donation - T-V-S Overcoming Challenges

TVS partnership facilitates Laila Ali spice donation to local food pantries

Sep 12, 2023 | News

TVS HR representatives stand beside the organized school supply donations.

Laila Ali Lifestyle spices are freshly stocked at local pantries thanks to a partnership between Transylvania Vocational Services (TVS) and Laila Ali. The spices were distributed to the Transylvania County Sharing House and the Asheville Manna Food Bank last week.

“TVS pursues partnerships with brands that want to build relationships,” said TVS Director of Business Development Nan Higgins. “We love watching our partners not only support our mission of employing adults with disabilities but by also collaborating and supporting others in our community.”

A total of 2,592 canisters were donated to the Transylvania County Sharing House and the Asheville Manna Food Bank. Each pantry received 54 boxes containing a mixture of Spicy Pepper, Sassy, and Soulful spice seasonings.

“I have been dedicated to supporting food banks for more than a decade due to my concern for the numerous Americans suffering from hunger. It is a privilege for me to contribute to this cause by donating my Spice Blends to local food banks,” said Laila Ali Lifestyle owner and founder Laila Ali. “By donating these spice blends, I hope to enable families in need to create nutritious meals at home.”

Ali also donated spices to other food pantries located near her home in Georgia.

“We rarely have spices to offer our neighbors. We strive to make it look like a grocery store with options to choose from— items they need and desire,” said Transylvania County Sharing House Executive Director Rev Shelly Webb. “We also love the opportunity to collaborate and prop up each other’s impactful work as organizations seeking to do good work.”

Helping facilitate and deliver the donation, TVS was happy to see the relationship turn into community support.

“TVS’ commitment to supporting their community resonates deeply with me and I am proud to be a part,” reflects Ali. “It was one of the reasons I decided to partner with TVS as well as their prioritization of quality manufacturing practices. Moreover, they actively promote inclusivity by offering employment and support to individuals with disabilities.”

Laila Ali Lifestyle Spices are organic, gluten-free, sugar-free, and non-GMO. To learn more about her brand and products visit: https://lailaali.com/

Read it here in the Transylvania Times.

TVS supports Sharing House School Supply Drive in 3rd annual donation

Aug 1, 2023 | News

TVS employees proudly donated 2,422 items to the Transylvania County Sharing House “Back to School” donation drive. This is the 3rd annual donation event TVS has hosted to assist the Sharing House’s continued support for children in the county.

“TVS’ generous donations allow the students of Transylvania to get the supplies they need to make their school year easier,” said Sharing House Special Projects Manager Lynn Traub. “Thanks to TVS employees, the families of this county do not have to worry about the financial cost of school supplies.”

Last year the Sharing House helped over 600 students, grades K-12, with school supplies, backpacks, new shoes and socks, and new underwear. This year they anticipate exceeding that number.

“We saw more participation this year from employees,” reflected HR Benefits and Wellness Specialist Kayde Hopkins. “This is the largest amount we have collected for this drive and that speaks volumes about our employees and their community support.”

TVS’ first school supply drive in 2021 had 885 items donated, followed by just over 1600 items donated in 2022.

Items donated included #2 pencils, colored pencils, notebooks, glue sticks, crayons, highlights, children’s scissors, and pencil sharpeners.

“The Sharing House provides an unique opportunity for families to shop for their school supplies,” said Hopkins. Children have the freedom to pick the items that they want and like from the donated supplies that meet the needs of their school lists.

Shopping appointments for “Back to School” are from July 31 – August 25. You must be a resident of Transylvania County to be eligible. Please call 828-884-2866 to schedule an appointment. Learn more about the Sharing House at: https://www.sharinghouse.org/

TVS employees donate Back to School supplies!

Aug 2, 2022 | News

TVS employees continue to give back to our community! Over the past two weeks, TVS employees donated almost 1600 school supply items to the Sharing House.

The Back to School program provides free school supplies for all low-income students (K-12) living in Transylvania County. The Sharing House estimates to serve 600+ children in 2022!

“This school supply drive was very successful; we easily doubled the amount of donations we received the previous year. TVS employees show a lot of support for our donation drives, my favorite thing about each of our donation drives is seeing the employees so willing to give back to our community!” said Catherine Whitley, HR Generalist. “We decided to host the school supply drive again this year because of who it is benefitting. We all get to see the benefits of this drive in our community and kids. Helping them have a successful school year is a great feeling.”

The largest amounts of donated items included 164 rulers, 135 spiral notebooks, 126 packs of #2 pencils, and 116 packs of Crayons. However, TVS employees also donated hand sanitizer, dry erase markers, disinfecting wipes, and much more.

“This donation drive is our 2nd largest since TVS began donating back in the fall of 2020! Our record is 1700 hygiene items which were donated to S.A.F.E. in 2021,” Whitley said. “Though we didn’t quite pass that during this drive, we are thrilled with our employee participation!”

Prior to the school supply drive, TVS employees also donated dog food to the Labor of Love Pet Rescue during March of 2022.

“It is such a nice feeling being able to give back to this dog rescue,” said HR Administrative Assistant Kayde Hopkins. “Our support with this donation helps fosters care for the pups before they reach their forever homes.”

The total donation equaled just over 40 bags of dry dog food, over 40 bags of treats, and 3 cases of wet food.

Looking ahead for the rest of the year, TVS plans to host the 3rd annual “Give Back, Get Back” donation event. While the donation drives have not been released, TVS employees can expect to have three more ways to give back to their community.

Last year, TVS employees donated to Life Changers Outreach, S.A.F.E., and Operation Christmas Child.

TVS “Give Back, Get Back” 2021 donation drive ends with 100 shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child

Nov 23, 2021 | News

The final event of the TVS “Give Back, Get Back” donation drive continued the pattern of exceeding expectations! TVS employees donated more than expected and blew the donation goals out of the water!

For the final drive, TVS employees brought in 2,500 items to be stuffed into shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child. This year’s goal was to stuff 75 shoeboxes, and TVS employees actually helped fill 100 boxes! The boxes were evenly divided into 50 for girls and 50 for boys in the year range of 5-9. Last year, TVS employees filled 50 boxes.

“The best part is seeing how TVS employees come together for a good cause. Our employees never cease to amaze,” said TVS Benefits and Recruitment Specialist Catherine Tinsley. “As I was stuffing the boxes, all I could think about was how excited a child is going to be when they get to open their box.”

Each shoebox was able to include: a toothbrush, hair brush, wash cloths, tissues, Band-Aids, Chapstick, socks, pencils, glue sticks, and a colored writing item. In total, each box has 20-25 items!

“It was really neat to see what different items employees would bring in,” Tinsley said. “You could tell by the donations that some people really wanted to make sure that the children had clothes and some really wanted to make sure they had school supplies, so it was just cool to see what each person thought was important.”

On top of the generosity of TVS employees, one TVS individual pledged to cover the shipping cost for the original 75 shoeboxes. TVS happily stepped in to cover the extra 25 boxes. “Although this individual wants to remain anonymous, TVS is extremely grateful for this person’s willingness to give back,” said Tinsley.

The shoeboxes were dropped off at Wesleyan Church before being going to Charlotte, NC and finally shipped out to their final destinations. All the extra items that did not fit into the boxes are being donated to SAFE, Inc of Transylvania County.

TVS employees donate 1700 hygiene items to SAFE

Nov 9, 2021 | News

In the second donation of the 2021 ‘Give Back, Get Back’ event, Transylvania Vocational Services (TVS) employees collected over 1,700 hygiene items to donate to SAFE of Transylvania County.

“We are really touched by this donation,” said Director of Human Resources at SAFE, Patience Camp. “It is the smallest things that mean so much when you have very little or nothing. The people we help appreciate these items and it means a lot to know that people care, even though they cannot voice it.”

SAFE is a community leader in eliminating domestic and sexual abuse through support, prevention and outreach. The SAFE team knows that ending domestic and sexual abuse builds stronger families, economies and communities.

Items donated included hundreds of tooth brushes, deodorant, hair brushes, soap, body lotion, feminine products and more.

“This donation will allow us to use funds for other things needed such as food in our food pantries and operational items,” said Camp. “It is just amazing and we truly appreciate this.”

Currently, this hygiene donation event has collected the most items ever in a TVS donation.

“It makes me super proud to work at TVS and watch employees give so generously,” said TVS Administrative Assistant Kayde Hopkins. “I am ecstatic with the donation and have enjoyed giving back to SAFE the way they give back to the community.”

The annual ‘Give Back, Get Back’ donation event also donated 1,300 food items to Life Changers Outreach of Pisgah Forest in early October and is currently collecting items to package 75 shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child.