Grant awarded to SML Good Neighbors

Smith Mountain Lake Good Neighbors, Inc. received a $30,000 grant from the Carilion Foundation of Roanoke. The grant is for Jan. 1, 2010 through Dec. 31, 2011.

SML Good Neighbors offers two summer camps each year, one for Bedford County and one for Franklin County students, targeting children who qualify for free and reduced-price school lunches.

The summer day camps' mission is to nourish the bodies and minds of children in the lake area whose parents may not be able to afford traditional summer camps.

Students are fed lunch each day and are sent home each Friday with backpacks filled with food to last the weekend and a new book. Good Neighbors also provides weekend backpacks for all children attending summer school at lake-area elementary schools.

During the day camps, children also receive one-on-one time with reading buddies. The 2009 camps also featured workshops with Roanoke Children's Theatre and nature sessions with staff from the W.E. Skelton 4-H Educational Conference Center.

SML Good Neighbors has more than 100 volunteers. The only paid staff are six college interns, who receive $2,000 stipends for six weeks of work. The nonprofit anticipates an $80,000 budget for 2010.

Since 1997, the Carilion Foundation of Roanoke has provided more than $26.7 million to nonprofits, predominantly in Southwestern Virginia. The foundation funds programs that deliver primary and preventive health care services, improve access to health care, educate and motivate people to improve their health, and initiatives that reduce health risks.