Buzz4Good! Nonprofits + Marketing

This week BUZZ was privileged to shine a light on an aspiring nonprofit, Blacks In Technology of Southwest Virginia, as we broadcast live the art, history and promise of its Juneteenth Celebration.

On today's show, BUZZ creator Michael Hemphill buzzes about two inspirational nonprofits that help people live better and die better. 

DePaul Community Resources works to improving the lives of children, families, and individuals with developmental disabilities. Meanwhile, Spirit’s Rest offers comfortable housing and around-the-clock compassionate care and support to hospice patients and their families during their end-of-life journey.

Here are Michael's conversations with Caroline Stanfill, founder and executive director of one of Spirit’s Rest, and Renee Brown, president and CEO of DePaul Community Resources.

BUZZ creator Michael Hemphill isn't buzzing today in his adopted state of Virginia or his homestate of Alabama, but way out in Montana and Washington to highlight a special nonprofit that is connecting prison inmates with the outside world … through art. How they got connected with Buzz4Good way across the country – and more importantly the heart-breaking, soul-healing work they do – is the subject of our conversation with Cyrus Lee.

Cyrus already had a heart for prison ministry when his son was convicted of second degree murder and began serving a 20-year sentence in Washington State Penitentiary. Cyrus...

We're buzzing about an incredible and inspiring arts project opening June 1 at a new nonprofit arts space in downtown Roanoke, Virginia. It features portraits of 10 of the city’s most iconic citizens, from Dick & Dave of the Q99 Mornin’ Show to Mayor Joe Cobb and former Carilion Clinic CEO Nancy Agee. 

Today, BUZZ creator Michael Hemphill talks with the founders of the nonprofit arts space, Art on 1st, and shares the inspiration behind the exhibit from its creator, Whitney Brock.

We also share portions of our newest BUZZ that aired on public television this week starr...

Reflecting on our newest shows highlighting nonprofits, BUZZ creator Michael Hemphill has to ask:

We discuss these thoughts and more in today's Buzz4Good as w...

Today BUZZ creator Michael Hemphill buzzes about a Blacksburg, Virginia nonprofit that provides hope to walk for thousands of amputees around the world. 

Appropriately named Hope to Walk, the nonprofit in May hopes to travel to Ukraine to provide prosthetic legs to some of the estimated 100,000 soldiers and civilians, women and children, who are now amputees because of the war. Listen to our recent BUZZ Live! that featured its cause and need for $15,000 to fund its trip.

We also share a clip from our newest BUZZ TV show that stars the nonprofit Masterpiece Alliance, which p...

In today's episode, BUZZ creator Michael Hemphill chats with Lisa Lietz about the upcoming SML Gives Day when 36 different nonprofits hope to raise $200,000 to better serve Bedford and Franklin counties in the Smith Mountain Lake area of Virginia. We also share a recent BUZZ Live talk show that features one of these Franklin County nonprofits, Healing Strides of Virginia, along with Apple Ridge Farm and the inspiring story of a cancer survivor turned internationally touring banjo player.

BUZZ is proud to present a new 30-minute talk show called BUZZ LIVE! that’s designed to be “The Tonight Show for Nonprofits!"

During the show – which we live-streamed to our Facebook and YouTube channels and later broadcast on Blue Ridge PBS – BUZZ creator Michael Hemphill chats with the inspiring people who serve, and are served by, nonprofits in Roanoke, Virginia ... along with a musical guest affiliated with a local nonprofit!

February 6, 2025

Franklin County NAACP’s “Raising the Shade”
Musical Guest: Bryan “Harvest Blaque” Hancock
Masterpiece Alliance‘s Scott Habeeb

To kick off Black History Month, we are buzzing about Melrose Plaza in the historically African-American community of Northwest Roanoke. It's located in a once thriving Black neighborhood that was decimated in the 1950s and 1960s by discriminatory redlining and eminent domain.

Last time on our show, BUZZ creator Michael Hemphill talked with E.B. Smith, the new executive director of the Harrison Museum of African American Culture, which is considering a move from downtown Roanoke, Virginia, to Melrose Plaza.

Today Michael chats with Zenith Barrett, vice-president of advancement at Goodwill Industries of the Valleys...

BUZZ creator Michael Hemphill chats with E.B. Smith, the new executive director of the Harrison Museum of African-American Culture in Roanoke, Virginia. E.B. Smith just started the job at a moment of exciting transformation for the museum, which Is committed to promoting, showcasing, and celebrating the art and history of African Americans for Roanoke Valley citizens and visitors.

Today we're buzzing about Masterpiece Alliance, a Roanoke, Virginia nonprofit with a mission of building community for adults with intellectual disabilities. BUZZ creator Michael Hemphill speaks with Scott Habeeb, who founded Masterpiece AlliancA in part to help people like his daughter who struggle to make friends and find social connections once they graduate from high school. One place where assume they can find community is the church. But as Scott shares, that’s often not the case for a variety of reasons, and his organization has created an upcoming conference designed to fix that.

Are you a no...

It's beginning to sound a lot like Christmas! In this episode of Buzz4Good! creator Michael Hemphill shares the recent Christmas concert by the Smith River Singers of Martinsville, Virginia – an incredible nonprofit community choir that we featured this fall on an episode of BUZZ. 

On December 9, 2024, the Smith River Singers celebrated its 10th annual Christmas concert by performing "The Messiah" by George Frideric Handel. In celebration of the holiday season we present highlights of the concert, which began with three contemporary Christmas anthems performed by the Smith River Singers' small group, Still Water.

BUZZ creator Michael Hemphill buzzes about coffee in today's Buzz4Good! Specifically, coffee from a Roanoke, Virginia, establishment that is brewed and served by adults with intellectual disabilities. A few years ago, Beth Woodrum founded Chris’ Coffee and Custard to help individuals like her son, Chris, who has Down Syndrome, find meaningful employment and community. Beth recently announced an exciting new venture for Chris’ Coffee and Custard – and her nonprofit that operates it, LovABLE Services – and so on today’s show we share our inspiring conversation with Beth!

Are you...

Why would we spend an entire show talking about diapers? Because diapers represent a whole lot more than just keeping a baby dry. So much so that there’s a Roanoke, Virginia nonprofit called Huddle Up Moms that just received among the largest grants ever awarded by the Roanoke Women’s Foundation: $100,000 to create a diaper bank for low-income moms and child caregivers in Southwest Virginia. 

This cause is near and dear to the heart of BUZZ creator Michael Hemphill’s because one of the first BUZZ episodes produced in his hometown of Birmingham, Alabama, starred the nonprof...

Today we're buzzing about the Blue Ridge Holler hurricane relief concert, held Nov. 24, 2024, in Roanoke, Virginia. Coordinated by the nonprofit Friends of the Blue Ridge, the concert featured 18 different artists who donated their time and talent to raise money for Blue Ridge communities devastated by Hurricane Helene. On today's show we share some of the music from the Blue Ridge Holler – bluegrass, classical, hiphop, Celtic and more!

On today's show, BUZZ creator Michael Hemphill buzzes about the Blue Ridge Holler, a concert series coordinated by the nonprofit FRIENDS of the Blue Ridge to raise funds for communities impacted by Hurricane Helene. We share details about the 10-day series and preview the music of some of the 18 different artists and bands who have generously agreed to donate their time and talent for the benefit concert on Nov. 24, 2024, at the Jefferson Center in Roanoke, Virginia.

On today's Buzz4Good, creator Michael Hemphill buzzes about a fantastic musical collaboration between two nonprofits: Friends of the Blue Ridge and the Glencoe Mason and Museum in Radford, Virginia.

Called "The Glencoe Sessions," this collaboration is the brainchild of Radford's own Addie Levy, a bluegrass phenom who now splits her time between her hometown and Nashville. The next Glencoe Session is Oct. 4 starring the youthful and exceptionally talented group, Pythagoras, out of Johnson City, Tennessee. 

Today we chat with Addie Levy about her vision for The G...

Buzz4Good creator Michael Hemphill checks in with a nonprofit that recently made a giant "leap" – pun intended – by opening a new market stocked with locally grown produce and foods in an underserved neighborhood in Roanoke, Virginia.

The mission of LEAP, or Local Environmental Agriculture Project, is to create an equitable food and farming system which prioritizes health and abundance by supporting community initiatives, markets, farms, and farmers.

LEAP's newest venture is a standalone market in Roanoke's West End community. Here to talk about the project is executive director Maureen McNamara Best.

Are you...

Today we’re buzzing about the nonprofit No Bounds, which provides educational resources and workforce training for individuals with intellectual disabilities.

BUZZ creator Michael Hemphill talks with No Bounds' Aaron Hall, who shares the inspiring yet hard work they’re doing to give folks who suffer from autism, Down Syndrome and cerebral palsy the collegiate training and motivation they need to fulfill their professional ambition.

We also share a sneak listen to our next new BUZZ television show starring the nonprofit Mountain View Humane, which provides high quality and low cost vete...

We get artsy on today's Buzz4Good as BUZZ creator Michael Hemphill features a couple of major upcoming events: an new and exciting Hispanic music and cultural series, and the release of a local literary journal that has international reach and includes work by our country’s past poet laureate.

Listen as we share our conversations with The Spot on Kirk's Kat Pascal and John Pence as they discuss "Musica y Cultura" that kicks off Hispanic Heritage Month. And we celebrate the 31st edition of The Artemis Journal by chatting with founder and editor-in-chief Jeri Rodgers.

Since 1974 the nonprofit RADAR has been providing the Roanoke Valley of Virginia with public transportation for folks who might otherwise be homebound due to disability or inability to own a vehicle.

Today BUZZ creator Michael Hemphill chats with executive director Nathan Sanford on the eve of RADAR's 50th anniversary! His first question: what the heck does RADAR stand for?

Are you a nonprofit with an event that we could help promote? Or a marketing problem we could help fix? Contact us and we’ll share on an upcoming episode.

...

Most local governments appreciate nonprofits' work, but keep them at arms' length when it comes to fundraising. Not so in Bedford County, Virginia, where its Parks & Recreation Department creates fantastic community events that directly benefit its nonprofit community.

On today's Buzz4Good, host Michael Hemphill talks with Lee Wittekind, Bedford County's Outdoor Events and Outreach Coordinator. On August 3, Wittekind is coordinating the inaugural Hairy Roubaix bicycle race to benefit Friends of the Bedford County Animal Shelter. He's also the driving force behind the Blue Ridge Bee Festival on September 14 in partnership with the YMCA of Bedford County.<...

Today we are buzzing about nonprofit champion Bryan "Harvest Blaque" Hancock: spoken word artist phenom; hip hop musician extraordinaire; artist-in-residence at Carilion Clinic; youth development leader at Boys and Girls Clubs; writer/producer/director at the Hip Hop Lab at Jefferson Center; church deacon, DJ, and self-proclaimed supergeek.

Bryan has starred in three episodes of BUZZ. Most famously he co-wrote and performed the song “It’s Here” that highlights Roanoke’s vibrant arts and culture scene and its importance in attracting new business to the region.

On today's episode, BUZZ creator Michael Hemphill revisits Bryan's work in...

Today we’re buzzing about three wildly different capital campaigns that received a lot of buzz this week: a new Y that is being built inside shopping mall ... a restoration project in a historic African American cemetery ... and a new shelter to better serve the homeless. 

What do all three of these projects have in common? There’s all run by nonprofits!

On today’s show BUZZ creator Michael Hemphill talks with the leaders of these three nonprofits: Mark Johnson of the YMCA of Virginia's Blue Ridge; Ellen Forbes Stick of Friends of Old Lick Cemeter...

Today we’re buzzing about cats and caps:

Cats as in the overpopulation of feral cats. BUZZ creator Michael Hemphill talks to a Salem, Virginia, nonprofit that works to trap and neuter feral cats and then find homes where their rodent control expertise can be put to good use.

And caps as in those worn by high school graduates. Helping them afford the next step in their education journey is a New River Valley nonprofit that provides free community college in exchange for community service. We'll share our conversations with the inspiring folks we're featuring in...

Buzz4Good creator Michael Hemphill introduces perhaps the most famous Roanoke, Virginia, citizen you’ve never heard of: Edward Dudley, a pioneering civil rights lawyer who became the first African-American ambassador in United States history. So unknown is Ambassador Dudley’s remarkable life that even Roanoke’s preeminent historian, former mayor Nelson Harris, wasn’t aware of it until he began researching an unrelated book about Roanoke in the 1940s. Here's Michael's conversation with Harris about Edward Dudley’s incredible legacy.

Later on the show, we reminisce about our recent BUZZ concert featuring the phenomenal jazz and bluegrass...

In addition to BUZZ, creator Michael Hemphill also works for the nonprofit Friends of the Blue Ridge, which recently introduced him to the multi-talented Addie Levy.

Addie headlined Friends of the Blue Ridge’s’ ON THE RISE concerts featuring up-and-coming Bluegrass sensations. After one concert, Addie shared that she’d formed a Nashville-based trio called Domino, and hoped to find a place to perform in Roanoke, Va., on April 14.

Well, Michael couldn’t pass up the opportunity to provide some buzz so he reached out to the Taubman Museum of Art, which graciously agreed t...

There’s a lot of debate surrounding the legacy of slavery and segregation. Some may even question whether there’s still active racism.

But if you happen to buzz down to Roanoke’s Taubman Museum of Art or Harrison Museum of African American Culture, you can see how discriminatory real estate practices from the past continue to impact Black Americans today. And that is due to a remarkable exhibit that both nonprofit museums are co-hosting: David Ramey: Gainsboro Road and Beyond.

Buzz4Good creator Michael Hemphill chats with the curators of the exhibit, and the artist...

We’re often told that time is money. And in our economy, we value some people’s time more than others. Try paying an attorney or pro athlete the same as a teacher or artist.

But in the New River Valley of Virginia, there’s a nonprofit that values everyone’s time equally, regardless of their skills or education or expertise, as a way of building community and fostering human connection. The hour it takes John Smith to chop up a tree can earn him a hour of social media training from Julia Thomas ... or an hour-long bourbon...

For Roanoke, Virginia entrepreneur and philanthropist Ed Walker, economic development is as much about building community as it is building business.

Walker's latest project is his most ambitious ... and the most transformative in Roanoke's recent history: revitalizing an old 100-acre site comprising 20+ buildings totaling a million square feet just 1.5 miles from downtown into Riverdale.

On today's Buzz4Good, creator Michael Hemphill talks to Amy McGinnis, who is part of Walker's team working to redevelop Riverdale. Part of her work involves recruiting the Minneapolis-based nonprofit ArtSpace to transform part of the property into affordable housing and...

"It's always been like a slap in the face," says Glenna Moore about the Confederate soldier statue in front of the Franklin County, Virginia courthouse.

In honor of Black History Month, BUZZ creator Michael Hemphill talks with Moore and Cathie Cummins of the local NAACP, who have fought county officials in vain for years to remove the statue.

Now they've changed battlefield tactics and are applying for funding from a "Monuments Across Appalachian Virginia" grant that Virginia Tech is coordinating with money from the Mellon Foundation. If successful, the NAACP chapter will create new monuments...

We're starting to celebrate the holiday season! Listen as Buzz4Good creator Michael Hemphill chats with two arts nonprofit leaders about the importance of Christmas performances for their annual budget: Ginger Poole of Mill Mountain Theatre, and Kim Davidson of the Roanoke Valley Children’s Choir.

Also, we're buzzing about bringing our TV show BUZZ to Alabama Public Television! In preparation for its premier December 15, 2023, get a "sneak listen" to part of the first episode starring the nonprofit COSPO, or Children of Slain Police Officers, which funds all college expenses for children who had a parent killed wh...

We're buzzing about the Blue Ridge Jamboree: ON THE RISE showcase of up and coming musical talent on Nov. 2 at the Jefferson Center in Roanoke, Va. The event is being hosted by the nonprofit Friends of the Blue Ridge, and Buzz4Good is proud to be the presenting sponsor. 

Today, BUZZ creator Michael Hemphill talks to – and enjoys the music of – four of the acts: Addie Levy, a 21-year-old artist who now splits her time between her home in Radford and Nashville; A Mighty Friendly Mountain band, made up of the Hello siblings from Floyd County; aspiring Broad...

Today Buzz4Good creator Michael Hemphill taking a stroll down Straight Street with two leaders of the Roanoke nonprofit that ministers to teenagers who struggle with a variety of challenges, from broken families and disconnected parents to homelessness, even sex trafficking. Through a variety of ministries, the 25-year-old Straight Street nonprofit provides a positive Christian environment for at-risk youth. We’ll talk with director Keith Farmer and volunteer and development coordinator Stacy Boris.

Keeping our focus on youth, we also preview an exciting event by Friends of the Blue Ridge: the “Blue Ridge Jamboree: On the Rise” talent...

One of the primary objectives today for NASA is sending American women to the Moon. The name of the mission is Artemis. Artemis was the Greek mythological twin sister of Apollo – the mission name for the original moon landings – and the goddess of the Moon.

Here on Earth, we’re celebrating on today’s Buzz4Good a different Artemis, but one just as lofty and inspiring: the 45th anniversary of Artemis Journal, which showcases the artists and poetry of the Blue Ridge Mountains and beyond. On Sept. 1 Artemis hosted a release party at the Taubman Musuem in Roanoke...

Name, Image, Likeness has transformed college sports into the Wild West. But for some passionate Hokie fans, NIL has been incorporated into Virginia Tech's motto of Ut Prosim, That I May Serve, creating one of the most unique platforms in the country: The Hokie Way.

Over the last few weeks, Buzz4Good creator Michael Hemphill shared conversations with head football coach Brent Pry, head women’s basketball coach Kenny Brooks, star center Liz Kitley, Sean Pedulla from the men’s basketball team, and many more. You can listen to these conversations here.

Today, we feature the...

Buzz4Good creator Michael Hemphill introduces a new sponsor to BUZZ whose mission is one that impacts – or will impact – all of us: retirement and growing old.

Since 1966, Friendship has provided a friendly, safe, and comfortable place for Roanoke Valley residents to live healthier, fuller lives. Michael talks to Friendship president and CEO Joe Hoff about Friendship’s history and mission in the Roanoke Valley, and its recent acquisition of Richfield Living. They also chat about how the senior living experience has evolved through the decades, and what the future holds for this growing industry that we all ho...

On today’s show Buzz4Good creator Michael Hemphill presents a treat for all sports fans and, in particular, for those who cheer on the Virginia Tech Hokies. 

College football kicks off in a few weeks, but for nonprofits in Southwest Virginia there’s as much enthusiasm for what Virginia Tech’s football players have been doing off the field as they’re on the field achievements.

That’s due to The Hokie Way. 

The Hokie Way provides NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) deals and money to Hokie student-athletes, who in turn use their brands to pr...

Nonprofits are often awarded grants for their work contributing to a community’s quality of life.

But how about quality of death?

Buzz4Good creator Michael Hemphill features Good Samaritan Hospice, which earlier this month received the largest grant ever given by Community Foundation Serving Western Virginia: $500,000 for the first hospice house in the region.

“Hospice is not a scary thing,” says Good Sam CEO Aaron Housch. “Hospice and palliative care is you choosing the way you want your final months to be, and in control of those the best you can, surrounded by the p...

The American Disabilities Act ensures that people with disabilities have access to public facilities in our country. 

But for our brothers and sisters with an intellectual disability – those on the autism spectrium, those with Down Syndrome, or a traumatic brain injury – when it comes to ensuring opportunities for meaningful employment, independent living, and a community of enriching relationships, that’s unfortunately left to their families and caregivers.

And, thankfully, nonprofits.

On today’s show, Buzz4Good creator Michael Hemphill features three nonprofits – Masterpiece Alliance, No Bounds, and Chris’s Coffee & Custard – that serve and inspire adu...