Service to my community is my why. It has shaped our business mission statement and it drives my decisions. How can I do the most good for others often allows me to decide what committee to give time to and what non-profit to support. The one organization that does it better than any other, the one that allows me to serve your community and mine and serve those around the world, is Rotary International. So I want to invite you to come to learn more about Rotary on June 7th from 5 pm – 7 pm at Beyond Restaurant.
Service to your community, with Rotary, starts with weekly meetings to build deep friendships while learning more about the community. Each week we have speakers join us to talk about a topic, often are area non-profit, that is also doing good. These weekly meetings are important to build the community among members so when it comes time to do a service project, such as hosting the Harrisonburg Soap Box Derby, we join together not just as Rotarians, but as friends.
I am proud to be a Rotarian and would be proud to invite you to our meeting to learn more. If our weekly Tuesday morning breakfast club is not the right fit for your schedule there are other incredible groups. We often join forces in the valley and team up with other Rotary Clubs to have an even bigger impact.
Our club has helped support some amazing efforts across the valley and around the world. From the Harrisonburg Soap Box Derby to PurMadi to supporting First Step to picking up trash along Rt 42, we work hard together to do good.
When the war started Rotarians immediately sprung into action and started feeding people. The train workers did not leave their posts for a full month as they volunteered to help evacuate and Rotarians provided hot meals to the workers. They also were delivering food and heaters to bomb shelters. They had to use small vans because large trucks could not navigate the broken roads. In Kyiv, they worked hard to distribute medicine and supplies to the elderly that could not leave their homes. Many Rotarians started taking in pets that were left behind to the point where their homes appeared to be small zoos. They also worked to set up shelters in schools for those displaced, setting up sleeping and eating areas. Rotarians also started setting up water filter systems as the public water distribution systems are destroyed and wells are contaminated.
The Rotary Clubs in Ukraine have added members since the war started as they continue to recruit others that want to put #serviceaboveself. Their Rotary Club committee members meet daily to be able to have a rapid response to needs. The clubs are purchasing medical vehicles, generators, and fire trucks using Rotary Grant funds.
There are 62 Rotary clubs in Ukraine and membership is growing.
You can sponsor a family relocating to the USA HERE.
We are honored to be nominated in the Daily News Record Best of the Valley contest in several categories and humbly ask for your support by casting a vote for Gaines Group Architects. There are many awesome companies on the list and we understand that you will have a hard time deciding who gets your vote. Voting is easy after all, just click this link and go to each of our categories. You can vote every day from May 7 until May 14th in round one. You have all the power to move us on to Round 2!
The categories we have been nominated for Best of the Valley include:
We don’t do home improvements but we plan for them. Without a solid plan in advance of starting your home improvements you are bound to run into unexpected challenges and the details likely will not fall perfectly in place. We work hard to understand materials, building science, structural capacities, and trends to help guide you to just the right solution to meet your goals. We also created this helpful resource tool for people thinking about building a custom home to make it more fun. We work hard to help you achieve your dream home, after all, #designmatters.
We think being the best company to work for might be hard for you to judge since you probably don’t work for us – after all, there are only 12 of us and there are millions and millions of you reading our blog posts. So here are some fun facts about working here. We have 200+ years of combined experience. The average tenure of employees at the firm is over 15 years (this includes Annie that has been here since January) showing people love to stay here. We have fun celebrating each other. We celebrate birthdays, holidays, donut day, and even pizza day. We volunteer together in the community. We like being the best at things, so why not be the best place to work. Last – we create coloring books for our projects, what could be more fun than that?
We think having the best artists, food, and building for a gallery automatically makes us the Best Gallery Space! Come on, it is the Depot after all. I don’t think there is a cooler building in town, of course, I am a little biased about being in love with this building. We put out a massive array of food and drinks for our guests each month. Most important, we have the coolest artists exhibiting in our space which is really the point – to support local artists. Many of our artists have exhibited for the first time in our gallery. We don’t charge a gallery fee, we pay for all the food and drink, and we invite over 1,000 people to attend each month. We also have our own parking lot. So other than being 1/4 mile from court square, I cannot think of a reason why we are not the best Gallery in Rocktown.
Many exciting projects are underway, and our team is tackling both our design work while deepening our community involvement. Being a Gaines Group team member is a dynamic role, we are challenged to do our very best to serve our clients through design while also growing connections within our communities. Balancing professional and community work can be a difficult task, but it is widely modeled and valued amongst our team.
Our team recently enjoyed supporting the annual Fore the Flames Golf Tournament benefiting Eastern Mennonite School at Heritage Oaks Golf Course. The fresh air and change of scenery allowed us a wonderful day of building connections with our community, team building, and most importantly, having fun! As an event sponsor, we had a great time gathering a team to golf as well as overseeing the refreshment cart and checking on participants. It was a wonderful day well-spent amongst many of our community partners and friends.
In addition to supporting the golf tournament, we recently volunteered to judge the annual Lego Expo Event at Explore More Discovery Museum. This year’s theme was creating Lego models of “transportation” and it was a rewarding experience judging their creations. The little minds sure did come up with big ideas and we loved supporting our budding innovators!
Gaines Group Architect Paul was spotlighted this month for his involvement in coaching soccer and supporting his daughter’s girl scout troop in Charlottesville. Below is a picture of Paul with his family and an article highlighting their community involvement.
Paul was recognized by the “Southside Neighbors” publication for his family’s community involvement.
Amongst the many projects coming down the pipeline, Charles also found time this month to partner with Carpenters Guild, Give Solar, and the Shenandoah Valley Black Heritage Project to do an energy audit. The collaboration between these community partners helped move critical projects forward at this important community site. Charles continues to model community engagement and service to the rest of our team. Not pictured but worth mentioning, he also volunteered his time supporting both a Sustainability Summit at Mary Baldwin and a Career Fair at Harrisonburg High School.
This month also featured the launch of a project supported by Charles along with industry friends Julie Foley and Hana Nguyenky and Caitlin Morgan called Emerge AEC. This effort is designed to connect emerging professionals throughout the architecture, engineering, and construction industries through education, mentorship, and networking. The effort grew out of Charles’ pandemic zoom networking sessions for emerging professionals.
Lastly, we recently gathered (almost) all the Gaines Group team between the Charlottesville and Harrisonburg offices for the first time since the pandemic. In honor of Adrienne passing her Architecture Registration Exams, we celebrated over lunch and enjoyed seeing each other outside of our Zoom screens. As we reflect on this busy month filled with exciting new projects and opportunities to engage with our community, we are filled with gratitude and anticipation.
We love seeing diverse and fun events happen in the Valley and are always looking for ways to support them. The first Annual Shenandoah Comic and Toy show is exactly the kind of event we love to see happening in the Valley. Of course, Charles has an ever growing classic toy collection and he is eager to attend this event, but outside of that excitement, we know the valley is a perfect place for families and adding events like this solidifies that reputation. We hope you will consider attending and check out what this event is all about. We especially encourage you to check out Stronge Designs and their incredible graphic art work. Andrew Stronge is a former First Friday artist, and together with his wife (and fellow Gaines Group architect) Adrienne, they have been integral in planning this event.
The event will be held this Saturday at the Fair Grounds with VIP entrance beginning at 10am and ending at 4:30pm. Kids tickets are free with the purchase of an adult ticket and we encourage families to come enjoy the fun. There is an exciting line-up of vendors and the organizers are hopeful the Shenandoah Comic and Toy Show will become an area tradition. To learn more about the vendors and grab your ticket, visit the event website here.
Stronge Designs will be selling original graphic art work.
The Shenandoah Valley Black Heritage Project (SVBH) is a non-profit organization in Harrisonburg that exists to recover and share resources on African American history in the Shenandoah Valley. The impactful work put forth by these community members is coordinated and housed in the Shenandoah Valley Black Heritage Center located on Hill St. in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The Gaines Group partnered with SVBH in their efforts to improve the environmental stability of their building by completing an energy audit. This complimentary service helped identify areas that can be modified to reduce energy usage and increase the overall efficiency of the building.
Charles with members of the Carpenters Guild talking through improvements to Shenandoah Valley Black Heritage Center.
After identifying areas of improvement, the Carpenter’s Guild of Harrisonburg donated their time and efforts to making energy-efficiency improvements and preparing the roof to install solar panels. Give Solar is promoting fundraising efforts to support the entirety of this project which includes the installation of solar panels. If you are interested in supporting this project, please visit their website to learn more about these efforts.
Members of the Carpenters Guild of Harrisonburg worked to make energy-related improvements.
Energy audits are a free service and a great opportunity to support organizations such as SVBH who are doing important work in our community. We have experience providing these audits in numerous homes, non-profit organizations, and various churches in our surrounding areas. We want everyone to feel comfortable in their living or working spaces and cut down on the overpayment of energy bills. Reach out if you or your organization are interested in this free service!
Our last collaboration with Give Solar and the Carpenter’s Guild resulted in a more energy-efficient building at Our Community Place in Harrisonburg. This pro-bono work benefits the community by lowering the monthly utility bills of area non-profits making them more sustainable and our community more resilient.
