Community Action of Southern Kentucky celebrated the GRAND OPENING of the new Allen County Community Action Center on Saturday, June 26, 2010. Community Action’s Board and Staff joined the Board of the Laura Goad Turner Charitable Foundation, three generations of the Turner family, Scottsville-Allen County Chamber of Commerce, and other elected officials and community members to celebrate this new beginning for Community Action’s services in Scottsville at 25 J.L. Turner and Son Place. The ceremony included a Time Capsule dedication. The time capsule is set to be opened in 2065 during Allen County’s 250th Anniversary. A ribbon cutting, in partnership with the Scottsville-Allen County Chamber of Commerce, closed the ceremony, and then community members took tours of the new Allen County Community Action facility. The foyer of the building brings visitors to Community Services, which includes individual and family services through food, rent and heating assistance, garden program and educational scholarships. Also on the 1st floor is Children Services, which includes three pre-school classrooms, offices for Head Start staff, laundry facilities and a common area for staff. The commercial kitchen on the first floor will provide meals for seniors, Head Start children and cooking and food preservation classes for the community. The elevator and/or stairway leads to the 2nd floor of the facility, which includes a large multi-purpose room, computer lab and the Senior Center. The Senior Center includes a large dining area with casual seating, Senior Center staff office, recreation room and exercise room. This building is a result of the partnership between Community Action and the Laura Goad Turner Charitable Foundation, who donated the J.L. Turner & Son Warehouse property and committed $1.75 million towards the new $3 million handicap accessible facility which houses all of Community Action’s services in Allen County.

Community Action of Southern Kentucky hosted a Ribbon Cutting and Open House at the new CO Annex to celebrate our 45th Anniversary, National Community Action Month and to present GO bg transit’s new low floor kneeling buses on May 19th. Guest Speakers included Joe Natcher of Southern Foods and Bowling Green Chamber Chairman, Mayor Elaine Walker, and Judge Executive Mike Buchanon. The new Central Office Annex property, which adjoins the current Community Action Administrative office building, was purchased with the City of Bowling Green’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding and it’s renovations purchased with the City’s Enterprise Community funding. The Annex houses the GO bg transit and Weatherization Services, both of which have been beneficiaries of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Stimulus) funding. The new low floor kneeling buses, which are much easier for individuals with mobility problems to load and unload, purchased with these funds were on hand for viewing. For additional information on GO bg Transit, click here. For information on Weatherization services, click here.

Some of Community Action’s Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) and Foster Grandparent Program(FGP) were recognized at the 2010 Volunteers in Action reception. Logan County’s RSVP team received the Team Spirit Award for their work to keep the Red Cross Chapter going while the chapter faced many challenges. The nomination for them included their service at Stevenson Elementary as reading mentors and reorganizing the library. The FGP Advisory Council was also nominated in this category. Jerry & Barbara Bray, RSVP received the Rookie Volunteer Award to recognize their outstanding first year of service. Maude Murrell, Foster Grandparent & Willie Dean Jones, RSVP were nominated for a Spirit of Service Award.

Community Action of Southern Kentucky held its annual Charity Golf Classic on Thursday May 27, 2010 at Cave Valley Golf Club at Park Mammoth Resort in Park City, KY. First place teams won $300/team and were as follows: First flight Dennis Hunt, Chris Bratcher, Ernie Thomason and Terry Thomason; Second flight Doug Polk, Kevin Reels, Brent Logsdon and James Supulski; Third flight Joe Harbaugh, Kerissa McKinney, Brian McKinney and Kerry McKinney. Second place teams won $200/team and were as follows: First flight Bob Jeffers, John Lawson, Jason Bull and Jeff Warren; Second flight N.E. Reed, Rick Starks, Rodney Kirtley and Scottie Woodcock; Third flight Jerry Shanks, Howard Franklin, Gary Frank Stone and Bart Risner. Ron Drummond and Wendy Noble, Closest to the Pin Winners, each received $25. Straightest Drive winners were Gary Frank Stone and Betty Robbins, who also each received $25. The Team Longest Putt winners were Joey Violette, Bob Rahill, Bill Balance and Jerry Beckham, who received a team prize of $200. A very special thank you goes to all of the individuals and businesses, who provided sponsorships or cash, door prizes, welcome bags or food/drink donations. We would also like to thank Park Mammoth Resort for their generosity and hospitality in hosting this event, which over $9,100 to provide services to children, seniors, families throughout the 10 counties and for the Laura Goad Turner Charitable Foundation Match Grant.

Thank you to all of the volunteers, including the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Shannon Jones, Modern Woodmen and those that came out to support Community Action of Southern KY at our comedy shows and silent auctions on Saturday, November 21, 2009 at Sloan Convention Center and Allen County Scottsville High School. All funds from these events will be matched dollar for dollar by the Laura Goad Turner Charitable Foundation through a $250,000 Challenge Grant. Due to the generosity of several individuals and businesses, we have raised $83,146.38 towards our $250,000 goal! Click here to check our progress and learn more about our challenge. We need your support to reach our goal before June 30, 2010! We encourage everyone to get involved in helping Community Action create opportunities for people in our community to be self-reliant. To support us, click here !

On May 19, Community Action celebrated the groundbreaking of its new Allen County Scottsville multi-purpose center. Once completed, the 13,600 square foot, two-story building will be home to services including, but not limited to: programming for three and four year old children; services to senior citizens through the Senior Center, home delivered meals, and the Retired and Senior and Volunteer Program; and services to families and children through rent and utility assistance, Garden Program, Educational Scholarship Program, Supervised Visitation Program, Family Team Meetings, and case management services. The Laura Goad Turner Charitable Foundation has both generously donated the property for the building and given a lead gift toward the cost of construction. The Foundation has also issued a challenge grant, whereby it will match dollar for dollar all pledges/contributions that Community Action of Southern Kentucky receives in support of this project, up to a total of $250,000. The match grant funds are to be committed by 06/30/2010.

On the 13th of August, almost 700 three and four year old Head Start children started the school year with Community Action of Southern Kentucky. For many of the children, this was their first time in an organized educational setting. In addition, for a number of children, it was their first time on a bus. Head Start is a national program that promotes school readiness by enhancing the social and cognitive development of children through the provision of educational, health, nutritional, social and other services to enrolled children and families.

Community Action held its annual Golf Classic on May 28, 2009, at Barren River State Park. The day brought over 185 golfers, volunteers and Agency staff together in support of the many programs administered throughout the 10-county Barren River Area Development District. First place teams won $300/team and were as follows: First flight Adam McDougal, Brad Johnson, Josh Stiles, and Alan Talley; Second flight Ruth Morgan, Michael Robbins, Betty Robbins, and Garry Robbins; Third flight Lee McKinney, Joe Harbaugh, Kerissa McKinney, and Brian McKinney. Second place teams won $200/team in Kentucky Parks/Tourist Gift Cards and were as follows: First flight Scottie Woodcock, Rick Starks, N.E. Reed, and Curtis Sullivan; Second flight Keith Riordan, Bobby Young, Terry Martin, and Phillip Riordan; Third flight James Supulski, Doug Polk, Matt Malloy, and Gable Volkert. A very special thank you goes to the many individuals and companies who provided sponsorships or cash, door prize, welcome bag or food donations. We also thank the Barren River State Park Golf Course staff for their generosity and hospitality during the event, which netted proceeds of over $9,000 for the Agency. Of that amount, $1,900 was designated for the new Allen County Community Action Center and will apply toward the Laura Goad Turner Foundation match grant.

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Gov. Steve Beshear today visited Bowling Green to present local officials with federal stimulus funding aimed at improving public transportation. Community Action of Southern Kentucky, which operates transit services for the city of Bowling Green, will receive $1.14 million for new buses, equipment and facilities. “This is a worthy investment that will improve public transportation for the people of Bowling Green,” said Gov. Beshear. “It is important, now more than ever, to have a transit system that meets the needs of this vibrant community.” The award will fund engineering and design work on a bus maintenance garage and will pay for five new 24-passenger buses and miscellaneous maintenance equipment.

The mission of the Kentucky Head Start Association(KHSA) is to “Support the Kentucky Head Start community’s efforts to enrich the lives of children and families in the Commonwealth through advocacy, collaboration and training.” Tracy Haddix, Director of Children’s Services, currently serves as President of the Association. Tracy has been actively involved with KHSA since 2002 and has also held the positions of Public Relations Officer and First Vice President. Carla Brown, Child Development Team Leader for Children’s Services, serves as Secretary and Deborah Barnett, former Head Start Parent, holds the position of Third Vice President. KHSA hosts an Annual Parent and Staff Conference, each year Head Start Centers are invited to display pictures of children in the classroom or in a playground setting. The theme for the conference was “Head Start: A National Treasure”.

For more information visit www.khsa.org

Community Action of Southern Kentucky, in partnership with Western Kentucky University and the Foster Grandparent Program, is a recipient of the third annual Reading is Fundamental Program Excellence Honors 2008, sponsored by MetLife Foundation. The 25 honored programs and their volunteers were recognized by RIF during a celebration in Washington, D.C., June 16–18, for successfully partnering with outside organizations to advance children’s literacy in their communities. Out of over 4,000 RIF programs across the nation, 135 programs were nominated for the award. Of that number 25 were selected. Each honoree received an award, a banner and $500 for literacy projects.

A Grand Opening was held on February 18, 2009 which included guest speakers Mayor Elaine Walker and Judge Michael Buchanon. The 1200 square foot facility includes six classrooms (1 Infant room, 1 Toddler room, 2 Head Start rooms, 1 School Age room, and 1 Before & after Care room). Childcare assistance is available which could pay all or part of the daycare costs. For more information contact Little Scholars Childcare at 270-904-0247.