Hello Bull City, Welcome to the Village Connector!  I am excited to have the opportunity to introduce this great city to a program that is changing the economic grass roots of many counties in our neighboring northern states.

This is an exciting time in the life of our city itself.  NCCU continues to be recognized as having one of the most prestigious Law Schools in the Nation, Duke University is always on the cutting edge of medicine, we have been blessed with a professional basketball franchise to begin play this fall at NCCU,  just to mention a few things. When I relocated to Durham in October of 2010, I knew that my passion for community, especially children and the underserved adult population, would move me into collaborating with individuals with a like mindset.  As I have walked this road for nearly a year now the individuals that have come into my life with a burning passion in the same area has been phenomenal.

My idea of impacting a community is to help educate our youth on their decision making strategies (Character Education), support the merchants and ministries that are looking to support the community that sell goods in and give a hand up to those individuals who have made some bad decisions. These folks have come to a point in their lives that they are ready to accept another chance.  The Village Connector’s basic concept is of recycling the consumer’s dollars within a given community is an incredible tool.

I have been given the opportunity to spend time and share my experiences and hope with a group of teenage boys and girls at a private alternative school here New Horizons.  This alternative school is one that children CHOOSE to attend.  The Principle and Director, Martina Dunford, founded this school 18 years ago in an effort to help those children that struggle in the public school system but want to complete their primary education.  This undertaking, as you can imagine has landed on hard times with the downturn in our economy over the past six years and Grant monies, on all levels, are drying up.  When faced with the possibility of closing down, REALITY MINISTRIES stepped in and offered classroom space and the needed finances to support New Horizons core curriculum.  My involvement allows me to connect New Horizons and Reality Ministries to opportunities and exposure that was otherwise unavailable.  The English teacher is preparing to write articles for the Durham County public, monthly throughout this semester.  Her goal is to have multiple students able to submit articles weekly, next semester.

I will create a basketball team at the Reality Ministries, an After school program, that will play games before and at halftime of the professional basketball games played by the Carolina Jaguars at NCCU.

I am excited beyond words about the opportunity to bring exposure to these three entities and Durham County as a whole.  I seem to meet individuals on a daily basis that in some way will benefit from the Village Connector, whether in a small or major way.  My hat is off to you, Glenn Garnes, for following your passion for people into this vision of connectivity, The Village Connector.

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Quintus McDonald is a Community Reporter with the Village Connector Community News. He is also the owner of I AM Recycling, LLC. He resides in Durham, North Carolina and you may reach him at 317-677 2258 or via email at quintusmcdonald@yahoo.com