Karleigh Cunningham watched as Charlie, a second-grade student, filled her pocket with bite-sized animal crackers. Charlie admired the treats and softly placed each one into her 2-inch pocket. The snack, given out to students who participate in the Beans and Rice Program at Pulaski Elementary School is simply a treat to some, but on this day it was dinner to Charlie.

Charlie is just one of the hundreds of children who participate in Beans and Rice, a nonprofit community-based economic development corporation. Located and servicing individuals in the New River Valley since 1997, Beans and Rice strives to provide the community with knowledge and skills to help individuals perform more effectively in work and school.

According to the Virginia Statistical Abstract, the New River Valley showed a decrease of 323 families below the poverty level from 1990-2000.

“We have been very successful in what we do, because we fill niches in the community that need to be filled,” said Dr. Nelda Pearson, Executive Director of Beans and Rice. “We are doing what the community needs to have done and whenever you fulfill a need you tend to be successful at it.”

Beans and Rice runs five types of community-based programs: after-school programs, youth leader programs, a hot meal program, computer learning centers, and GED classes. The programs are located in different communities and operate mainly on volunteer support.

“We place a lot of service learning students from [Radford University],” Pearson said. “This semester we have placed over 100 RU service-learning students in the program.”

Beans and Rice has an ongoing relationship with RU and the faculty, who continue to place students into the program, which has several interns who are majoring in social work at RU.

“Beans and Rice has taught me a lot,” said Sharon VanDerlyn, RU junior and Beans and Rice volunteer. “I am now more aware of the different problems that might come up than when I begin teaching.”

Aside from relying heavily on the community for volunteers, Beans and Rice looks to the community for donations, grants, and fundraising.

Recently, the corporation received a donation in the form of a 44-year lease from the Hickman family on land beside McHarg Elementary School. Beans and Rice plans to construct a building that will house the After School Program (ASP) and a performance center.

“We are hoping to be breaking ground in the next three months,” Pearson said. “We are getting a big chunk of money from USDA Rural Development and the paperwork is currently being processed.”

Although RU students are mainly volunteering in the After School Program, Beans and Rice offers a variety of activities through out the New River Valley.

“Different communities see us as kind of differently because we are doing different things based on the needs of the community,” Pearson said.

In Pulaski, Beans and Rice began by addressing the needs of the Latino community but now also encompasses the After School Program at Pulaski Elementary School. In Floyd, there is a computer-learning center. Radford houses the After School Program but also has an economic development project for low-income families.

Students who participate in Beans and Rice are chosen by their schools and must meet the needs of the program. This year Pulaski Elementary School had 60 additional applicants and started the program late because of the selection process.

To learn more about Beans and Rice or to find out how you can get involved, visit their Web site at www.beansandrice.org.

Jamie Caudle is Editor of the Radford University student newspaper The Tartan.