January ‘22 Update
New Pinwheel Branch in Murphy
God has been at work for a long time to prepare us to start an extension branch of Pinwheel in Murphy, NC. Here are few glimpses into how He has paved the way.
Location
Mountain View Church, the church that is hosting Pinwheel Murphy, has been supportive of Pinwheel for years & even looked into starting a branch when they were still located in Peachtree. Since that time, they merged with Murphy Bible Church, which has an amazing facility including a massive downstairs area that couldn’t be more perfect to host Pinwheel! There are kids’ rooms, a huge teen room, an amazing kitchen & gathering area, an outdoor playground area & even an indoor slide! Mountain View has offered us free use of their facility as well as offering to run our background checks through their system!
Justin Daugherty & Lauren Goins outside our Pinwheel Murphy location, Mountain View Church!
Community Support
Next up, Murphy Elementary principal, Dane Rickett, was the principal at Andrews Elementary when Pinwheel started! He saw & measured progress of the students who attended our program & can vouch for the educational & behavioral impact of our one-on-one tutoring. We couldn’t ask for a more supportive principal! He and Allison, his assistant principal, already have resources lined up to help our tutors target student’s personal academic needs & are helping us get the word out in the community.
We can’t wait to meet the students Murphy Elementary refers to Pinwheel!
Other allies in the Murphy community include several churches as well as leaders from the Big Brothers Big Sisters Murphy chapter! God has gone before us to prepare their hearts to support a program such as Pinwheel.
Seasoned Volunteers & Leaders
Last, but certainly not least, is the fact that since the first semester of Pinwheel, we have had volunteers from Hanging Dog, Brasstown, Murphy & Blairsville willing to drive 20-40 minutes each way to tutor a student each week. Many of these tutors also ran a camp week called Camp Cherokee several summers in a row investing even more time & love into our students’ families.
A picture from our first tutor training in March of 2016.
Around a dozen of these volunteers who have been investing in Pinwheel for years have already committed to helping Pinwheel Murphy get off the ground, including our Murphy director, Lauren Goins!
God has done so much to prepare the way & pull things together. We are excited to see what He has in store for the Murphy Pinwheel branch!
If you are interested in tutoring, signing up to pray for a student, or donating supplies, there is more information on the Pinwheel Tutoring main page.