Category: News

  • CKD 2026: a Rousing Success!

    CKD 2026: a Rousing Success!

    Despite the flip-flopping of the weather forecast (due to a nor’easter that drifted further west than originally anticipated) and the occasional sprinkle, over 400 children attended this year’s Celebrate Kids Day hosted by Warren Coalition on September 27th! The organizers were well-prepared for the crowd, thanks to the Senior Center generously allowing the Coalition to use their space, in addition to the 15th Street Gym and surrounding grounds. The Coalition also added a barrel train and an expanded petting zoo provided by Big D’s Pony Rides, and hosted a total of six inflatables, five of which were supplied by Incredible Inflatables.

    Attendees painted all 200 pumpkins, and even better, remembered to pick them up at the end of the day! They also took full advantage of free face painting and collected stamps at various games that they then used to claim prizes.  There were even performances by students from All-Star Legacy Cheer, Dance & Arts VA, and Jig ‘n’ Jive Dance Studio.

    The event brought together more than 20 vendors, agencies, and nonprofits from the local area, and put 11 individuals in the infamous “Pitch Burst.” Those individuals raised funds for the “honor” of sitting under 11-inch water balloons, with a friendly competition to see who could raise the most. Kevin Brooks won the Fundraising Championship title this year, bringing in $2,015, while Sheriff Crystal Cline took second place with $1,525. (After the event, Kevin obtained a final donation of $235 from the Auto Care Clinic, bringing his total to $2,250 and getting the Coalition to the $7,500 goal for the fundraiser!)

    “We are thrilled with how this year’s event went,” said Celeste Brooks, Deputy Director of the Warren Coalition. “Things flowed smoothly, because we had wonderful volunteers who were willing to step in and fill gaps wherever needed.”

    “I definitely had some periods where I got a little choked up thinking about what we truly accomplish with CKD,” said Warren Coalition Executive Director Christa Shifflett. “The prizes are structured so that kids have to keep trying, work toward a goal and then feel the joy of accomplishment, which I got to witness a couple of times! Children come out and perform, which gets them positive reinforcement while building confidence and maybe creating interest in other kids to sign up. And we have resources available for parents so they can get their kids more involved in the community.”

    “We couldn’t have done this event without our sponsors,” Brooks added. “There is no grant paying for Celebrate Kids Day. It is a day that is completely funded by local businesses and organizations.” This year’s sponsors included:

    • Giles B. Cook American Legion Post 53 (Inflatables & Pumpkins)
    • City National Bank (Petting Zoo)
    • Front Royal Dental Care (Event)
    • Rotary Club of Warren County (Train)
    • Northwestern Community Services Board (Inflatables & Promotions)
    • Kiwanis Club of Front Royal (DJ)
    • Front Royal/Warren County Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #33 (Smile Maker)
    • Warren County VA Sheriff’s Office Foundation (Smile Maker)

    In-kind gifts were also provided by the Shawnee Farm Market, The River 95.3, National Media Services, and Play Favorites.

  • $5,000 MATCH CHALLENGE TO SUPPORT WARREN COUNTY CHILDREN ON GIVE LIKE DOLLY DAY

    $5,000 MATCH CHALLENGE TO SUPPORT WARREN COUNTY CHILDREN ON GIVE LIKE DOLLY DAY

    Warren County, Va. — In celebration of the first annual Dollywood Foundation’s Give Like Dolly Day on  September 25, the Warren Coalition announces a matching gift of up to $5,000 to support HALO (Helping All  Little Ones) Read, Warren County’s local Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library program partner, which provides  monthly books to more than 400 children in Warren County.

    Dolly Parton founded the Imagination Library in 1995 in honor of her father, who could not read or write. The program provides registered children from birth to age five with a free, age-appropriate book mailed directly to their homes each month. Local program affiliates like the Warren Coalition raise funds and build community support to cover the cost of mailing the books.

    Support HALO read and give like dolly!

    “Dolly understood that something as simple as putting a book into a child’s hands can change a life,” said Warren Coalition’s Celeste Brooks. Locally, the Town of Front Royal recognizes September 25 as Dollars for Dolly Day, and is launching a community-wide initiative encouraging residents to honor Dolly’s example of generosity by supporting causes meaningful to them.

    The giving initiative will extend beyond September 25 through DollarsForDolly.com, a website sponsored by the Rotary Club of the Northern Shenandoah Valley and launching on Friday, September 25. Both the website and the broader Dollars for Dolly campaign will highlight the $5,000 HALO Read match, along with other local fundraising efforts inspired by Dolly Parton’s legacy, and will continue through Giving Tuesday on December 1, 2026. 

    Rotary has a connection to the Imagination Library’s presence in Warren County.  In 2020, an $18,000 Rotary District 7570 matching grant helped bring the program back to the community through a collaborative effort among the Rotary Clubs of Front Royal, Warren County and the Northern Shenandoah Valley, in partnership with the Warren Coalition and Warren County Public Schools.

    Beth Medved Waller spearheaded that effort as a charter member and former president of the Rotary Club of  the Northern Shenandoah Valley. She is personally funding the $5,000 match as part of the Rotary-supported  effort, in recognition of her longtime passion for the Imagination Library and in gratitude for the real estate  clients whose trust makes her charitable giving possible. 

    “I’m honored to be part of this Dolly-inspired effort to raise funds for a program I first learned about on the day my son was born—which, coincidentally, was September 25, 2003,” Waller said. “Some of my favorite memories are of reading Imagination Library books at bedtime with my kids.”

    visit dollarsfordolly.com

    “You don’t have to make a large donation to make a difference,” Waller added. “Give $5. Give $9.25 in honor of September 25. Give $25. Give whatever you can, and invite friends to do the same. When dollars are joined together, dreams can come true in the lives of children here and beyond.”

    Community members may donate directly to HALO Read at HALORead.com. Donations will be matched dollar-for-dollar by Waller until the $5,000 matching commitment has been reached.

    Through DollarsForDolly.com, local nonprofits and community organizations can register their efforts, and residents can discover participating causes and follow links directly to each organization’s official donation page.

    Dollars for Dolly does not collect or process donations. Dollars for Dolly Day launches September 25, “Give Like Dolly Day” and continues locally through Giving Tuesday, December 1.

    HOW TO HELP

    Learn about Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library: ImaginationLibrary.com

    Donate to Warren County’s Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library through HALO Read program: HALORead.com

    Learn about continued donations through December 1, 2026 : DollarsForDolly.com

    HALO Read is administered by the Warren Coalition and provides enrolled Warren County children from birth through age five with one free, age-appropriate book mailed directly to their home each month. All donations go to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.

  • A Brand That Encompasses All We Do

    A Brand That Encompasses All We Do

    As we celebrated our 30th anniversary in 2024, it became clear that we had once again outgrown our mission, vision, and logo, as we no longer served only the youth and teens of Warren County. We were serving everyone from infants to the elderly, and our brand needed to reflect that.

    Vision:

    A resilient, healthy community.

    Mission:

    Empowering Warren County through education, awareness, and prevention, creating a resilient, healthy community.

    Pillars:

    • Leadership
    • Education
    • Awareness
    • Hope
    • Support
    • Collaboration

    As we re-examined ourselves and our place in Warren County, our focus returned again and again to resilience and hope. While we have continued to focus on drug education and building awareness in the community, we have also learned the importance building resilience in our children, their families, and our community, and we have been implementing that philosophy into our work for more than six years.

    Wellness, resilience, and hope came through as themes that the Coalition now embodies. They are important for the children we want to equip to avoid substance use, and the adults we support as they embark on their recovery journey.

    Thus our new vision, mission, and logo were developed. Rather than a drug-free community, we now focus on building a healthy, resilient community, one able to overcome the challenges of today’s world.

    The lifted hands in our new logo continue representing the care and support we provide to our community, but they now raise up a radiant star of hope for all ages, pointing towards a bright future for the Coalition and Warren County.

  • Annual Awards 2026

    Annual Awards 2026

    A crowd of Warren Coalition staff, members, and guests gathered at the Warren County Community Center on July 30th for the Annual Luncheon and Awards, where Dr. Matthew Rosario, Joyce Jenkins-Wimmer, and Coalition Secretary Holly Goode were among those honored.

    Warren Coalition Executive Director Christa Shifflett presents Holly Goode with a pin recognizing her as the Coalition Member of the Year.

    Holly was recognized as the Coalition Member of the Year for going above and beyond in her service to the organization, outside her duties as the secretary. Throughout the year, Holly consistently volunteered at events, attended fundraising meetings, and even gave her time to writing personal thank-you notes to donors. She also supported fundraising efforts with gifts and sponsorships.

    Warren Coalition Executive Director Christa Shifflett presents Joyce Jenkins-Wimmer with an inscribed clock recognizing Joyce's contributions to the Coalition over the past 17 years.

    Joyce was honored for 17 years of service to the Coalition. During her tenure, she ran the College Access Network, helping parents and students understand the college application and financial aid process, and the MORE (My Opportunity for Reinforcement and Enrichment) after‑school initiative, designed to provide youth with structured, positive activities and support to promote safety, health, and personal growth.  Since 2020, Joyce has been the coordinator for HALO (Helping All Little Ones) Read, the name of the Coalition program affiliated with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. Under her guidance, the program has served more than 875 children.

    After two Warren Coalition staff members and one board member narrowed down the nominees to three, Linda and William Funk (Larry’s wife and son, respectively) selected the final winner of the Larry M. Funk Memorial Award for Outstanding Service to Children in Warren County: Dr. Matthew Rosario. He was nominated by Tiffany Halliday.

    Warren Coalition Executive Director Christa Shifflett presents Dr. Matthew Rosario with the write-up of his nomination for the Larry M. Funk Memorial Award for Outstanding Service to Children in Warren County.

    “Dr. Matthew Rosario has demonstrated a strong and ongoing commitment to supporting children and youth throughout Warren County through mentorship, athletics, behavioral health advocacy, community outreach, and educational support initiatives,” she wrote in her nomination.

    While Dr. Rosario serves children through his practice, ClearHorizon Forensic & Counseling Group, Tiffany’s nomination demonstrated that he does even more beyond his office walls.

    “Dr. Rosario has supported local youth athletics through the sponsorship of sports teams and community-based youth activities. He has also served as a coach for the Skyline High School track team, where he has mentored student-athletes both on and off the field by encouraging discipline, perseverance, teamwork, and positive goal-setting,” she wrote.

    His nomination goes on to say “Dr. Rosario has also contributed directly to youth engagement through community outreach and mentorship initiatives designed to encourage confidence, accountability, leadership, and personal growth. His work emphasizes creating safe and supportive environments where youth feel seen, heard, and empowered.

    “Through his practice, ClearHorizon Forensic & Counseling Group and the ClearHorizon Foundation (501c3 nonprofit organization), he has awarded grants and provided support to local organizations that offer educational programs, mentorship opportunities, youth enrichment activities, and community-based services that positively impact children and adolescents across Warren County.”

    “I don’t get emotional, but that…that really got me emotional,” Dr. Rosario said, referring to the nomination Christa had read a moment earlier. He shared a little about his childhood, sharing that his experiences were what motivated him and allowed him to connect with kids. “How can I play poems? So understanding that this is a lot for me right now. I was like, whoa, I didn’t realize we’re doing so much stuff, but understanding that we’re doing things out of passionate care, to understand that we are about the people and about the community.”

    “We do this as a community,” he explained. “We do this to uplift one another. Children are having a huge disparity of mental health. Unfortunately, I don’t work with the adults. I only work with children, but understand that alone in the past three months, I have worked with over 20 kids in Warren County who are on substances. It is an upbringing. It’s an uprising. We have to be careful with our children, with our youth, understanding that substance use is not just affecting adults, but it’s now affecting our children. It’s affecting the generation because they don’t understand how to cope with their life stressors.”

    In addition to the previously listed awards, Christa shared that the Coalition had intended to honor Lauren Foltz, who has been the youth representative to the Coalition board for more than two years. Lauren was unfortunately unable to attend the event, so the award will be presented at a later date.

    During the luncheon, President Nick Croft, Vice President Michelle Smeltzer, and Secretary Holly Goode were also honored for perfect attendance at meetings throughout the year.

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  • Warren Coalition Receives HCAT Grant

    Warren Coalition Receives HCAT Grant

    Warren Coalition has been named a recipient for a new three-year grant from Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth (VFHY) (https://vfhy.org/)! VFHY grant funding provides infrastructure support to build and sustain Healthy Communities Action Teams (HCATs). Warren Coalition refers to their program as Project WAHOO (Working to Achieve Healthy Outcomes and Opportunities), which is a community effort to prevent and reduce childhood obesity. This is the fifth consecutive time the Coalition has been awarded an HCAT grant.

    HCATs work collaboratively to implement policy, systems and environmental (PSE) changes that support at least one of eight healthy behaviors which can prevent and reduce childhood obesity:

    1. Breastfeeding
    2. Eating More Fruits and Veggies
    3. Reducing Consumption of Ultra-Processed Foods
    4. Moving More
    5. Decreasing Screen Time
    6. Getting Enough Sleep
    7. Reducing Stress with Increased Mindfulness
    8. Decreasing Consumption of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages

    Warren Coalition was awarded $120,000 ($40,000 per year for three years) to fund projects and programs between May 1, 2026 and June 30, 2029. These include the SPARK (Sports, Play and Active Recreation for Kids) program and intramurals in partner schools, to increase exercise. Through partnerships with Reaching Out Now, the Community Garden, and Debbie’s Lighthouse, the grant will support local community gardens and community meals designed to promote healthy eating. Youth Unplugged Parties and Warren County Unplugged activities organized under this grant will encourage students to reduce screen time.

    Over the next three years, funding will also go towards new built environments at E. Wilson Morrison Elementary School, Hilda J. Barbour Elementary School, Warren County High School and/or the Santmyers Student Union. Skyline Middle School, Warren County Parks and Recreation, and Reaching Out Now will also receive financial support to purchase exercise equipment. In addition to all of this, funds will support the Safe at Home tournaments and the Coalition’s Health Video Contest for middle school students.

    Past projects funded in part by the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth HCAT grants over the past 12 years have included the splash pad, the basketball court and exercise course at Rockland Park, the basketball court at Skyline Middle School, playground equipment at the Soccerplex and Thompson’s Park and Ride, pickleball nets, a portable frisbee golf course for the 4-H Center, and much more.

    A full list of HCAT recipients can be found at https://vfhy.org/healthy-communities-action-teams-grants/.

    About Warren Coalition

    Warren Coalition is a nonprofit agency established in 1994 to help fill the gaps in health care and substance misuse awareness to the community. The Coalition began under the guidance of Warren Memorial Hospital as an outreach project, but it has since grown and was incorporated in 2001.  The office is currently located in the Warren County Community Center.  Their mission is to make Warren County a safe, healthy, and drug free community through many programs and in collaboration with member agencies and businesses.

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