Community Program News

Director's Message

NEW LOOK AS YOU ENTER THE BUILDING!

As you enter the GVCO Community Center, we have a new reception desk to greet you. This was generously donated by the Law Offices of Helena H Astolfi, specializing in Immigration and Naturalization law. The Astolfi family is a long time Villa Maria family who has been in the area for 25+ years. They were looking for a home for the reception desk and felt GVCO would be a great home for it. Big shout out to the Astolfi family for this wonderful, much needed addition to the facility!

Speaking of generosity, read below about all the great things our Great Valley community was up to over the holidays. Helping families within the Devereux Foundation communities stay a little warmer this winter through our fantastic elementary school 150+ coat drive. Or the 400 gifts wrapped and delivered to the regions senior citizens to add a little cheer during the holidays. What a great way for our GV community to finish the year, but get ready because we've got a ton planned to kick off the new year. It all starts with the National Day of Giving on MLK Day. Make sure you read below, there will be plenty of opportunity to Give Back and get involved!

-Keith Walsh, GVCO Executive Director

The Great Valley Community Gives

Join us Monday 1/15 on Martin Luther King Jr. Day to make cards for Cradles to Crayons Ready for Learning Cards initiative. Help them reach their goal of 10,000 cards made by the community on MLK Day!

Signup

MLK Day is all about giving back for the entire community. ANYONE is welcome to sign up for a session to make cards at the Community Complex Center. These cards can also be done at home and dropped off at the community center.

More Upcoming Events

Caring Hands project for the month of January is putting together Homeless Care packages that will be distributed by the local non-profit Better Days Ahead

GVCO is going to need YOUR HELP to collect the products to put in the kits. An Amazon Wishlist will be sent out soon with the products listed. There will also be sessions for Caring Hands members to assemble the packages in the near future.

In February, GVCO will be holding a 3 week shoe drive for In Ian's Boots. Keep any gently used shoes, winter boots, or cleats you or your child has grown out of to support the initiative.

In Ian's Boots is a Pottstown based organization dedicated to providing footwear to those in need.

Girl Scouts from the 4 Great Valley Elementary Schools will be selling cookies at the Great Valley Community Complex Center in the upcoming weeks

Pickleball

Welcome to all our new and former Pickleball members! We hope by now that many of you have stopped by to see the new GVCO Community Center where there are 4 indoor courts available! Scheduling can be done on the app Team Reach under GVCO and the Group Code is GVCOPB. Sign up today!

We have our first time for play on Monday, January 8^th beginning at 9AM. The cost to play is $7.00 per person which can be paid via Venmo, PayPal or cash at the door. Each player must complete a one-time GVCO pickleball waiver form

Come out and play!

Any questions, please reach out to pickleball@gvco.org

GVCO Blood Drive - March 6th

The donation process from the time you arrive until the time you leave takes about an hour. The donation itself is only about 8-10 minutes on average. Signup via the Red Cross app or RedCross.org

In February and March, we will ask for food and personal care items for the People's Pantry at Church Road.

The People's Pantry is a Malvern based non-profit supporting those with food insecurity in the local community.

March Madness Fundraiser -

details coming

Challenger Gym

Challenger Hoopsters - January and February

We are introducing a pilot 4-week Challenger Hoopster program for children with special needs who are in 1^st grade through high school. The plan is to have 4-5 stations set up in our GVCO gym. The children will rotate through stations such as dribbling through obstacles, shooting, and team passing with all activities modified as needed! Emphasis will be on fun!! Registration will open soon.

Challenger Gym - March and April

Challenger Gym is 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! Registration will open soon.

Do you like to make new friends and learn new skills and have lots of fun while you’re doing it? Then you have come to the right place! An integral piece of the Challenger Gym program is our Volunteer Buddies. They accompany our participants on every step, hop, roll, run and slide all while playing, encouraging, and generally having fun. The Spring signups are coming.

More Community Programs

SPCA Kong Making

Once again, Caring Hands will be hosting kong making for the SPCA in the coming months.

Green Meadows Flower Planting

Recycling Event around earth day

What We Have Been Up To

The Great Valley Elementary School Coat Drive has come to a close and we are thrilled to have collected a total of 158 child and adult size coats for the Devereux Foundation.

Our Caring Hands volunteers visited both Surrey Services and Phoenixville Senior Citizen Center during their holiday luncheons to distribute gifts.

Thank you Volunteers!

GVCO has also donated 185 of the gifts wrapped by Caring Hands volunteers that were distributed at the Great Valley High School Senior Citizen Luncheon hosted by the Desmond Project.

Others Who Have Given

Have you enjoyed watching a game at the new GVCO Community Center from one of our brand new bleachers?

The Bradbard family has been involved with GVCO programming for a number of years. Prior to opening, they reached out and asked how they could make an impact. We mentioned that we had no current solution for seating during our GVBL Youth basketball games due to the cost of a complete set of bleachers for the court spaces.

At the end of that meeting, the Bradbard family let us know that they felt strongly about supporting GVCO and would gladly donate the bleachers for the entire community to enjoy for many years to come. Giving Tuesday actually occurred way back in October for GVCO, with a gift that will be giving back to the Great Valley community well into the future.

GVCO Internships

High School Interns

Fall 2023 - Spring 2024

Several high school juniors and seniors assist GVCO with programming and administrative responsibilities during the school year. Interns work anywhere from 2-5 hours per week between 3pm-5pm Monday through Friday.

GVCO internships have flexible scheduling around academic and extracurricular responsibilities.

GVHS Community Exploration Internship

Each year, we invite Great Valley High School seniors who have completed enough credits for graduation to apply for the school district's "Work Release" program. Along with being compensated for their work, they are also awarded some graduation credit through the Community Exploration Experiences Program.

Students will leave during the school day either after 4th or 5th period. This is our first year with two seniors: Maddy Camp and Caroline Prevost. The internship builds skills in management, marketing, and collaboration - experiences that are beneficial for their resumes and future roles.

Application will open during course selection at GVHS for the 24-25 school year.

GVCO Banner Sponsorship

Your company's or organization's banner will hang for one whole year in the brand new GVCO Community Center. Download and complete a Banner Sponsorship Form. Questions can be directed to sponsorship@GVCO.org

Community@GVCO.org www.GVCO.org

GVCO is a 501(c)(3) organization

Financing Our Project

Financing the New GVCO Community Center

It's time for everyone in our Great Valley community to GIVE BACK. The community's support over the past six years has been tremendous [Donor List (11/30/23) ]. Let's finish what we started, paying off the debt and moving forward with the next phase of the project. To do this, the support must continue and be more broad based.

We are asking for help from the entire Great Valley private, public and business community.

Ways You Can Give

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

Where We Started

Read and see more construction highlights

Rendering of the 1st Phase of the

GVCO Community Center.

See the vision of our new Great Valley Community Center when all phases are finished. Find out some of what we plan to offer at a fully completed complex.

More Ways to Support GVCO

Do You Match?

Did you know your employer might have a Matching Gifts program?

It's a great way to contribute and help GVCO complete the entire new GVCO Community Center project.

Use code #47309 for GVCO!

GVCO is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization