TVS is always looking for new ways to support and be involved in our local community. In May 2022, TVS and the Veteran’s History Museum started the foundation of sponsorship and future companionship. We invite everyone to stop by and visit the museum. It is packed with artifacts dating from WWI to the current war on terrorism. We are looking forward to this new partnership!
Read the full Press Release here.
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.
A nice surprise popped into the TVS email last week, a letter of appreciation from Allison Snyder. Allison is an Inclusion Education Major at Western Carolina University (WCU) who graduated from Rosman High School in 2019.
The letter is a nice reminder that our mission is visible in the community and how important our work is. Thank you to all TVS employees working to support our mission, and thank you to Allison for your kind words.
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.
TVS is happy to announce the success of the first donation event of the 2nd annual “Give Back, Get Back” drive. The donation event collected 1300 food items to be donated to Life Changers Outreach of Pisgah Forest!
“We had set a personal goal of beating last years donation amount of 800 items,” said TVS Benefits and Recruitment Specialist Catherine Tinsley. “It was amazing to see us blow that goal out of the water.”
Donations included boxes of cereal, macaroni and cheese, soups, pastas, canned veggies, and more. This year, TVS donated 5 cases of Mountain Maid Devil’s Food Cake and 5 cases Mountain Maid Pancake Mix to support the drive.
TVS began the “Give Back, Get Back” donation drives in 2020 as a way to help other organizations in the community, and beyond with Operation Christmas Child, during the pandemic. Due to COVID-19 these organizations were facing a decline in donations as many people were struggling themselves with learning how to survive during the pandemic.
TVS employees earn raffle tickets for donating items to the donation events. The tickets will be used in December to win a number of prizes.
“We enjoy seeing our employees rally together to donate goods. It is amazing to see what we can do as a company when we work together,” said Tinsley. “Even more so, we really enjoy giving away big-ticket items to everyone that helped us pull it all off.”
Last year, the “Give Back, Get Back” raffle included items such as Chromebooks, TV’s, air fryers, and more. While this year’s prizes have not been announced, they will be reflective of last years.
As the donation drives continue, employees are now collecting hygiene related items to be donated to S.A.F.E.’s Attic. As well as, collecting toys for Operation Christmas Child in November.