Archives for Community Involvement

On Saturday, April 27, 2013, a group of students from the KRA/Lower Savannah, SC Youth Employability and Success (YES) Program*, volunteered at the 2013 Tri-County Veteran Stand Down, held at the YMCA in Orangeburg.  KRA/YES has been supporting the SCWorks Disabled Veteran Outreach Program since the 2012 KRA Community Care Day Campaign, Support Our Troops.   For that initiative, KRA/YES lent its support by collecting hundreds of toiletry items…toothpaste, toothbrushes, Q-tips, lotion, washcloths, soap, etc…and donating the large “care basket” to Gene Gartman, Sgt. First Class (U.S. Army Retired) and Ms. Donna Greene, SCWorks Veterans Supervisor, both of whom worked tirelessly to
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Last week, it was reported that KRA, which operates multi-site One-Stop Centers for Adult, Dislocated, and Youth Workers in the Waccamaw Region of South Carolina, was a major sponsor-supporter of the Youth Leadership Academy (YLA) founded and sponsored by the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce (MBACC).  Rusty Gaskins, KRA Business Services Representative, and key member of the YLA Procurement Committee, as well as several other KRA staff, volunteered in many ways to make the 6th annual YLA a success.  After the conference, Gaskins received a thank-you note from Diana D. Greene, the Executive Vice President of the MBACC, the text of
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On January 8, 2013, Rusty Gaskins, KRA Business Services Representative, sent a message to Knowlton R. Atterbeary, KRA President & CEO, which read, in part: “Mr. Atterbeary, I am serving on the Procurement Committee for Youth Leadership Academy (YLA), an event that recognizes more than 425 high school sophomores for their dedication to leadership within their schools and communities. On March 11, 2013, on the campus of Coastal Carolina University [CCU], YLA will convene its 6th annual event, with a theme of Expand Your W.O.R.L.D – Wrestling Over Responsible Leadership Decisions.  The students, representing 45 schools in 9 counties, including
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Jahkesha Abraham, KRA Program Manager, SCWorks One-Stop Career Center in the Lower Savannah Region of South Carolina, is always looking for ways to better serve the Region’s young people, especially those Out-of-School Youth (OSY) who did not complete high school, and need educational, training and/or job-placement assistance. Recently, she contacted the Guidance Counselors at Branchville Lockett, Calhoun County, Edisto, Lake Marion, and Orangeburg Wilkinson High Schools, as well as the Bethune-Bowman Middle High School, to provide them with information about the KRA/SCWorks OSY Program, including services available and the registration process. Quickly, word spread from one Counselor to another that the Program
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The planning process for the Youth Employability & Success (YES) Community Service Program began last December.  According to Jahkesha Abraham, KRA Program Manager, SCWorks’ in Lower Savannah, SC, “We wanted to enhance our youth program by adding a permanent component that would fulfill one of the YES Program Elements, which is to provide leadership development opportunities that include community service and peer-centered activities to encourage responsibility and other positive social behaviors.”  Abraham continued, “Evelyn Stanley, one of our KRA Career Agents, contacted four community agencies… Cooperative Church Ministries of Orangeburg, the Habitat for Humanity Store, the Orangeburg Goodwill, and Edisto Habitat for
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“‘Developing Workers. Strengthening Communities.’ is so much more than a corporate ‘tagline’ reports Tiffany Haynes, Lead Instructor, KRA/VIEW (Virginia Initiative for Employment not Welfare) Program.  It is the very heart of KRA’s mission, and our annual Community Care Day Campaign reflects the true essence of KRA…a belief that ‘strengthening communities’ goes far beyond ‘developing workers’.  We help to make our communities stronger in many other ways, in that local KRA sites support their communities all year long…raising awareness and/or money for many non-profit causes and organizations.  However, once a year, we coalesce our energy and support as one company focused on one cause…and that is the
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On February 13th, Alisha Bazemore, Program Manager, and Domonique Goode, Quality Assurance Team Leader, from the KRA/VIEW (Virginia Initiative for Employment not Welfare) Program, served as the “Principal for the Day”, an activity held in conjunction with the Norfolk Education Foundation (NEF) and Norfolk Public Schools,  at two community schools. The “Principal” program allows community leaders the opportunity to experience what it is really like to be in charge of a school, for 1 day.  Several prestigious community leaders…including members of the City Council and the School Board, as well as the Superintendent of Schools…took part in the event, which was preceded by a recognition reception for all
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For the past 2+ months, KRA has been celebrating 2012 Community Care Day, a company-wide initiative that celebrates the joy of giving and sharing good works with customers and neighbors in the communities the firm serves.  This year, the company launched a Support Our Troops campaign, and KRA programs across the country rose to the occasion…many times with the cooperation and support of community-based partners…by collecting money and personal items for military personnel here and abroad, hosting special events for Veterans, and supporting local military events.  Reports have been published previously on several successful KRA projects, and below is yet another, launched by
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It was reported previously that the KRA/CTWorks One-Stop Career Center Program, in the Greater Hartford Region of North Central Connecticut, had volunteered to raise money for a very deserving local cause…the United Way of Central and Northeastern Connecticut.  To implement the campaign, which ran from October 1 through December 31, 2012, KRA staff from the four offices devised several unique activities.  One of which, Dress-Up Jeans Day, encouraged staff to pay $5 each Friday, up to October 31st, for “dressing up” in jeans.  Another activity, was a Paper T-Shirt Contest, wherein staff paid $1 to purchase ‘T-shirts” and then decorate them
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For the better part of the last 3 months, KRA has been celebrating 2012 Community Care Day, a company-wide initiative that highlights the joy of giving and sharing good works with customers and neighbors in the communities the firm serves. This year, the company launched a Support Our Troops campaign, and KRA programs across the country rose to the occasion, many times in cooperation with community partners, collecting money and gifts for military personnel here and abroad, hosting special events, visiting Veterans facilities, etc.  Reports have already been published on several successful KRA projects that focused on the well-being of
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