Community
Community is more than just a group of people living in a particular area. A community is a group of people we lean on when times are not the easiest; our family, friends, and neighbors who are there for us when we need love, support and encouragement.
Foundation Gives Big Boosts to Lake, Rest of Fluvanna
The Lake Monticello Community Foundation has contributed just under $150,000 to the Lake and Fluvanna County in the past three years (of its five-year existence). That includes $33,900 to Fluvanna County institutions.
The contributions in Fluvanna County include $15,500 in scholarships to Fluvanna High School students who have demonstrated a willingness to volunteer in the community, $1,000 to the Fluvanna High Boosters Club and $3,700 to the Lake Monticello Volunteer Fire & Rescue Squad, which serves the entire county.
The Foundation’s biggest contribution was $100,000 to build the All-Inclusive Playground at Lake Monticello, which is open to children with disabilities from throughout the county. The Foundation also spent $10,758 to install a Mobility Mat at the Main Beach and $4,675 to install kayak launch ramps at two beaches.
Other recipients included $3,500 to Fluvanna’s Dolly Parton Library, $3,000 to Fluvanna Meals on Wheels, $3,000 to Fluvanna SPCA, $2,000 to Fluvanna food pantries, $2,000 to Happy Faces, $1,000 to ARTS of Fluvanna, $1,000 to Fluvanna’s In the Pink tournament to benefit women’s health, and $1,000 to All Blessings Flow. Other recipients include groups such as Habitat for Humanity and Lake Monticello Piecemakers.
The Lake Monticello Community Foundation is currently considering several other contributions to the community, some very large, and some small, to help both the Lake and the county we live in.
Foundation-Donated Kayak Launch Ramps Installed
LMOA maintenance staff installed the first of two new kayak launch ramps. The ramps, donated by the Lake Monticello Community Foundation, are intended to make it easier for residents to launch kayaks into the Lake, then get them out when they’re finished kayaking.
The first launch ramp is being installed at the Marina, near where the kayak racks are. Facilities & Operations Director Tracy Chandler said his staff also plans to replace some of the existing kayak racks with larger ones, adding about 24 kayak storage spaces. He said residents have already expressed interest in using the additional storage spaces.
The second kayak launch ramp purchased by Lake Monticello Community Foundation is to be installed soon at Beach 3. Chandler said eight additional storage racks are planned there as well.
Letter to the Foundation
The Lake Monticello Community Foundation recently received this note from Jackson Kinsella, one of the 2023 winners of the scholarships the Foundation gives annually to Fluvanna students who have shown their willingness to volunteer to help their community. Jackson is now a freshman at Stanford University.
Dear Lake Monticello Community Foundation,
I know it is a bit late – but I just wanted to extend my gratitude at your generous scholarship that you provided for me. My senior year was full, with and a lot of experiences, but, by far, the most meaningful was receiving a scholarship to go study all the way across the country, far from my community.
This honor has not been lost on me. I’ll take the values of being born and raised by the Lake with me every day. Please know the impact you have had not only on me, but on our community – from scholarships to parks – is meaningful, kind and noble.
Please continue what you do. I will always be a kid from Lake Monticello.
Jackson Kinsella
Foundation Continues Giving
The Lake Monticello Community Foundation celebrated the completion of the All-Inclusive Playground by making significant donations to several non-profit organizations that significantly benefit our community. Among them were $2,000 each to the Fluvanna SPCA (upper left), the Lake Monticello Volunteer Fire & Rescue squad (upper right) and Fluvanna Meals on Wheels (lower right), plus $2,500 to the Fluvanna chapter of Dolly Parton Imagination Library. And more big donations are in the works!
Foundation Awards Community Service Scholarships at Fluvanna High School
The Lake Monticello Community Foundation gave two $2,000 scholarships Wednesday to Fluvanna High School students, based on their commitment to community service. The winners were Jackson Kinsella of Lake Monticello and Artela Aljiji of Troy.
Kinsella detailed more than 150 hours of community service, in his application for the scholarship. His efforts included teaching children at the Boys and Girls Club of Scottsville about java coding and promoting leadership skills. He’s currently planning a field day for the students. Kinsella also was a volunteer swim coach for Battlefield Area Super Swimmers, a lead tutor for the National Beta Club, and founded a club at the high school to encourage political involvement.
Kinsella, who will head to Stanford in the fall, said community service “is embedded in the DNA of our community,” calling it an ”all encompassing zeal of contribution and possibility housed around this pond by Jefferson’s house.”
Aljiji cited about 125 hours of community service, much of it working with International Neighbors to provide food for refugees from Afghanistan, Ukraine, Congo and Pakistan. She also re-stocked food for the Charlottesville Salvation Army food bank, coached Fluvanna Youth Soccer, handed out food at the Fluvanna Food Bank, and worked with a group of students and the Sheriff’s Office to pick up trash on local roads.
“Community service has had an incredible impact and allowed me to become better as an individual,” Aljiji said. “It has such a tremendous benefit in my life and you truly are able to see firsthand the impact you have on others and your community.”
The Foundation also awarded a new Dell laptop to Itza Juarez-Viveros, who was selected by her teachers, to assist her college career.
Foundation President Nancy Parsons awards computer to Itza Juarez-Viveros
Scholarship winner Artella Aljiji
Scholarship winner Jackson Kinsella
LAKE MONTICELLO MEMORY TREE 2022
Remember someone special with a blue light on our holiday Memory Tree, which will be lit from Nov. 25 through Jan. 2 in front of The Pub. Your name and those you honor will be
published on the Lake Monticello News page, on our Lake Monticello Community Foundation Facebook Page and on a sign at The Pub.
Suggested donation - $10 per light
Check out what the community is posting on instagram using the hashtag #lakemonticello
