Vince Grimes, Bank of Delight President, said he and his team hope these projects can bring awareness to local citizens about these organizations who have services for them to utilize if needed. “We just wanted to educate Prescott and Nevada County residents, while also promoting our county, in the hopes that people get a better understanding of what all goes on in the community and what services are available. It is important for people to know organizations like Hamilton Haven are out there, as well as what they provide to our citizens.”
FB&T’s Carrie Jones said she and the FB&T team were delighted to help with such a worthy cause. “We always want to support our community in any way we can, and Hamilton Haven provides a great service for Prescott and Nevada County,” Jones said. “Also, we have seen how successful the Blessin’ Boxes have been here in Prescott, so having another one installed in another city of Nevada County could be a huge help to more citizens.”
Billy Dillard from Gilbert Lumber & Supply agreed with that sentiment. “We see the good that’s being done with these community projects and how places like Hamilton Haven are helping people, so we want to support the cause,” he said.
Hines Trucking CEO, Hannah Hines, had this to say about donating to the projects: “One of Hines Trucking’s core values is giving back to the community, and these projects and organizations are a vital service to Prescott and Nevada County.”
Prescott Automotive’s Lee Walker had not even learned specifically what the class had chosen as their service projects, but jumped right in anyway when he heard they were going to be working on something that would serve the community. “I didn’t need to know what they had chosen; I knew if Leadership was doing it, then it would be good. The Leadership program is a great program for members of our community to participate in,” Walker said.
Leadership class member James Gilliard said that while he has learned a lot this year during the course of Leadership Nevada County’s program, the lessons learned during this service project are ones that have left an impression. “When we picked our service projects, we wanted to choose something that would be truly helpful to Prescott and Nevada County,” Gilliard said. “Then, to see these businesses in our town join the projects and so graciously donate to these causes has been inspiring to me and my classmates.”
Mary Godwin, Economic Development Office Director and Leadership Facilitator, said these service projects are an essential component of the training in the Leadership program. “First, we divide the class up and they have to work in teams. The goal there is to give them training and insight on working together with different people on a team,” Godwin said. “Second, these projects are a way to help make improvements in the community in many different ways, and it gives the class ownership in something positive they have worked on all year. They created the concept, handled the fundraising, and implemented the chosen idea from start to finish. Third, this entire process shows the class that all projects are not easy and teaches them that they are going to have hurdles and that issues are going to arise. Sometimes this might change how the outcome is going to look, but they have to stay on target and meet timelines. Hopefully, the end goal is they have created something positive that contributes to the city and county. I’m very proud of the work the Leadership Program has done with these projects.”
Godwin said she wanted to give a special mention to this year’s class. “We had a few people who had to leave the program because of job requirements, which left one of the teams short-handed, and I am very proud of how the class handled this obstacle,” Godwin said. “They quickly came together and decided to help one another with their projects. It was wonderful to see the class willingly take this on, and it is the ultimate test that the Leadership program is working.”
Michelle Hamilton-Rhodes, Executive Director of Hamilton Haven, was delighted that Hamilton Haven was selected as one of the service projects and succinctly summarized the influence that this program is having on the community. “The Hamilton Haven organization is thrilled to be chosen for the program’s community project,“ she said. “The Nevada County Leadership team knows how to build strong community connections by serving, sharing, and supporting Nevada County!”
As of this publication, the class has begun work on the chosen projects and progress is in the making. Stay tuned to SWARK.Today to find out about the completion of these projects, in addition to the services they will provide Nevada County.
