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SV Concerned Citizens give back to community

PHOTO PROVIDED From left are Sugar Valley Fire Chief Chris Miller, Sugar Valley Concerned Citizens President Carla McElwain, and Yvonne Weaver, Sugar Valley Concerned Citizens trustee.

PHOTO PROVIDED
The new building for the Sugar Valley Volunteer Fire Company is shown.

LOGANTON — The Sugar Valley Concerned Citizens (SVCC) recently donated $3,000 to the Sugar Valley Volunteer Fire Company’s new building fund.

Fire Chief Chris Miller thanked SVCC President Carla McElwain for the generous gift as well as the many years of ongoing support and monetary help the Concerned Citizens has provided to the fire company.

The SVCC was formed in the late 1970s as an organization to support the local school in Loganton. Originally, the SVCC assisted school sports, Band Booster and PTA programs.

However following Keystone Central School District consolidation and closure of Sugar Valley Elementary, the SVCC focused its efforts on the creation of a charter school to serve community needs. Decades later, few people may remember that it was the SVCC who originally wrote the Charter for the Sugar Valley Rural Charter School (SVRCS) and applied for state grants to secure funding.

The SVCC became the coordinator, cheerleader and information source for hundreds of community members who dedicated time and resources to the building and maintenance of the new school. Over $5 million in funds has been raised by the SVCC since 1996, including lease payments from the SVRCS. Twenty-five years later, the SVCC recently satisfied its last USDA federal mortgage serving SVRCS campus requirements and is ready to expand its efforts to other local community needs.

“The SVCC’s mission has always been to serve the entire Sugar Valley community from youth to adults and our senior population. Although the school required most of our focus for many years, we still supported local AYSO needs, our fire company, other local organizations, and provided baccalaureate programs. It has been an incredible 25 years and a great history. I am so proud of all that the SVCC has accomplished and I am grateful to have been a part of it,” McElwain said.

SVCC trustee Yvonne Weaver reminisced, “I remember the early years, after we first chartered the school. It was built with all volunteer labor by local residents. People built bookcases, people planted and mowed grass. The people here are really something special, and we really care about our families and neighbors. I am excited about the future and how we can continue to help people.”

Looking forward, McElwain stated her goal of growing the SVCC membership and expanding the ability to support even more charitable organizations in the future. New members will be accepted as of May 1, 2021. Anyone interested in joining the SVCC or for further information can contact Carla McElwain or Yvonne Weaver at the following email addresses: imcelwain@tds.net, yweaver@tds.net

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