Upstate Giving, May 3

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AFL helps grow Hub City urban teaching farm

A Spartanburg fiber optic cable manufacturer recently offered a $3,600 grant to the Hub City Farmer’s Market through funding from the AFL Community Outreach Program. Used to support the market’s teaching farm, the grant will help fund program supplies and intern support for the organization's Urban Teaching Farm summer program.

The program teaches health and wellness, financial literacy, career and college readiness as well as sustainable agriculture practices to socially and economically vulnerable youth, according to a news release.

“One of the goals of the Urban Teaching Farm program is to prepare youth for future financial stability, to be college and career ready, to understand how to make healthy decisions and grow their own food, and to be inclusive and collaborative in communication with others,” Jordan Wolfe, executive director of Hub City Farmers Market, said in the release. “This preparation alone hugely benefits the community as it makes for a more productive one.”

HCFM recruits crew members from local high schools in Districts 6 and 7 for an eight-week internship that involves farm work and community-led workshops. Crew leaders are recruited from a local college.

United Bank awards $5,000 to YMCA of Greenville

Virginia-based United Bank presented the YMCA of Greenville with a $5,000 check in April in support of the organization’s Recreation, Education, Community, Exercise, Social and Service) program for adults with disabilities.

Participants in the program take cooking, fitness and independent living classes at the Christian Assembly of God’s campus, according to a news release.

“The adults in our community who have diverse abilities have needs we can help address, not just from a skills and independence standpoint, but from a social standpoint,” Julie Hollister, association director of youth and family services, YMCA of Greenville, said in the release. “RECESS participants get to join their peers and feel a sense of community through our programming, and it’s amazing to see that in action. We are so thankful to United Bank for their generous contribution that will help us keep this program running.”

United Bank has five branches in the Greenville area and two in York County.