If the sights and sounds emanating from the Vance-Granville Community College Civic Center are any indication, the second annual Community Resource Festival has delivered in its goal of connecting people with local organizations and agencies.
WIZS’s Steve Lewis spoke with a number of individuals as the festival got underway earlier Wednesday. The festival ran from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and provided for lots of networking and sharing of information to inform those in attendance about agencies and other organizations and the services they offer.
Michele Walker, sales and account manager with Huff Consulting has spearheaded the event, which came about because she saw a need in the community to help connect people and available resources.
More than 75 vendors signed up to participate in this year’s event, an increase from last year’s 68 vendors. Organizers anticipated several hundred individuals to come and learn more about available resources in the area.
From community partners like Granville Vance Public Health to businesses like Sunrock and others, the festival brings together under one roof a variety of area organization who want to share information, provide support or advertise job openings.
VGCC Dean of Business, Applied Tech and Public Service, Stephanie Tolbert joined forces with Huff to plan the day’s events this year. In an earlier interview on TownTalk, Tolbert said everyone who stops in during the day will leave with a ball full of freebies, “but more importantly, knowledge about resources that they didn’t know existed in their backyards.”
Did you know, for example, that Granville Vance Public Health offers a program called Sleep Safe for families and parents of newborns? Health department representatives Tammy Davis and Elizabeth Leggings shared information at the resource fair about the program to show parents how to position their babies when they are sleeping to prevent Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and asphyxiation.
When their newborn is three months old, parents can take another class that talks about the importance of “tummy time.” Participants who complete the class get a tummy time mat.
Visit www.gvph.org to learn about all the programs and services the health department provides.
If you visited the HUBzone Technology Initiative booth, you likely chatted with Bryant Davis or Ron Taylor to learn that the Henderson-based nonprofit is now giving refurbished laptops to individuals who qualify and not just to organizations.
That’s huge, but that’s what HUBzone does – it takes donated laptops and turns them into Chromebooks to give away to those who need them.
Got a laptop sitting around that you don’t use? Consider donating to HUBzone Technology Initiative- the more they give away, the more they’ll need to refurbish.
But the guys at the HUBzone table also want to encourage youth under 18 to send in a video for a chance to participate in the 3rd annual “Triangle’s Got Talent” contest, set for Sunday, April 21 at Wakefield High School in Wake County.
A $300 cash prize will be given to the best novice act and to the best advanced act. All you singers, musicians, magicians, polish your routine and send in a video of the performance and you just might get a call to compete.
Visit www.hubzonetech.org to apply online.
Chances are you’ve seen a Sunrock truck at a construction site or hauling materials as you’ve traveled in the community, but did you know that Carolina Sunrock is a family-owned business that’s been around for 75 years?
Laura Green, HR recruiter for the Raleigh-based company, said Sunrock is a “one-stop shop construction company” because it provides its own products like asphalt, gravel and more for construction projects. Its gravel operation is in Kittrell and the asphalt operation is in Butner.
Visit www.thesunrockgroup.com/careers to find out about job openings.
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