coming Monday.
  • A Book Drive to support Books4Cause in their initiative to assist places like the African Library Project or Bernies Book Bank
  • A Shoe Drive to assist Ian's Boots a local charity assisting with providing shoes to those in need.
  • Work days with Good Works, a local non profit dedicated to repairing homes and restoring hope for low-income homeowners in Chester County, PA.
  • Planting flower pots for residents at Green Meadows rehabilitation in Paoli.
  • ...and a number of other initiatives.
Intern Spotlight

Meet Raghav Thangada 
 
Raghav is a Junior at Great Valley High School. He wanted to participate in the Internship Program to develop his leadership skills while being part of a team. He has strong organization skills that not only benefit him in the classroom but also at home when he is tasked with kitchen duty. 
 
When asked what is the best thing about the Great Valley Community, Raghav said: The best thing about Great Valley is the diversity. The level of acceptance by my peers and teachers allows for a safe learning environment that has helped me to flourish to the best of my ability. I treasure the level of acceptance I have received.
The GVCO Future
We are on our way...

to a world-class community resource that delivers a broad range of sports, educational, arts, recreational and senior programs that address key community needs.

We need your help to finish what we've started! We will not get the necessary financing to complete the project without raising additional funds.
DONATE NOW to finalize the building of our brand new GVCO Community Center!
The time is NOW.... Together we can make it happen!

What can we accomplish together? See GVCO Inside and Out
GVCO Community Partnership
Philadelphia is the nation's poorest big city with nearly 300,000 children living in poverty across the region. Cradles to Crayons Philadelphia has a reach that goes well beyond the borders of the city itself.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Annual Day of Service & Children’s Clothing Drive
Monday, January 17, 2022
 
Cradles To Crayons is proud to celebrate Dr. King’s legacy of service by offering several opportunities for volunteer engagement in support of our mission to help children living in poverty throughout the Greater Philadelphia region.
 
Our MLK Day donation drive is extremely important in helping to fill our shelves with clothing, coats & shoes for distribution to thousands of children in the coming months. Please bring your donations to a collection site on Jan 17th between 10:00am – 1:00pm.
 
For more activities for your family, company, school, or community group, c please see www.cradlestocrayons.org/philadelphia/mlk/

GVCO Donor Spotlight
McAneney Family
Volunteers are the cornerstone of the Great Valley Community Organization and Vince McAneney is no exception. Vince and his wife, Debbie first got involved when their children participated in GVBL and the Challenger Gym Program. Scott continued to play GVBL straight through to the High School League while Erica & Shannon volunteered to become Buddies for the Challenger Gym Program and Ryan donated his shredding services at R-Mobile Shredding to numerous GVCO fundraisers.
 
When GVCO started GVFL, Vince jumped right in to coach his son Scott and his buddies. A year later he became President of the league and held that position for 7+ years, stepping down at the end of the 2018 season. His fondest memory was when he coached with his son Scott – such a great experience for father and son. Vince hopes that others in the community would take advantage of all the great things GVCO is doing and use those opportunities as a way to further connect with their own kids and the entire Great Valley Community. Vince believes that time invested in our youth is never wasted and encourages anyone thinking of making a bigger commitment to GVCO, whether through volunteering or donating, to “Just Do It”.
More Ways to Support GVCO
The results are in! The Great Valley Community Organization received over 58,000 votes from people who believe in our mission and our impact in the community. We received a good-sized donation thanks to you!
Target’s Community Giving Program provides Target Circle members the opportunity to earn and cast votes to help area nonprofits. We are grateful for our partnership with Target and for our Great Valley Community members.
Shop at https://smile.amazon.com/ch/26-1139318 and Amazon donates to Great Valley Community Organization
Do You Match?

Did you know your employer might have a Matching Gifts program?

It's a great way to contribute and help GVCO complete the entire new GVCO Community Center project.
Use code #47309 for GVCO
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Great Valley Community Organization
GVCO is a 501(c)(3) organization