On the third Tuesday of every month, Lake Anna business owners gather after hours at a rotating lineup of restaurants and breweries, trading business cards, referrals and conversation. Those informal gatherings are part of the Lake Anna Business Partnership, a nonprofit organization that has supported the local business community for more than two decades. The Lake Anna Business Partnership (LABP) …
Most nonprofit organizations grow from a vision held by their founders, but few begin from circumstances as personal as the Paul Stefan Foundation in Orange, Virginia. In 2005, Randy and Evelyn James were celebrating the upcoming arrival of their sixth child when they learned that their unborn baby suffered from a rare and often fatal condition known as diaphragmatic hernia. …
Lake of the Woods Living Independently in our Community (LOWLINC) is a nonprofit organization (501(c)(3)) based in the Lake of the Woods (LOW) community in Orange County, Virginia. It was established in 2015-16 by three longtime LOW residents who, aging themselves, recognized the need for support for people who wanted to remain in their homes as they aged. After the …
This is RuraLove, a ministry of the Goshen Baptist Association. Since its co-founding by Joy Dickens and her late husband Tommy (Joy now serves as Goshen Ministry Assistant), it has embodied the commitment to “Neighbor Helping Neighbor.” In the 1990s, the Dickens family, recognizing the growing needs in central Virginia, envisioned a comprehensive ministry to address them. At their urging, …
Louisa County Public Schools is expanding its Career and Technical Education (CTE) offerings with a new Marine Service Technology program, set to be part of a state-of-the-art 56,000-square-foot CTE Center currently under development. Now in the site preparation phase and scheduled for completion in 2027, the new center will consolidate and grow the district’s hands-on training opportunities in high-demand trades—including …
If you’re looking for a worldwide volunteer service organization, Rotary International—founded in 1905 and currently with more than 1.2 million members—would be at or near the front of the line. The Rotary name was chosen by its two initial members based on the rotation of local meetings between their offices. If, however, your search is for a local volunteer organization, …
Look where you will, and you won’t find many facilities with a history as long and varied as the one we now know as the Louisa Arts Center. First constructed in 1905, the building originally housed the local high school. A fire in 1924 destroyed much of the structure, prompting a major rebuild. In 1940, the building was converted into …
Water testing, shoreline planting, fireworks, emergency services… there’s a lot to do around here as Lake Anna continues its growth movement. And there is one organization whose mission is to preserve and protect it all: The Lake Anna Civic Association. LACA, founded in 1992 by the late Jack Bertron, is active across a wide range of issues, all aimed at …
If you’re a Central Virginia animal down on your luck and in need of rescue and support, several places can help you get back on your paws—or hooves. In Louisa County, especially if you’re neither canine nor feline, one invaluable option is Hooves and Paws (H&P), located on Poindexter Road west of Louisa. H&P was founded in 2002 in Southern …
More than a decade ago, Louisa County resident Debbie Reed noticed many people struggling without basic resources. She believed something had to be done to help these individuals rebuild their lives. This belief led to the creation of The Journey Home (TJH). With the help of her husband, retired physician Ed Reed, Debbie reached out to government agencies, philanthropic groups, …
