The Community Outreach committee is busy again planning more project for 2025!  

 
Heritage Park project in Andrews.  The committee was able to secure an NAR, Level 2 Placemaking Grant for $7,500.  The Town of Andrews has agreed to match this amount and the estimate quote is right at $18,000 total.  We will be working along side the town maintenance crew to build four (4) picnic shelters.  These will be covered shelters place at Heritage Park that will include picnic tables and garbage cans.  A sample of the project is below.  Keep an eye out on your emails as we will need volunteers to help.  We are looking at the end of August for a timeline but the details have not been completed yet.
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Murphy Boat Ramp project downtown Murphy.  The committee has applied for a NC Housing Foundation Grant in the amount of $2,000 to build a picnic area at the boat ramp.  Once we have more information on this project, we will keep you posted.

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5th Annual Sock Drive - This will be our 5th year and hopefully our best yet.  We collect new, unworn socks for different organizations in our 3 county area.  This drive is held in the fall so that we can get socks delivered to the organizations before Thanksgiving.  We hope that you will support this worthy cause with lots of socks!  
 
Gala of Giving -  The anticipated date of the event this year is Thursday, November 20th.  We have confirmed that Leigh Brown will be attending as our Auctioneer!  The event last year was a great success and we learned a lot.  We have plans for a bigger, better event with some upgrades.  This event is the main fundraiser for both our Community Outreach committee and Scholarship Fund.  If you have items that can be auctioned to raise money, we would love to have you reach out to us.

2024

 
Gala of Giving -  The date has been set - Thursday, December 5th at the Hackney Warehouse!  The event last year was a great success and we learned a lot.  We have plans for a bigger, better event with some upgrades.  This event is the main fundraiser for both our Community Outreach committee and Scholarship Fund.  If you have some items that can be auctioned to raise money, we would love to have you reach out to us.  Completed October 2024!   We raised over $7,000 this year!  All of the monies collected will be divided between our Scholarship & Community Outreach Fund.  Thank you to everyone who donated an item, attended and bid on those items
 
4th Annual Sock Drive - This will be our 4th year and hopefully our best yet.  We collect new, unworn socks for different organizations in our 3 county area.  This drive is held in the fall so that we can get socks delivered to the organizations before Thanksgiving.  We hope that you will support this worthy cause with lots of socks!  Completed October 2024!   We were able to collect over 2,000 pairs of socks and made donations to 6 local organizations in 3 counties.
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Delivery from Nantahala Bank

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Picking up from Adventure Realty

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Picking up from BIG Realty

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Picking up from Poltrock Team Office 

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Picking up from United Community Bank

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Picking up from Appalachian Land Company

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Picking up from Remax Town & Country - Murphy Office

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Delivery from Steven Aft/State Farm

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Boxes were Full!

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Packed Boxes ready for Delivery

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Packed Boxes ready for Delivery


Shred Event -  We plan on making this a large community event with the help of some of our affiliates.  The date is set for Friday, October 4th from 11:00am to 2:00pm at the L&N Depot.  In order to make this more of a community event, we will also have Smoke Detectors, Weather Radios and batteries as part of the event.  We also plan on having a Food Truck during this time, so you can come by and grab lunch as well.  We will incorporate the Sock Drive into this event as well.  As we get the details worked out, we will keep you updated.  Completed October 2024!


Senior Needs Drive - This drive will be for the month of July & we need your help!  Help us to provide items to Homebound Seniors in Cherokee, Clay and Graham Counties.  In Cherokee County, there are over 100 seniors unable to get out of their homes.  Volunteers making meal deliveries are sometimes the only people they see. Items will be collected and delivered to the county Nutrition Sites.  We have set up an Amazon Wish List and a QR code for easier shopping, just click on the name.  Completed August 2024!

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Pick up from Carolina Mountain Homes!

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Thank You Nantahala Bank!

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Pick up from Sonja Silver Realty!

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Pick up from Remax T&C - Murphy!

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Packing Crew!

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Delivery to Clay County!

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Delivery to Penland Senior Center - Cherokee County

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Delivery to Graham County!

 

Snacks for Students Drive - North Carolina has one of the highest percentages of childhood hunger in the country.  Teachers across the state are using their own funds to help provide snacks for their students, so the Committee decided to help.  We will be collecting single serving snacks during the month of March to be distributed to elementary schools in Cherokee, Clay, Graham counties along with Nantahala School.  Please consider making a donation to any of the drop off locations.  We have also created an Amazon Wish List where you can purchase items and they will be delivered to the Board office.  Completed March 2024!

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Snacks are Coming In!

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Thank You - State Farm & Steven Aft

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Snacks are Coming In!

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Snacks are Coming In!

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Picking up from Big Realty

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Picking up from Appalachian Land Company

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Picking up from Old Town Brokers

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Packing Boxes was so much Fun!

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Loading Vehicles for Day 1 of Delivery

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Loading Vehicles for Day 1 of Delivery 

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Delivery to Murphy Head Start

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Delivery to Murphy Elementary

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Delivery to Andrews Elementary

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Delivery to Martin's Creek Elementary

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Delivery to Hiwassee Dam School

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Delivery to Nantahala School

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Delivery to Ranger School

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Delivery to Robbinsville Elementary

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Cancelled for this year - Community Garden - This is a project will be a collaboration between Mountain Lakes Board of Realtors, Hiwassee Dam School and the Hiwassee Dam Senior Center.  We have received support and approval from Cherokee County Commissioners & Hiwassee Dam Volunteer Fire Department to place this new garden in front of the fire station.  While we were waiting on some further paperwork from the county, we went ahead and applied for a Level 2 Placemaking Grant from the National Association of REALTORS®.  On February 21, 2024 we were notified that we have been approved for this grant in the total amount of $7,499!  The committee is currently waiting on the paperwork to be completed with the county and have started the planning on getting this project built.  If you are interested in volunteering, we use our sign-up sheet to give us an idea on where you would be willing to help.  We will need volunteers of all kinds so please don't be shy.  


Please feel free to reach out to any of the committee members or the staff of Mountain Lakes for more information.

Community Outreach Committee
Donna Srabian, Chairperson
828-557-5070 | donna.srabian61@gmail.com
 
Christy Moore
(706) 455-2624 | cmmoore216@gmail.com
 
Chrissy Sidler
(321) 890-3143 | chrissy@homesmurphync.com
 
Deanna Robertson
(321) 508-0503 | deanna.ncrealtor@gmail.com
 
Paige McKnight
(828) 557-1234 | isellmountains@gmail.com
 
Amanda Dockery
(828) 361-6793 | amandadockery@gmail.com
Melanie Bauer
(706) 229-6904 | bauerluxuryrealty@gmail.com
 
Taylor Gremli
(828) 644-4002 | taylor.gremli@allentate.com
 
Lisa Buchanan
(479) 531-1165 | lisa@autumnritz.com
 
Angelica Kirkpatrick
(828) 735-5669 | info@kirkpatrickrealtync.com
 
Kate Simmons, Association Executive
(828) 837-5297 | staff@mtnlakesbor.com