giving back - T-V-S Overcoming Challenges | Feeding Our World

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.

A Letter of Appreciation

Nov 17, 2021 | News

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.

Click here to read the Letter of Appreciation.

Letter to business-from Allison Snyder_Page_1

Letter to business-from Allison Snyder_Page_2

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.

TVS kicks off annual “Give Back, Get Back” donation events by donating 1300 food items

Oct 19, 2021 | News

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.

TVS collects over 850 school supplies for local Sharing House

Aug 13, 2021 | News

Lined paper, colored pencils, glue sticks, and neon highlighters overflow boxes after two weeks of collecting school supply donations for the Transylvania County Sharing House. TVS held a “Tools 4 School” donation drive and donated an amazing 885 school supply items to assist local students with getting back into the classrooms!

“TVS has been trying to support many local organizations since starting our donation drives. We figured this we would be a great time to incorporate the schools,” said TVS Benefits and Recruitment Specialist Catherine Tinsley. “This year and last has been very difficult for many families in Transylvania County and we wanted to make sure that the kids had everything they needed to have a successful school year.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, TVS decided to offer more donation events within the company to help provide extra resources to other local services aiding the community. Previous local donations include food and clothing to the Life Changers Outreach in Pisgah Forest and pet needs to the Transylvania County Animal Shelter.

The school supply donation is currently the largest donation in recent TVS history, edging out the canned food drive by almost 100 items. “It really amazes me each time we do a donation drive here at TVS, our employees pull together for a great cause,” said Tinsley. “I am so excited to know that we are going to help many children and teens across the county!”

For over 20 years the local Sharing House has been providing free school supplies for any school-aged child (K-12) in a Transylvania County School. On average around 500 children receive supplies through this program. So far this year, 425 kids have already filled backpacks with supplies and the Sharing House is expecting more before the Back to School supply drive ends.

Last year the Sharing House saw a decline in students due to the COVID-19 pandemic having students learning in home classrooms.

COVID has affected the Sharing House in different ways. “This meant a huge amount to us because of the pandemic and the way life is right now, we have not seen the same amount of donations that we are used to,” said Sharing House Special Projects Coordinator Lynn Traub. “With this donation we now have the freedom to continue giving out all the supplies that students need.”

The pandemic also affected how the Sharing House hands out the backpacks. For most of this year (and prior to the pandemic), families were able to come into the building and pick out all the supplies. Now, with a rise in new cases, the Sharing House allows children to choose their backpacks, but they instead have personnel fill it with the required items before bringing the backpack out to the car.

Along with the school supplies all children have been receiving a new pair of shoes, socks, and underwear to start the year. This part of the program started 3 years ago thanks to local donations.

To take part and receive school supplies, you do not have to be signed up with the Sharing House. Appointments can be made by calling (828) 884-2866 ext. 111 and talking with Lynn Traub. However, they will accommodate walk-ins to the best of their abilities and availability. Friday, Aug 13 was the last day to receive new shoes, socks, and underwear with the school items.

The school supply drive will stay open until Friday, August 20 to assist with any last-minute needs. You can learn more about the Sharing House at https://www.sharinghouse.org/