Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1238166
WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM 14 UCW APRIL 22-28, 2020 Thursday, June 4, 2020 6PM - 10PM Heavy Hors d'oeuvres | Desserts | Dancing www.mkt.com/the-care-clinic For More Information Cape Fear Botanical Garden 536 N. Eastern Blvd, Fayetteville NC 28301 $75 PER PERSON - In Advance $100 PER PERSON - AT the Door The CARE Clinic is a 501(c)(3) Organization 910.485.0555 WWW.THECARECLINIC.ORG Get Your Tickets Today 20 ƀ Annual EDUCATION Every day for the past few weeks, we've all awak- ened to a new way of life. We continue to navigate our days with modified lifestyles, including staying at home as much as possible to protect ourselves and others during this COVID-19 pandemic. Over the past weeks, I have found myself often being reminded about the incredible accomplishments that are occurring as a result of everyone mov- ing together in harmony to follow the important health and safety guidelines currently in place. This spirit of comradery and teamwork seems to make things that are heavy feel much lighter and things that are rough feel much smoother. It's always good to focus on positivity and look for opportunities to help us strike a healthy balance between optimism and the realities we face, and now is a time for us to stay connected to some- thing positive in our lives. At Fayetteville Technical Community College — even during this pandemic, our faculty and staff members have not stopped performing their jobs to continue the mission of our college: to serve our community as a learning-centered institution to build a globally competitive workforce supporting economic development. I am very proud of our faculty and staff who share the belief that educa- tion changes lives in positive ways and continue to effectively serve our students through distance education to prepare students for their futures. FTCC ended the first week of April with two great pieces of news: 1.) The college provided thousands of items of personal protective equipment to Cape Fear Valley Health System and donated gloves to the North Carolina State Veterans Home, and 2.) the college was awarded a $961,200 grant by the Golden LEAF Foundation to renovate and equip an existing space into a dedicated simulation suite for training nursing students. The Golden LEAF grant will help FTCC train more nurses and represents a wonderful opportunity for FTCC to contribute sig- nificantly to our community by increasing access to high-quality healthcare — a vital area whose importance has been highlighted during this pan- demic. Our healthcare providers are the heroes working the front lines, and we thank them most sincerely and are very proud of them. The pandemic is a crisis situation unlike any- thing we've experienced before — certainly not in recent years. It's important for us all to remain optimistic and follow up with positive actions. It is uplifting to see how this experience is bringing us closer together, not only in our local communi- ties but also across the globe. Even though some of the news stories now may cause anxiety and uncertainty, we have opportunities to balance our mental health and awareness by staying con- nected to something positive. At the heart of our mission at FTCC lies an important objective, to remain — during good times and difficult times — the smart choice for education. As we continue to navigate life each day with new challenges, we at Fayetteville Technical Community College stand committed to serving you and thank you for this privilege. Staying connected to something positive — online education at FTCC by LARRY KEEN The spirit of comradery and teamwork seems to make things that are heavy feel lighter. DR. LARRY KEEN, FTCC president. COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomingweekly. com. 910-484-6200.