The Live Love Serve Foundation has partnered with and supported the Young Black Leadership Alliance (YBLA) for several years, and we continue to help them make their mission known in our local community. Founded by John and Tammy Martin in 2006, the YBLA focuses on developing young black leaders to have a positive impact on their community now and in the future. They develop and equip young individuals to impact and inspire underserved and at-risk students in their families, schools and communities to achieve successful life outcomes. The young people that take part in the YBLA program are peer mentors and role models for other students, and by developing these students to become service-minded leaders, the YBLA is strengthening families, schools and communities throughout our area.

In June we posted about the YBLA’s scholar’s day, which was a graduation awards event that the organization hosted for their graduating seniors.  This month, on August 22, the YBLA will host their first ever R.I.S.E. Virtual Leadership Summit for high school juniors and their parents who have an interest in leadership development and want to learn what it takes to attend the college of their dreams. This event takes place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and includes an impressive lineup of guest speakers. 

Kwan Brown, Director of Community Engagement of the group Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina, will discuss how parents and students can empower themselves to become better advocates for their unique educational needs. 

Additionally, inspirational speaker Marlon Smith will provide students with leadership development skills, career readiness advice and more. Students will have the opportunity to connect directly with college representatives from Historically Black Colleges, Ivy League Universities and other private and public institutions around the country who will help students prepare for a successful college experience after high school. 

This Virtual Summit is just one of the many ways the YBLA is positively impacting local students in the Charlotte area, and the Live Love Serve Foundation is so proud to partner with such an outstanding organization. Learn more about the R.I.S.E. Virtual Summit and how to sign-up here and check out the other great things the YBLA has in store for this year by visiting their Facebook page. 

If you’re a regular reader of our blog, you know that the Live Love Serve Foundation is a strong supporter of various non-profit and charitable organizations within the communities in which we do business. 

We also partner with a number of professional organizations in all of our markets who are working to make a positive impact on clients and partners within our industry. An organization we support in our Charleston market is the Rotary Club of Charleston, which has been serving the historic Charleston area since 1920. 

When asked “What is Rotary?” most people would answer that it is a service club, but it is actually much, much more. There are 1.2 million neighbors, friends and community leaders who come together as Rotarians to create positive, lasting change in our communities and around the globe. Rotarians see challenges in unique ways, think differently, seek unique solutions, act responsibly and make a difference.

How the Live Love Serve Foundation and CBI Workplace Solutions Partner with the Rotary Club of Charleston

Kerby Teller, CBI’s market leader in Charleston, sits on the board of the Rotary Club with his role focusing on community initiatives. Kerby has played a large role in connecting CBI, the Live Love Serve Foundation and the Rotary Club and has provided extensive support through his leadership and service. Additionally, Kerby has engaged other associates in our Charleston office to participate in volunteer events with the Rotary on a regular basis.

Ongoing activities that the Rotary Club of Charleston sponsors include:

• Rotary Readers – Weekly rotations where club members read to elementary aged students for about 30 minutes each week. This activity helps build a child’s excitement for reading and gives them access to a mentor who can encourage them along the way.
• Adopt a Highway – A quarterly activity where club members pick up trash to keep a section of highway clean. Afterwards they get together for adult beverages and group camaraderie.  
• Entrepreneurship Classes – Weekly classes where Volunteers speak and mentor, a class of students at James Simmons Elementary. 

If you live in Charleston and are interested in learning more about the Rotary Club of Charleston, visit their website and learn how you can get involved in this great organization.

Each year Elevation Church, founded in Charlotte, hosts what they call “LOVE Week” where individuals band together and give back to their communities in an exponential way. During LOVE Week, Elevation partners with non-profit organizations in major cities across the U.S. to provide organized volunteer opportunities that community members can take part in throughout the week. Activities range from building homes to preparing meals for the hungry to stuffing backpacks for local students. 

Promising Pages, a Charlotte non-profit and long-term Live Love Serve Foundation partner organization, has been participating in LOVE Week for the past 8 years, and this year was no different. The team at Promising Pages hosted nine LOVE week events in which volunteers cleaned and sorted new and used donated books, wrote teacher appreciation letters and made bookmarks for children in the community. 

Eric Law, Executive Director of Promising Pages says, “We look forward to LOVE Week every year. It’s amazing to see the impact the community has when we come together at the same time to achieve a common goal. This year at our Promising Pages LOVE Week events, volunteers sorted and stickered over 9,000 books that will be given to children in need in our community. Additionally, our amazing volunteers wrote 35 teacher appreciation letters, made 130 bookmarks and made 130 Bookworm Buddies to help encourage local children to read.”  

LOVE Week did look a little different this year as a result of the ongoing Coronavirus Pandemic, and Promising Pages worked with volunteers and the staff at Elevation to ensure safety and modify projects accordingly. All Promising Pages events were capped at a certain number of people to ensure social distancing guidelines were followed and all volunteers wore masks. 

David Longo, Founder Chairman and CEO of CBI Workplace Solutions and the Live Love Serve Foundation says, “It’s always great to see the action taking place in the CBI Warehouse as a result of Promising Pages’ participation in LOVE Week. Many of our CBI Associates enjoy participating in LOVE Week events, and it’s amazing to see how the community shows up to donate their time, talent and treasure to Promising Pages. CBI and the Live Love Serve Foundation strongly support Promising Pages’ mission of putting books in the hands of children all across Charlotte, and we are glad to see the success LOVE Week brought to the organization.” 

Outside of LOVE Week, Promising Pages has been extremely busy distributing nearly 103,000 books to help children maintain their reading skills while on this extended break from school. They have also developed a new Bookworm Bootcamp program that is completely virtual to help teachers and students continue reading programs throughout the upcoming school year. 

Promising Pages is always looking for support and volunteerism from the community. There are plenty of ways to get involved with the organization whether it is by donating books, participating in work-from-home volunteer projects or by supporting financially.

If you are interested in supporting this great organization, please visit the Promising Pages COVID-19 Update page and scroll down to the “How You Can Help” section for more details. Remember, every week can be LOVE Week when we continue to support our community and those in need.