Brunswick County, NC — Brunswick County Sheriff John W. Ingram, V gave an inspiring keynote address during the 2017-2018 Leadership Brunswick County Graduation Ceremony.
Leadership Brunswick County is a program sponsored by Brunswick Community College and the Brunswick County, North Brunswick and Southport-Oak Island Area Chambers of Commerce to develop corps of informed, committed and qualified individuals capable of providing dynamic leadership for Brunswick County. It is designed to identify highly-motivated, emerging leaders and educate them about the needs of our community, as well as the dynamics of social and economic changes.
To graduate from Leadership Brunswick County, participants were required to attend an orientation retreat, a minimum of 6 sessions from the eight sessions held between October-April, attend the All County Chamber Business Networking After Hours Hosted by Brunswick Community College and three additional chamber or Community College functions. They were also divided into three groups and required to work together to complete a project in Brunswick County.
Prior to the Graduation Ceremony, the participants made presentations on their completed projects.
Group one: Use Your Tools For Schools: There are many residents across Brunswick County who have valuable skill sets, time and experiences who may be looking for a chance to help the local schools and children, but are not quite sure how to plug in and connect. Further, Brunswick County Schools (BCS) recently took the helm of volunteer and desperately needs help recruiting volunteers where needed. The objective of their project was to match the resident resources with the incredible needs of our schools and children.
Group two: The Community Boys & Girls Club, based in Wilmington, operates several clubs around the region, but only one of those clubs is currently in Brunswick County, specifically Oak Island. Club leadership would like to expand their Brunswick County program to further meet the needs of families seeking affordable afterschool care while fulfilling their mission of inspiring and enabling youth to realize their full potential and achieving their goals. They do this by providing a safe place for students, from elementary through high school, to go after school and through the summer. While there, children are provided a meal, offered help with homework through volunteers and individual mentors, and given the opportunity to participate in enrichment programs such as athletics, art and technology programs. The cost is an annual $25 membership fee per student, and during the summer a $45 weekly fee per student. The afterschool program is currently free otherwise. The objective of their project was to raise awareness of the existing OKI Club while developing a marketing campaign the leadership team of the Community Boys & Girls Club can use to grow their program in Brunswick County.
The 2017-2018 Leadership Brunswick County graduates are: Brandy Barger, Michael Kapushinsky & Catherine Michelle Sumrall of Novant Health Brunswick Medical Center; Allison Barrett Carter, Carolina Marketing Company; Dave Berkheimer, Healthy Green Solutions, LLC; Eric P. Grevin, Law Office of Eric P. Grevin; Tom Kukla, Credere Leadership; Christine R. Gonzalez, Town of Leland and Sarah Stephens, BEMC.
Applications to participate in the 2018-2019 Leadership Brunswick County program will be available in late July. To receive an application, or for more information, please contact Brunswick Community College @ 910.755-7383; Brunswick County Chamber @ 910.754-6644, North Brunswick Chamber @ 910.383-0553 or Southport Oak Island Area Chamber @ 910.457-6964.
Pictured Left to Right:
Brandy Barger, Novant Health Brunswick Medical Center; Sarah Stephens, BEMC; Dave Berkheimer, Healthy Green Solutions; Tom Kukla, Credere Leadership; Allison Barrett Carter, Carolina Marketing Company; Eric P. Grevin, Law Office of Eric P. Grevin; Michael Kapushinsky, Novant Health Brunswick Medical Center. Not Pictured: Catherine Michelle Sumrall, Novant Health Brunswick Medical Center; LLC; Christine R. Gonzalez, Town of Leland
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