JANUARY 2008

Executive Director Brian Checchio set a few goals for the new year: First, we want every child in after-school to be on the "B" honor roll by the end of the year. Second, we will begin using Dr. Phil's gifts to offer music lessons to our students and the community at large. Third, we will host mission teams this summer, who will use our facility as a staging area while the complete community improvement projects and help other area organizations.

We also will expand our programming in 2008 to include high school students. And finally, we will begin a backpack program that will provide healthy, nutritious meals for our after-school students to take home on the weekends.

These may seem like lofty goals, but we know they are possible, and we look forward to the challenge. Please know that we cannot do it without you. While grants and special gifts like those we received recently from Dr. Phil allow us to do special projects, it’s your regular support that keeps our doors open day-to-day. Did you know that only 11% of our annual income comes from grants from private foundations? (We receive NO state or federal funding.) We rely on donations from individuals for a full 63% of our funding.

DECEMBER 2007

On Dec. 13, the millions of viewers who tune in to Dr. Phil will be introduced to the Wade Center. The first gift Dr. Phil gave was all the instruments we need to start a new music program. Fender donated 20 acoustic guitars and 20 electric guitars. Casio donated six keyboards. We also received all the instrument stands, music stands and music books we need to start offering lessons.

Dr. Phil's next stop was our gym, where about 80 of our after-school students waited with great anticipation. Kicking off this year's Toys For Tots program, Dr. Phil and his wife Robin handed out some great Christmas gifts!

Later that day, at a larger public ceremony downtown, we learned that the Renuzit corporation had donated a 2008 Chevy van to us, along with a check for $5,000 to help with van-related expenses. This van will be used, along with our other vans, to help transport students to and from the Wade Center, as well as to special field trips.

Finally, during the train ride to his second stop, Dr. Phil told Wade's executive director, Brian Checchio, that Wade had won a $25,000 Norfolk Southern grant. This money will be used as we continue to expand our after-school program.

You can see more pictures from Dr. Phil's visit on our DR. PHIL NEWS PAGE.

NOVEMBER 2007

Local individuals and business have offered a great deal of help at Wade this fall. Here is a brief summary. We are so thankful for your generosity!

• Dr. Charles E. Gabe gave the Wade Center a 2000 Chrysler mini-van. We use the van for short in-town trips.
• Steve Sarver donated free tennis lessons at the Sedgewood Courts to our summer camp students.
• Philip Morris returned again, with over 30 employees to help us improve our facility.
• Johnston Chapel adopted our music room, preparing it for use in our extended after-school program.
• Cole Chevrolet sponsored a swimming part at the Elks Club at the end of summer.
• K.B. Toys is asking customers if they would like to make a donation to the Wade Center. They have given us a $300 gift certificate we can use to buy toys from their store!
• Kollege Mart and Smoker Friendly are also asking customers to consider making a donation to the Wade Center.

OCTOBER 2007

We have begun offering a newly expanded diversion program for students who find themselves in trouble with the law. The program focuses on character development, self-esteem expansion and behavioral modification through weekly meetings and mentoring relationships. Also new this year is a program for parents that will reward their efforts to learn practical parenting and household skills.

We are also increasing our focus on literacy. With the help of a full-time AmeriCorps volunteer and partnerships with Bluefield State College and Bluefield College Phi Beta Lambda, we are now able to focus more attention on those who need help improving their reading skills.

SEPTEMBER 2007

Our after-school program has expanded, lasting until 8 p.m. Called “Believe and Achieve,” this program is designed to help children and teens discover their skills and talents. We hope this will foster a healthy sense of identity and provide a source of inspiration and hope as they look toward their future. We will offer homework help and recreation, followed by a family-style dinner and workshops in the evening.

Each day has a different focus. On Mondays, each student will choose a club activity designed to build confidence and self-esteem as they are given opportunity to develop skills in basketball, tennis, art, music and more. Tuesday, we focus on skills development. On Wednesdays, we incorporate a spiritual component with a Bible focus. And Thursday evenings are dedicated to the literacy component through book clubs.

AUGUST 2007

Wade's middle school students recently engaged in service projects, and the results were incredible. They helped prepare food that will feed over 6,700 Sudanese refugees through their volunteer work at Heaven Sent Ministries. They also helped clothe 1,800 local residents, Katrina victims and third world families through their work with the Bluefield Union Mission and other local agencies!

Not only did they make an impact on the world, but they were also impacted by what they were able to accomplish as a group. We were able to witness them bloom and grow throughout the course of the service activities as they began to see themselves as world changers instead of teen statistics.

This summer, YouthWorks! selected the Wade Center as their home base for the region. Mission groups from all over the country came to Bluefield and live on our ground floor for a week while completing community improvement projects. In addition, we had three mission teams that lived on our top floor this summer as well.

JULY 2007

Summer camps were filled to capacity this year. We focused on interactive learning this year, with students studying math, science and language arts in exciting ways! We have developed a great approach that emphasizes learning through experience! This means students learn about math by being city planner, science by being astronauts and language arts by becoming journalists right there in their classrooms!

We recently received the good news that both Wal-Mart and the Allstate Foundation have awarded us grants. This money will be used to help us pay for summer camp and expand our after-school program in the fall.

JUNE 2007

For The Love Of Children recently presented a check for $10,000 to the Wade Center, following its fundraiser with MSNBC Correspondent and West Virginia native Jeanette Walls.

MAY 2007

YOUTH PROGRAMS
Youth Director Daniel Walters has created several new programs for students in middle and high school. The new teen after-school program, called "The Spot," meets from 4:00 until 5:30 on Mondays through Thursdays during the school year. This month, students are focusing on learning about forming a healthy sense of identity. They traveled to Carowinds theme park this month and have conducted several fundraisers, including a car wash at Sam's Club, to help pay for their trip.

STUDENT NEWSLETTER
Creative Arts and Media Director Bill Whitt has been teaching a photography class as part of our after-school program. You can see the work of one of his students by clicking HERE. It's a newsletter featuring student photos and layout and design!

Thanks to Advanced Network Systems, we now have an additional layer of protection for our computer network. They donated a Firebox firewall to Wade, along with a $1,000 check. This piece of hardware will supplement our current software to provide content filtering and intrusion prevention.

APRIL 2007

Two local businesses have also helped by paying their employees to work at the Wade Center a few hours each week. EchoStar began doing this last year, and First Community Bank recent joined in.

Program administrator Vicki Mahood says, "To me, it is amazing that these businesses are that community minded. That they would stress to their employees the importance of community service and even include it in their workday -- that says a lot about these companies. They put actions behind their words."

Executive Director Brian Checchio says, "We're dependent upon the generosity of people in our community, both in financial contributions and in the gift of their time, so we're particularly thrilled that these two respected businesses in our community have chosen to help us in this way."

MARCH 2007

We recently received a donation of 15 computers from the federal government. Almost two years ago, when we were still moving into the facility, we wrote the General Services Administration after hearing that they give away their old computers to nonprofit organizations. We never heard anything back until we received a phone call this January.

Brian made a quick road trip up to Washington, D.C., to pick up the new computers. Their specs are impressive! They are Dell Optiplex desktops with Pentium IV 1.7GHz and 2.4 GHz processors. They have DVD/CD-R combo drives, 512 MB memory and flat panel monitors! We have already put most of them to use in our adult computer classes and are in the process of integrating the rest into our network of office computers.

FEBRUARY 2007

The Wade Center recently received a $14,300 grant from YouthWorks! This money is being used to repair our gym floor and make many other improvements to that space.

YouthWorks is the national organization that sends about 700 people to the Wade Center each summer for 10 weeks of mission work. These teenagers work with our summer camps, help at the Union Mission and complete many community improvement projects.

We will need lots of help this summer. If you are interested in being one of our recreation team leaders, please call or e-mail us using the contact information at the bottom of each page on this Web site.

JANUARY 2007

We are planning to begin several new programs for this year if funding allows. We have found many of the students in our after-school program need more help with their reading skills than that limited time allows. In 2007, we hope to create a program in the evenings for these children that will target their literacy needs.

We also hope to start "Second Chance Enterprise" in 2007 if funding allows. Our goal is to help men and women returning from prison to find jobs, and by doing so, avoid entering the cycle of crime and violence again. This program will help recently incarcerated individuals learn skills, develop a resume, establish a work history and secure job references. Statistics show that re-arrest rates are higher for those who do not have a high school diploma or job training, with one in four returning to prison. Those involved with this new program would be hired to for jobs involving auto detailing, lawn care, pressure washing and other similar tasks for three to four months. Wade would then provide them with references and other aids in finding permanent employment.

READ STORIES FROM 2006 ON NEWS ARCHIVE PAGE 2.