VMRC community engagement reflects heritage

 
Core values create a foundation for an organization’s mission and purpose. Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community embraces its heritage, one of its core values: We are Christ-centered, rooted in our Anabaptist heritage of stewardship, service, justice and compassion.

“As part of VMRC’s vision to be a destination for those who want to age well in vibrant, authentic community, we offer purposeful service and volunteer opportunities for residents and employees,” said Judith Trumbo, president and CEO of VMRC. “This coupled with our commitment to funding compassion care for those who deplete their resources is what underframes VMRC as a community of hope, meaning and growth. We are committed to increasing our compassion endowment, serving our community in meaningful ways and offering employees opportunities for ongoing growth.”

VMRC partners with local nonprofits for staff and residents to serve in the local community by:

• Delivering meals to seniors in our neighborhood through Meals on Wheels
• Participating in United Way’s Day of Caring involving residents along with staff when possible
• Offering GrandBigs opportunities for residents to be a “Big” to an elementary student in conjunction with Big Sisters Big Brothers of Rockingham County
• Engaging with local middle school students from immigrant and refugees families through a pen pal exchange. This allows students to practice their glish language skills. More than 20 VMRC residents and students participated in the 2019-2020 school year— the second year of the program.
• Providing 48,852 hours of service valued at $1.2 million to VMRC.
• Volunteering more than 7,800 hours of service to 50 different area nonprofits

“We give organizations who approach us about potential partnership ideas a questionnaire so that we can glean from the start what some of their goals, timelines, group size, ideas, etc. are—and to determine if we have the capacity to take on a specific request, and most importantly, whether it aligns with VMRC’s vision,” said Emily Young, manager of VMRC’s Volunteer Services. “We seek to promote wellbeing in all of its dimensions and desire to develop positive partnerships with local organizations and schools.”