E&H hosts walk-a-thon for children’s services agency

By DAN KEGLEY/Staff

On Aug. 13 and 14, two walkers passed through Smyth County as part of a state-spanning stroll from the western tip of Virginia to the coast that is raising money for Hope Tree Family Services.
In September, local people will have an opportunity to walk for the organization but get back home in time for supper.
Emory & Henry College will host a campus-circling fundraising “Walking the Path…Where Love Grows” Walk-A-Thon Sept. 14, one of six simultaneous events across the commonwealth.
That date is the planned conclusion of the awareness and fund-raising walk across the state called C to Shining C, named for its beginning at the Cumberland Gap and its ending in Chincoteague.
The Emory event will kick off at 2 p.m., according to Rachel Vogeley, event organizer with Salem-based Hope Tree. Before that, participants will gather at 12:30 p.m. for registration, food, and games for children.
“Parking will be available at the Emory United Methodist Church, and the registration area will be set up somewhere around the church,” Vogeley said.
The walk will consist of one loop around campus, taking in the eastern end around the football stadium. Vogeley said a shorter loop may be available as well.
Vogeley said participants will ask for donations, and team leaders in the Emory community and in churches with which Hope Tree has connections have received walk packets.
Vogeley said anyone interested is welcome to participate in the fundraiser and can get more information from her at 540-314-2366.
Each year, Hope Tree Family Services provides roughly $3 million in benevolent care to its residents, a release from the organization said. The Walk-A-Thons represent the single largest fundraising effort the agency conducts each year to help cover the cost of the care it provides. This year, Hope Tree Family Services seeks to raise $120,000 with the walks held from Emory to Portsmouth.
Hope Tree Family Services provides residential care and education for at-risk children and youth. Hope Tree also operates a network of 15 group homes for adults with developmental disabilities.
“In a nutshell, we do two things,” spokesman Mark Early said. “The thing we have done since 1890 is to provide residential care for children who are abused or neglected. We call them at-risk. They have been abused emotionally or physically.”
The organization also operates homes for people with developmental disabilities, he said—people like those with Down Syndrome “who need a little or an extensive amount of help to live on their own.”
Two of the Developmental Disabilities Ministry homes are in Abingdon. The homes represent the fastest growing service Hope Tree offers, Early said, and the program has been in place for 15 years.
Hope Tree began as the Baptist Orphanage of Virginia in 1890 and in the 1930s and ‘40s, fewer of the orphanage’s children were truly orphaned, but “their families placed them with the Baptist Orphanage because of economic hardships,” a Hope Tree history said.
That led to a change in program and name in 1953: Virginia Baptist Children’s Home.
Abuse and neglect of children over the years replaced economic hardships and in 1985 the home became Virginia Baptist Children’s Home & Family Services.
In the ‘90s with its outreach to adults in its Developmental Disabilities Ministry, a new identity began, Hope Tree Family Services.
“Hope is short, strong and defines in one word the single greatest benefit we give those who come to us for care,” program literature said. “For nearly 20 years, a tree has been part of our logo. A tree is a symbol of strength, shelter, endurance and vibrant life. Keeping the tree as our logo represents the sheltering comfort we provide as well as the strength of an organization that has thrived for over 100 years.”
Now, Hope Tree offers these programs plus emergency care for times of crisis, foster care and adoption services, the Gus Mitchell School, assistance with transition to independent living, and the WOODS Programs (Wilderness Outdoor Opportunity Discovery Schools) that teaches discipline through high-adventure learning.