The Great Valley Community Organization helps build a strong, vibrant and connected community by providing facilities, activities and programs enriching the lives of all local residents. | |
April 2024 GVCO Newsletter | |
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Hear What Our GVCO High School Interns Have To Say
GVCO first introduced its internship program in 2009. Since then, the internship program has evolved quite a bit, and GVCO operationally relies heavily on talented students from the community and region, year in, and year out.
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GVCO typically employs a college aged intern in the fall semester, spring semester and summer. They often work 40 hours per week. We also employ a GVHS senior each school year, through a Cooperative Education program offered at the high school. This individual(s) typically comes in daily each afternoon for a couple of hours. And each school year GVCO will employ 10-15 high school juniors and seniors, who come in after school for a couple of hours. Each of these students typically works between 2-5 hours each week, balancing their busy academic, athletic and personal schedules.
GVCO receives numerous requests for inclusion into our HS Internship Program each year. In determining who we will accept each year, we send out a questionnaire to each student to gauge interest and learn about each of them.
Over the past several years, the response to one of the questions has been incredibly consistent, and wonderfully telling, as to how tremendous our Great Valley community is to be a part of. The question is: What is it best you like about the Great Valley community? And I have found it extraordinary how often the answers, for years, have similar themes. Words like inclusive, caring, nonjudgmental, welcoming, respectful, helpful, accepting, and supportive.
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I have been very lucky to have met so many great students throughout the years. And blessed to see all their answers to this question. Take a look at what some of them have said and you will smile knowing you are part of this wonderful community.
Keith Walsh
GVCO Executive Director
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GVCO Caring Hands & the Community | | |
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Homeless Survival Kits
Volunteers helped assemble 150 kits with donated snacks and personal hygiene items. The Better Days Ahead foundation distributed the kits to the un-housed and at-risk individuals in the Southeastern Pennsylvania area.
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In Ian's Boots Shoe Drive
During the month of February, GVCO hosted a shoe drive and collected 100+ pairs of shoes. In Ian's Boots of Pottstown provides shoes and boots to those in need.
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Red Cross Blood Drive
In March, we hosted our first of many blood drives resulting in %115 of the total goal.
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People's Pantry Food Drive
Caring Hands members took the month of March to give back to the immediate Great Valley Community. Each member was given a bag each to fill with items for households with income insecurity. We collected 674lbs in total for the People's Pantry at Church Road.
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SPCA Kong Making
Caring Hands had their annual Kong Making for the dogs at the Brandywine SPCA. Thank you volunteers for making 200+ peanut butter and dog treat filled Kongs for the dogs!
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GVCO partnered with A Blessing Hand Up, a Malvern non-profit, to host a free prom closet for local teenagers. Hundreds of dresses, jewelry, shoes and raffle items were given to happy teenagers!
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Upcoming Community Events | |
Medicare 101- Everything You Need To Know About Medicare
April 23rd at 9AM at GVCO
Dana Matkovic will be returning for her bi-monthly Medicare 101 seminars. These very informative, interactive seminars are always full of great questions about everything "Medicare". Dana's many years in the business allows her to share her vast knowledge through Q&A in a small group setting. One of the key topics at this session will be prescription drug costs, along with prescription drug cost savings tips. Attendees will learn ways to save money on costly prescription drugs through the use of coupon cards, Tier level exceptions, formulary requests, pharmaceutical patient assistance programs, online pharmacies, non-profit organization grants.
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for the April 23rd seminar.
There is no cost to attend.
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Red Cross Blood Drive
GVCO looks forward to hosting semi-annual Red Cross blood drives in September and March.
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Welcome all Pickleball players - residency is not required.
Schedule your play time at the four GVCO indoor courts via the Team Reach app. Install the Team Reach on your mobile device and use the Group Code GVCOPB. Dates and times will be listed in the app.
The cost to play is $7 per person which can be paid via Venmo, PayPal or cash at the door. Each player must complete a one-time pickleball waiver form. For questions or more information, contact pickleball@gvco.org
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Mens Basketball at GVCO
The Heyday Athletics Mens League begins Monday, April 22nd at GVCO.
· 5v5 Ref League,
· $35/Team Weekly Ref Fee
· Game times are 6:30 PM, 7:30 PM, 8:30 PM
More details and registration
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Badminton Open Play at GVCO
This program is being administered by Philadelphia Badminton.
Its successful badminton training program uses USA Badminton-certified and US center for Safe Sport trained coaches. For more information, contact badminton@gvco.org.
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Challenger Hoopsters & Gym | |
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In January and February, the new program of Challenger Hoopsters was introduced. Athletes dribbled through obstacles, practiced shooting and team passing with all activities modified as needed! The emphasis was on fun.
Many Challenger athletes returned in March to take part in our long-standing Challenger Gym, a recreational community gym program for kids who have extra challenges. It is a fun hour of play where friendships are forged, and games and activities are adapted to make everyone feel successful. For many years, Challenger Gym has allowed those who may not find success in traditional community sports programs to laugh, run, jump, throw, make friends and shine!
Thank you, Wendy. My son had a blast; he waited all week for Challenger Gym. You and your team were kind and made every kid feel special. - Challenger Parent
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The Siddhant Suresh Scholarship Fund
The Suresh fund was created to honor the memory of Siddhant Suresh, a wonderful son and brother and an outstanding student who loved basketball and chess.
Over two years, this fund has awarded over two thousand dollars in scholarships to help many Great Valley children and families participate in GVCO programming.
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College Students
GVCO is looking for a self-motivated college student interested in assisting our organization with its programming. Read the job descriptions for the Summer and Fall internship positions.
The ideal candidate should have strong interpersonal and organizational skills, be able to work in a team environment, and enjoy working with youth. The candidate should have a background or interest in athletics, an understanding of scheduling, budgeting and basic finance.
The individual would perform facilities management, scheduling management and oversight of programming, administration assistance with GVCO communications, assisting with sponsorship marketing and start up support of fall youth programming.
For questions, contact Internships@gvco.org.
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GVCO employs several high school - juniors or seniors - to assist with programming and administrative responsibilities during the school year.
Hours would be after school, 3pm and 5pm Mondays through Fridays, 2 - 5 hours per week. GVCO will work with you to create flexible scheduling.
Applications for the coming school year will be taken until May 31st; hiring decisions will be made June 30th.
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GVHS Cooperative Education
The GVHS Cooperative Education Internship is an option for seniors with enough credits to attend school for only part of the day. Contact the Great Valley School District Counseling office for more information. Read Maddy Camp's testimonial about her Work Release internship at GVCO.
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Summer Basketball
GVBL Summer League strives to be a fun experience for kids, playing and learning the game of basketball. Players of all abilities are welcome; divisions focus on appropriate age level skills while showing good sportsmanship.
Teams will have 1-2 games per week on Monday through Thursday nights. There are no practices during the 10 week season. Divisions are single-sex for grades 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8 and Boys high school.
There is no residency requirement for gr. 1-8; Boys HS players must reside in the Great Valley School District.
Registration is open.
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GVCO is hosting several camps this summer. Registration is open for a variety of basketball camps. Details are coming on other camps. | |
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Flag Football
The Great Valley Flag Program is designed to introduce younger children to the sport, teach very basic fundamentals and most of all to have fun playing flag football.
Teams will be rostered by GVSD elementary school and grade so kids can play with their classmates. This Fall, there will be 4 Boys divisions: K, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades plus 4 Girls divisions: K, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades.
More information about Flag Football. Registration is open now.
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GVFL Tackle Football
The Great Valley Junior Patriots is an instructional tackle football program for kids in grades 4-6. Players will be assigned teams based on the grade entering in the Fall. There is no residency requirement for tackle football.
More information about GVFL tackle football. Registration is open for tackle football.
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Cheer Fit & Choreography
GV Cheerleaders are participating in cheer-fitness clinics this Spring. These fun and high-energy workout sessions help increase endurance through the sweat section and strengthen the muscles used for stunting and jumps.
This is all with the added fun of working out with pom poms!!
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Our popular Jr. Hoopsters program for 4 and 5 year olds had another sold out season this year. The players learned about offense and defense and had a great time learning that they can steal the ball away from the other team! Thank you to all of our volunteers that gave us their time and patience. The 2024-2025 Winter GVBL season will include a co-ed Kindergarten division. Our Jr Hoopsters program will be for 4 year old preschoolers only next winter season. | |
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GVBL
Our first season in the facility was a huge success with 88 teams across all of our boys and girls divisions. From our first basket scored to our first buzzer beater championship game in the Boys High School division.
Playoffs
We also had a very competitive playoff season. We do double elimination for grades 3-8; the 1st and 2nd graders, we continued with our annual round robin tournament. The high school division had a single elimination bracket. We wanted to take the opportunity to congratulate our winners one more time!
Girls 3/4 Razorbacks
Girls 5/6 Dream
Girls 7/8 Lynx
Boys 3/4 Wolverines
Boys 5/6 Knicks
Boys 7/8 Nuggets
Boys HS Orange
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Raise the Bar Bash
Dorothy Gill and her posse of volunteers transformed the new GVCO Community Center into event space and what a party they put on! We had a very competitive foul shooting contest. Cornhole going all night long. Best of all, many, many families walked out with some awesome team baskets.Thank you to all the GVBL families who all contributed to the wonderful baskets.
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The 15th Annual James McKay Memorial Tournament
GVBL’s Chester County Challenge was renamed the James McKay Memorial Tournament. We are pleased to host our 15th annual event now named after a truly awesome volunteer, dedicated father and tremendous man. Learn more about the tournament and James McKay.
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Tournament Teams
The Tournament Team Program is to provide the opportunity to learn and enjoy the game of basketball at a highly competitive level. This program develops and improves individual and team skills, promotes good sportsmanship and team spirit. By providing players with additional exposure to the game of basketball, it enhances their opportunity to play at the junior high and high school level. GVBL operates Tournament Team Programs for boys and girls in grades 4 - 8.
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Whether your athlete dreams of a collegiate career or seeks to refine their skills and build lasting friendships, Uptown Basketball Club is the premier destination for boys' basketball in the Southeastern Pennsylvania area. Teams will be drawing from the Chester, Montgomery and Delaware county areas.
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Chester County Seeing Eye Puppy Club | |
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The Seeing Eye is a philanthropic organization whose mission is to enhance the independence, dignity, and self-confidence of blind people through the use of Seeing Eye® dogs.
The Seeing Eye's vision is to be recognized for sustained excellence and continuous improvement as the best guide dog school to attend and to support, as a donor, volunteer, puppy raiser, or employee.
GVCO is proud to have partnered with this wonderful organization. We look forward to having them back as we open the new GVCO Community Center complex after a hiatus due to the closure of our old GVBL Center in 2020.
To learn more about the Chester County Seeing Eye Puppy Club along with their mission visit The Seeing Eye.
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GVCO seeks to partner with the local business community in programs that not only benefit our GVCO organization, but also give something back to the local business owner.
GVCO is interested in starting a business relationship or "partnership" in hopes that it creates greater awareness for the local business. These will hopefully provide additional clientele; greater awareness of GVCO's initiative to help connect our organization with the local business community, and the financial benefits that the specific initiative may provide GVCO.
Read more about GVCO and business sponsorship. Questions can be directed to sponsorship@gvco.org.
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Charlestown Paving is one of GVCO’s longstanding sponsors over the past two decades. Drew Alleva, the company and his family have been instrumental in GVCO’s success through the years. We are thankful for all they have done and proud of the long time partnership.
Charlestown Paving & Excavating offers a variety of services including township/municipality work, industrial/commercial work and residential paving. They provide dependable solutions to your paving problems, and ensure that your project stays within your budget while minimizing any disruption to your operations.
Expect top-notch workmanship and service from Charlestown Paving because they have loyal, experienced employees, and they own and maintain a full fleet of trucks and heavy equipment. They have built our reputation on the referrals of satisfied clients and earned the trust of property managers, business owners, and homeowners throughout the region.
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The Powers
How lucky are we to have a new community center in our area?! GVCO has been a part of our lives since our children used to play hoops at GVBL. The camaraderie and good spirits in that gym were refreshing and seeing the kids grow into a sport they liked made it so enjoyable.
In 2019, we were able to participate in and volunteer our time when GVCO introduced Pickleball. Over 200 players got involved and had a blast learning and playing the game and participating in other GVCO programming as well like the Caring Hands Foundation.
We are thrilled that the doors of the new center are open and the community is having a chance to be a part of the pickleball craze! The new center is a true labor of love for the many parents and volunteers who have given so much of their time and effort to the project.
If you have not already done so, please help the cause and donate today so we can all benefit from all that GVCO has available. Let's make GVCO the place to go!
Jody and George Powers
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We need your help to finish what we've started! We will not get the necessary financing to complete the project without raising additional funds.
DONATE NOW to finalize the building of our brand new GVCO Community Center!
The time is NOW.... Together we can make it happen!
Check out the program pages:
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For further details on the project, how you can make a significant financial impact or information with regard to Naming Rights for the complex and areas throughout the project, please reach out to Keith Walsh at execdirector@gvco.org
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