Buzz4Good! Nonprofits + Marketing

BUZZ is proud to present a new 30-minute talk show called BUZZ LIVE! that’s designed to be “The Tonight Show for Nonprofits!" During the show – which we live-streamed to our Facebook and YouTube channels and later broadcast on Blue Ridge PBS – BUZZ creator Michael Hemphill chats with the inspiring people who serve, and are served by, nonprofits in Roanoke, Virginia ... along with a musical gu...

To kick off Black History Month, we are buzzing about Melrose Plaza in the historically African-American community of Northwest Roanoke. It's located in a once thriving Black neighborhood that was decimated in the 1950s and 1960s by discriminatory redlining and eminent domain. Last time on our show, BUZZ creator Michael Hemphill talked with E.B. Smith, the new executive director of the Harris...

BUZZ creator Michael Hemphill chats with E.B. Smith, the new executive director of the Harrison Museum of African-American Culture in Roanoke, Virginia. E.B. Smith just started the job at a moment of exciting transformation for the museum, which Is committed to promoting, showcasing, and celebrating the art and history of African Americans for Roanoke Valley citizens and visitors.

Today we're buzzing about Masterpiece Alliance, a Roanoke, Virginia nonprofit with a mission of building community for adults with intellectual disabilities. BUZZ creator Michael Hemphill speaks with Scott Habeeb, who founded Masterpiece AlliancA in part to help people like his daughter who struggle to make friends and find social connections once they graduate from high school. One place whe...

It's beginning to sound a lot like Christmas! In this episode of Buzz4Good! creator Michael Hemphill shares the recent Christmas concert by the Smith River Singers of Martinsville, Virginia – an incredible nonprofit community choir that we featured this fall on an episode of BUZZ .  On December 9, 2024, the Smith River Singers celebrated its 10th annual Christmas concert by performing "T...

BUZZ creator Michael Hemphill buzzes about coffee in today's Buzz4Good! Specifically, coffee from a Roanoke, Virginia, establishment that is brewed and served by adults with intellectual disabilities. A few years ago, Beth Woodrum founded Chris’ Coffee and Custard to help individuals like her son, Chris, who has Down Syndrome, find meaningful employment and community. Beth recently announced...

Why would we spend an entire show talking about diapers? Because diapers represent a whole lot more than just keeping a baby dry. So much so that there’s a Roanoke, Virginia nonprofit called Huddle Up Moms that just received among the largest grants ever awarded by the Roanoke Women’s Foundation: $100,000 to create a diaper bank for low-income moms and child caregivers in Southwest Virginia.  This...

Today we're buzzing about the Blue Ridge Holler hurricane relief concert, held Nov. 24, 2024, in Roanoke, Virginia. Coordinated by the nonprofit Friends of the Blue Ridge, the concert featured 18 different artists who donated their time and talent to raise money for Blue Ridge communities devastated by Hurricane Helene. On today's show we share some of the music from the Blue Ridge Holle...

On today's show, BUZZ creator Michael Hemphill buzzes about the Blue Ridge Holler , a concert series coordinated by the nonprofit FRIENDS of the Blue Ridge to raise funds for communities impacted by Hurricane Helene. We share details about the 10-day series and preview the music of some of the 18 different artists and bands who have generously agreed to donate their time and talent for the be...

On today's Buzz4Good, creator Michael Hemphill buzzes about a fantastic musical collaboration between two nonprofits: Friends of the Blue Ridge and the Glencoe Mason and Museum in Radford, Virginia. Called " The Glencoe Sessions ," this collaboration is the brainchild of Radford's own Addie Levy, a bluegrass phenom who now splits her time between her hometown and Nashville. The...

Buzz4Good creator Michael Hemphill checks in with a nonprofit that recently made a giant "leap" – pun intended – by opening a new market stocked with locally grown produce and foods in an underserved neighborhood in Roanoke, Virginia. The mission of LEAP, or Local Environmental Agriculture Project , is to create an equitable food and farming system which prioritizes health and abundance...

Today we’re buzzing about the nonprofit No Bounds , which provides educational resources and workforce training for individuals with intellectual disabilities. BUZZ creator Michael Hemphill talks with No Bounds' Aaron Hall, who shares the inspiring yet hard work they’re doing to give folks who suffer from autism, Down Syndrome and cerebral palsy the collegiate training and motivation they nee...

We get artsy on today's Buzz4Good as BUZZ creator Michael Hemphill features a couple of major upcoming events: an new and exciting Hispanic music and cultural series, and the release of a local literary journal that has international reach and includes work by our country’s past poet laureate. Listen as we share our conversations with The Spot on Kirk's Kat Pascal and John Pence as they...

Since 1974 the nonprofit RADAR has been providing the Roanoke Valley of Virginia with public transportation for folks who might otherwise be homebound due to disability or inability to own a vehicle. Today BUZZ creator Michael Hemphill chats with executive director Nathan Sanford on the eve of RADAR's 50th anniversary! His first question: what the heck does RADAR stand for? Are you a nonprofi...

Most local governments appreciate nonprofits' work, but keep them at arms' length when it comes to fundraising. Not so in Bedford County, Virginia, where its Parks & Recreation Department creates fantastic community events that directly benefit its nonprofit community. On today's Buzz4Good, host Michael Hemphill talks with Lee Wittekind, Bedford County's Outdoor Events and...

Today we are buzzing about nonprofit champion Bryan "Harvest Blaque" Hancock : spoken word artist phenom; hip hop musician extraordinaire; artist-in-residence at Carilion Clinic; youth development leader at Boys and Girls Clubs; writer/producer/director at the Hip Hop Lab at Jefferson Center; church deacon, DJ, and self-proclaimed supergeek. Bryan has starred in three episodes of BUZZ ....

Today we’re buzzing about three wildly different capital campaigns that received a lot of buzz this week: a new Y that is being built inside shopping mall ... a restoration project in a historic African American cemetery ... and a new shelter to better serve the homeless.  What do all three of these projects have in common? There’s all run by nonprofits! On today’s show BUZZ creator Michael Hemphi...

Today we’re buzzing about cats and caps: Cats as in the overpopulation of feral cats. BUZZ creator Michael Hemphill talks to a Salem, Virginia, nonprofit that works to trap and neuter feral cats and then find homes where their rodent control expertise can be put to good use. And caps as in those worn by high school graduates. Helping them afford the next step in their education journey is a New Ri...

Buzz4Good creator Michael Hemphill introduces perhaps the most famous Roanoke, Virginia, citizen you’ve never heard of: Edward Dudley, a pioneering civil rights lawyer who became the first African-American ambassador in United States history. So unknown is Ambassador Dudley’s remarkable life that even Roanoke’s preeminent historian, former mayor Nelson Harris, wasn’t aware of it until he began res...

In addition to BUZZ, creator Michael Hemphill also works for the nonprofit Friends of the Blue Ridge, which recently introduced him to the multi-talented Addie Levy . Addie headlined Friends of the Blue Ridge’s’ ON THE RISE concerts featuring up-and-coming Bluegrass sensations. After one concert, Addie shared that she’d formed a Nashville-based trio called Domino , and hoped to find a place to per...

There’s a lot of debate surrounding the legacy of slavery and segregation. Some may even question whether there’s still active racism. But if you happen to buzz down to Roanoke’s Taubman Museum of Art or Harrison Museum of African American Culture, you can see how discriminatory real estate practices from the past continue to impact Black Americans today. And that is due to a remarkable exhibit th...

We’re often told that time is money. And in our economy, we value some people’s time more than others. Try paying an attorney or pro athlete the same as a teacher or artist. But in the New River Valley of Virginia, there’s a nonprofit that values everyone’s time equally, regardless of their skills or education or expertise, as a way of building community and fostering human connection. The hour it...

For Roanoke, Virginia entrepreneur and philanthropist Ed Walker, economic development is as much about building community as it is building business. Walker's latest project is his most ambitious ... and the most transformative in Roanoke's recent history: revitalizing an old 100-acre site comprising 20+ buildings totaling a million square feet just 1.5 miles from downtown into Riverdale...

"It's always been like a slap in the face," says Glenna Moore about the Confederate soldier statue in front of the Franklin County, Virginia courthouse. In honor of Black History Month, BUZZ creator Michael Hemphill talks with Moore and Cathie Cummins of the local NAACP, who have fought county officials in vain for years to remove the statue. Now they've changed battlefield tac...

We're starting to celebrate the holiday season! Listen as Buzz4Good creator Michael Hemphill chats with two arts nonprofit leaders about the importance of Christmas performances for their annual budget: Ginger Poole of Mill Mountain Theatre , and Kim Davidson of the Roanoke Valley Children’s Choir . Also, we're buzzing about bringing our TV show BUZZ to Alabama Public Television ! In pre...