Throughout the month of December, the students and staff at Blue Ridge Job Corps Center participated in a variety of activities to help spread joy and love during the holiday season. Giving back to the community is extremely important to everyone at Blue Ridge, and there is no better time of year to put this into action.
On Friday, December 6, 22 Clinical Medical Assistant students volunteered at Carrington Place Assisted Living facility in Rural Retreat, VA, where they assisted residents with decorating their doors for Christmas. They also helped the residents around the facility to see the decorations on each of the doors. CMA student Sierra Thomas said, “The residents there were very nice, and you could tell that they appreciated the help that we gave them.”
Later that evening, a group of students joined Recreation staff in the Marion Christmas parade, in the transit bus decorated as one of Santa’s reindeer. They also gave out BRJC outreach information to parade attendees.
On December 16, the Blue Ridge choir, comprised of 9 students, joined with other community members to go caroling at the Francis Marion Manor nursing home in Marion, VA. They sang a variety of Christmas songs, as well as other gospel songs.
Also throughout the month, five Blue Ridge students volunteered for the Salvation Army. Each student participated for two-hour shifts from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., standing in some pretty chilly temperatures, greeting customers at Ingles and Wal-Mart while ringing the bell to help raise funds for the Salvation Army. Ninety percent of these funds return back to this community to aid for those in need.
A variety of community members visited the Blue Ridge campus on December 17, for the annual Community Relations Council Christmas luncheon. CRC President Dolores Boehm gave a message of thanks for the partnerships between BRJC and the local community. “The town of Marion is fortunate to have Blue Ridge Job Corps as a part of our town,” she stated. “We thank each of you for your continued support of the center.”
Finally on December 18, the Student Government Association presented gifts to a family in need, through the Santa’s Elves initiative in Smyth County. For the past several years, SGA has participated in this program, collecting gifts for a local family enduring financial difficulty. SGA President Dayja Grady stated “we are proud to be able to provide gifts for a family, and I hope that we can continue this year after year.”
On behalf of everyone at Blue Ridge Job Corps, we wish each of you a very merry Christmas and a happy new year!