Local News

Keep moving forward with Wreaths Across America

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Tuesday, 18 November 2025

Written by Tara Kamiya

“Keep Moving Forward” will be more than a slogan in Cumberland County this Christmas season. It will be a promise laid gently on thousands of veterans’ headstones.
Wreaths Across America, a national nonprofit organization, coordinates an annual effort in which volunteers place live evergreen wreaths on veterans’ graves each December. A tradition that began in the early 1990s as one small act of gratitude at Arlington National Cemetery has grown into a year-round mission to remember the fallen and honor those who serve.
This tradition reminds future generations of the value of freedom. Each wreath is laid by hand, and each veteran’s name is spoken aloud in a moment of personal remembrance.
For 2025, Wreaths Across America has announced its new national theme: “Keep Moving Forward.” Those three words were the final command of Capt. Joshua Byers, US Army, who was killed in action in Iraq in 2003 when an improvised explosive device struck his Humvee. As smoke filled the air and chaos unfolded, Capt. Byers urged his driver to keep moving forward. That command saved other soldiers’ lives and later became a rallying cry for his unit, his family and now for volunteers across the country.
The theme also connects to an idea Wreaths Across America highlighted in 2024: the “ten bouquets” that make up a veteran’s wreath. Written as a poem by the organization’s founder for Gold Star parents Mary and Lloyd Byers, the ten bouquets represent qualities such as courage, character, loyalty and sacrifice. Together, they form a living symbol of what our service members stand for and why their stories should never be forgotten. The 2025 theme invites communities to carry that spirit into their daily lives and to keep moving forward with purpose.
Here in our area, the mission comes to life in a very visible way at Sandhills State Veterans Cemetery in Spring Lake and at the Main Post Cemetery on Fort Bragg. Several local Wreaths Across America groups support these efforts in and around Fayetteville, but the primary Sandhills campaign is led by local coordinator Ann Provencher. Each year, she and her volunteers set a clear goal: to place a wreath on every single grave at Sandhills and at the Main Post Cemetery so that no veteran is left out.
That goal is both inspiring and challenging. Sandhills State Veterans Cemetery alone is the final resting place for thousands of men and women who served. So far for the 2025 season, 3,790 wreaths have been sponsored for Sandhills, which represents 42.1 percent of the total goal.
To cover every grave, the community still needs 5,210 more wreaths. Each wreath sponsored moves the cemetery one step closer to complete coverage and ensures another veteran’s name will be spoken aloud on Wreaths Across America Day.
National Wreaths Across America Day will be observed this year on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. At Sandhills State Veterans Cemetery, the ceremony will begin at noon, with wreath placement taking place immediately afterward. The event is free and open to the public.
Families, veterans, civic groups, churches, and individual citizens are all invited to attend.
Volunteers typically gather for a brief program honoring service and sacrifice, then spread out across the cemetery with boxes of wreaths, quietly working their way down each row of headstones.
What sets this ceremony apart is the simple ritual that accompanies the wreath placement. Volunteers are encouraged to pause at each grave, place the wreath, read the name engraved on the stone, and say it out loud.
That short act turns the gesture from a decoration into a personal tribute. For family members who may be present, hearing a loved one’s name spoken by a stranger can be deeply moving. For those without family nearby, it is a promise that their service still matters to the community they once defended.
Although the wreath laying happens in December, the work to make it possible begins months in advance. Wreaths can be sponsored now, and early sponsorships are vital to ensure there are enough wreaths available to cover both Sandhills and the Main Post Cemetery when the big day arrives. Community members can also volunteer to help on the day of the ceremony. Assistance with outreach, promotion or help with organizing group efforts through schools, businesses, places of worship, or civic organizations.
One wreath represents one name spoken, one life recognized and one more step forward together in gratitude.
To sponsor a wreath, visit https://www.wreathsacrossamerica.org/pages/16700/Overview/?relatedId=0

Operation Turkey Fayetteville feeds locals in need

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Tuesday, 18 November 2025

Written by Tara Kamiya

On Thanksgiving week, volunteers from across Cumberland County will gather at the Fayetteville Chapter 82nd Airborne Division Association to turn smoked turkeys and donated sides into something more than a holiday meal.
Operation Turkey Fayetteville is a local branch of the national nonprofit Operation Turkey. It’s a community promise that neighbors in need are not forgotten.
This year’s ambitious goal is to serve 10,000 meals to people who are homeless or struggling across Cumberland County and surrounding communities. The effort is led locally by volunteers, including community organizer Kimberly Fleming and state leader Venassia Gunter. Efforts are community-driven and entirely by unpaid help.
“We are 100 percent volunteer-run,” Gunter said in a recent announcement. “Every plate that goes out the door is a direct reflection of this community’s generosity and willingness to show up for one another.”
A virtual volunteer orientation on Nov. 23 from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. will walk new and returning helpers through food-safety rules, site layouts and delivery procedures, giving them a chance to meet city leaders and ask questions before the rush of Thanksgiving week.
The hands on work starts early Wednesday, Nov. 26, with the Fayetteville “Turkey Tailgate,” an all day prep event from 5:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. at the 82nd Airborne Division Association building at 606 Johnson St. Smokers and pitmasters will work in shifts to cook hundreds of turkeys, while other volunteers assemble care packages with toiletries, warm clothing and other donated items.
“We like to say the Turkey Tailgate feels like a family reunion with a purpose,” Fleming said. “People are cooking shoulder to shoulder, making new friends and laughing, but they never lose sight of why they’re there. The gathering is focused on making sure that someone else has a hot meal on Thanksgiving.”
Thanksgiving morning, Thursday, Nov. 27, is the main event. Beginning at 6 a.m., teams of volunteers will set up assembly lines to plate turkey and traditional sides, package meals and load vehicles. Drivers are especially needed between 7:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. to get meals directly to encampments, shelters, roadside locations and individuals who have requested help.
Children are welcome to participate if accompanied by a parent or responsible adult, and organizers encourage families to serve together as a way to teach younger generations about gratitude and community service. The final shift of the day focuses on clean up and takedown, with volunteers needed from late morning into the early afternoon.
Operation Turkey began in Austin, Texas, in 2000, when founder Richard Bagdonas shared his Thanksgiving leftovers with a homeless man on Sixth Street. That simple act grew into a grassroots movement that now operates in multiple states and delivers tens of thousands of meals each Thanksgiving through volunteer-led city teams.
Fayetteville’s team is working to increase its impact as the community continues to grapple with housing insecurity and rising food costs. Organizers rely on both individual donations and corporate sponsorships to cover the cost of food, packaging and supplies. Local businesses, civic clubs, churches and military-affiliated groups are invited to form volunteer teams, sponsor portions of the event or host collection drives for toiletries and cold-weather items.
Because the operation is entirely volunteer-driven, monetary donations go directly toward feeding people, organizers say. Contributions can be made online, by mail or through mobile payment platforms under the Operation Turkey name. In-kind donations of turkeys, sides and desserts are also welcomed as long as they meet food-safety guidelines.
For many volunteers, the day has become as much a personal tradition as a charitable act. Some start their own family dinners later in the afternoon, after spending the morning plating and delivering meals. Others say the experience of looking someone in the eye, handing over a hot plate and offering a simple “Happy Thanksgiving” reshapes how they see the holiday.
Operation Turkey leaders hope the spirit of connection will continue to grow in 2025 and beyond. In addition to serving 10,000 residents locally, the organization encourages people in other communities to explore starting branches in their own towns, using Fayetteville’s model, rooted in military camaraderie, civic pride and neighborly care as an example.
Anyone interested in signing up to volunteer is encouraged to register through Operation Turkey’s website so they can receive orientation details, site information and day of instructions. Community members with questions about sponsorships, meal requests or partnerships can contact Gunter and her team.
As Thanksgiving approaches, Fleming says the message is simple: no one person can do everything, but everyone can do something.
“If you can cook, cook. If you can drive, drive. If all you can do is share the information or make a small donation, that matters too,” she said. “When we each bring what we have, we make sure our neighbors are seen, fed and cared for on a day that can feel very lonely otherwise.”

(Photo: Volunteers pack up meals to hand out during the 2024 Operation Turkey Fayetteville's Thanksgiving event. Photo courtesy of Operation Turkey Fayetteville)

Cumberland Community Foundation’s Giving Tuesday Campaign benefits area nonprofits

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Tuesday, 18 November 2025

Written by Anna White

Nonprofits play a pivotal role in Cumberland County. From championing the arts, education and history, to fighting for crime reduction, food security and healthy pets, the categories are as varied as they are inspiring. Some nonprofits pour directly into the community, others, like the Cumberland Community Foundation, pour into other nonprofits.
Towards the end of the year, nonprofits often experience a push to the finish; programs and services accelerate instead of dwindling. Often, these are holiday-related programs and services. Always, they are programs and services that enhance community life.
Honestly, who doesn’t feel the strain when the holidays roll around? For nonprofits, the strain is doubled as they accelerate programs and services, while also participating in many end-of-year fundraising opportunities that will ensure their services remain in the new year. One of those fundraising opportunities is Giving Tuesday.
Known as a day set aside for showing generosity, Giving Tuesday is a prime time for nonprofits to solicit donations from community members who share their mission. With significant time and effort going towards Giving Tuesday marketing and donation processing, it is a vital part of any nonprofit’s annual fundraising efforts, but yet another ball to juggle as the year comes to a close.
Enter the Cumberland Community Foundation’s Giving Tuesday campaign. Think: everything it takes to run a successful Giving Tuesday—marketing, raising matching funds, and receiving and processing donations—but managed by CCF on behalf of participating nonprofits. While participating nonprofits focus on the programs and services they do best, CCF acts as their temporary fundraising arm.
“It’s really an honor to have this platform,” said Maddie Kellogg, Cumberland Community Foundation donor services manager. “We’re just managers of the process. The donors who give and the nonprofits who deliver the services are what make this successful.”
CCF’s Giving Tuesday preparations begin in June, when they invite nonprofits to participate. From there, the nonprofits undergo rigorous training on how the program works. They listen to classes and panels that share tips and tricks on how to get the most out of participation in Giving Tuesday. They undergo communication training, and they receive an extensive nonprofit toolkit that Kellogg says contains "anything and everything they need to be successful.”
Meanwhile, CCF raises $500,000 in matching funds. They compile and publish a Guide to Giving in collaboration with CityView, which lists all participating nonprofits and contains instructions on giving.
“We’ve had great feedback from community members about the Guide to Giving,” said Kellogg. “They love getting it every November and spend time flipping through and marking organizations for giving or volunteering.”
Many Guide to Giving readers find nonprofits they didn’t know existed.
Ways to give include credit card, check, donor-advised grant, stock gifts, and charitable IRA Rollovers. Since 2020, CCF’s Giving Tuesday has raised over $10.6 million on behalf of local nonprofits. Donations from community members are matched proportionally from the $500,000 matching funds. At the end of the campaign, which runs from Nov. 24 to Dec. 2, participating nonprofits each receive a single check.
“It alleviates the fundraising burden for them at the end of the year,” Kellogg shared. “They don’t have time to be processing all these donations.”
Last year, CCF processed 3,709 gifts during the giving window.
“We pay 100 percent of the gifts we receive to the nonprofits; they are not charged a fee,” she said.
Matching donors who contributed to the 2025 $500,000 matching fund include:
• Fayetteville New Car Dealers Association
• Holmes Security Systems
• Elizabeth “Beth” Keeney
• Ray and Daphne Manning
• Carol and Sammy Short
• Four Anonymous Donors
• Cumberland Community Foundation (Unrestricted Endowments)
“We have really generous individuals in Cumberland County that support our nonprofits,” Kellogg gushed. “This is the most uplifting place to work because we get to see the absolute best of Cumberland County—so many generous people and nonprofits who are making a difference.”
Two 2025 participating nonprofits, Cape Fear Botanical Garden and Armed Services YMCA Fort Bragg, expressed glowing praise for the campaign.
Cape Fear Botanical Garden Development and Membership Manager Meg Suraci said the campaign has introduced them to new donors who are making a difference through their support.
“This initiative is important, impactful, and inspiring to the garden and the community,” she shared. “These funds can be used for administrative and operational costs, such as utilities and salaries, and allocated where they are most needed.”
Because Giving Tuesday funds are unrestricted, unlike most grants, where funds are restricted, nonprofits can allocate the funds flexibly.
“When an individual donor gives an unrestricted gift, they show trust that the Garden will use the funds strategically and with transparency, which leads to a mutually stronger relationship,” Suraci explained.
She praised the foundation for their hands-on approach.
“Cumberland Community Foundation staff secures the matching funds to amplify donors’ gifts, produces the Guide to Giving, trains nonprofit staff and provides a Giving Tuesday Toolkit, communicates with donors, and documents hundreds of gifts—all during a very busy time of year.”
Jill Kiah-Saslav, development and community relations director for the Armed Services YMCA Fort Bragg, says their organization is seeing new needs that Giving Tuesday will help them meet.
“One in four military families is currently facing some form of food insecurity. Over the last month, we have seen that number surge. With the government shutdown, our ASYMCA food pantry requests in October increased by 55% from the previous month,” said Kiah-Saslav. “It has put an enormous strain on our pantry stock during our busiest period of the year. With support from the upcoming CCF Giving Tuesday campaign, we will be able to continue this vital program for our military families during this financially stressful time.”
The last quarter of the year is always their busiest, Kiah-Saslav explained. During that time, they provide programs and services for military families that include holiday services and support. “CCF does so much of the planning and implementing of Giving Tuesday each year and makes it very easy for the organizations participating in it,” she said.
Participants since 2020, Kiah-Saslav says they’ve surpassed their campaign fundraising goals each year, thanks to CCF.
“Our mission is giving together to enhance the quality and spirit of community life, and I think that’s exactly what our community is doing through Giving Tuesday,” concluded Kellogg. “Everyone who gives wants Cumberland County to be a better place and is taking steps to make that a reality.”
Find Guide to Giving 2025 here: https://issuu.com/cvnc/docs/guide_to_giving_2025-2026

(Top Photo: Maddie Kellogg, Donor Services Manager with the Cumberland County Foundation, left; Tara Martin, Program Coordinator; and Kendra Murray, Community Grants Manager, pose for a photograph during "Hand Off Day," where CCF will give the non profits in their guide checks. Bottom Photo: The Heritage Square Historical Society accepts a check during Hand Off Day, 2024.  Photos courtesy of CCF)

FTCC named top 25 in the nation; Names new trustee

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Tuesday, 18 November 2025

Written by Staff Report

FTCC recognized as a Top 25 cybersecurity program in the nation
Fayetteville Technical Community College has been named as a Top 25 institution nationally to earn a cybersecurity associate degree.
The recognition comes from an independent research team at Cybersecurity Guide, which reviewed 199 associate degree programs in the United States.
FTCC ranks No. 23 on the list and is one of seven schools in North Carolina to be recognized. All N.C. colleges on the list are members of the Carolina Cyber Network, a 23-member collaborative co-founded by FTCC to help strengthen the state’s education-to-workforce pipeline in cybersecurity.
"We are proud to be named in the Cybersecurity Guide’s 2026 Top 25 Cybersecurity Associate Degree Programs, a direct result of our faculty, staff, and students’ outstanding dedication and hard work,” said FTCC President Dr. Mark Sorrells. “As a co-founder of the Carolina Cyber Network, a national cybersecurity workforce ecosystem model, we’re especially pleased that seven fellow CCN members also earned this recognition. Together, we’re strengthening the pipeline of skilled cyber professionals and assisting with hardening the security posture of our state and nation."
The Cybersecurity Guide’s Top 25 designees were evaluated based on academic quality, student-to-faculty ratios, graduation and retention rates, admission selectivity and in-state tuition affordability.
“FTCC is honored to be named one of Cybersecurity Guide’s 2026 Top 25 Cybersecurity Associate Degree Programs,” FTCC Dean of Computer Information Technology Dwayne Campbell said. “Our program combines hands-on training with industry certifications to ensure graduates are workforce-ready from day one. It further reflects the dedication and expertise of our faculty, as well as the drive and commitment of our students.”
FTCC is designated through 2028 as a Center of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity by the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security.
FTCC’s selection to the Top 25 list underscores its commitment to cybersecurity workforce development, supported by CCN’s statewide model that emphasizes affordability, practical skills, industry alignment and support for diverse learners, including military-connected students, career changers and rural communities.
The college is committed to skills-driven, industry-informed learning that prepares students for success in the workforce. A student in FTCC’s Cybersecurity program, a concentration offered by the Computer Information Technology department, will spend an average of 1,000 hours engaged in hands-on learning founded in the competencies of industry-recognized certification exams.
Additionally, through a partnership between the Carolina Cyber Network and the N.C. Department of Information Technology, FTCC students are eligible for competitive internships at NCDIT to enrich their classroom experience and jumpstart their entry into the workforce.
These opportunities and resources keep FTCC students workforce-ready through changes in the cyber landscape.
“As cybersecurity threats continue to evolve,” Campbell said, “FTCC remains committed to preparing skilled professionals who are ready to protect and support
our digital world.”

Fayetteville Technical Community College Welcomes Dr. Vikki Andrews to Board of Trustees
Fayetteville Technical Community College announces the appointment of Dr. Vikki Andrews to the College’s Board of Trustees. Dr. Andrews was officially sworn in on November 12 by the Honorable Judge Rosalyn Hood.
Appointed by the Cumberland County Commissioners, Dr. Andrews succeeds Esther Thompson and will serve a four-year term concluding on June 30, 2029.
A retired U.S. Army officer, Dr. Andrews brings a distinguished record of leadership and public service to FTCC. She currently serves as Chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party Veterans & Military Families Caucus and previously led the Cumberland County Democratic Party for two terms. Beyond her political and civic engagement, Dr. Andrews has lent her expertise to numerous community and county boards, demonstrating a strong commitment to education, service, and advocacy.
“Dr. Andrews’ deep roots in community service and her experience as both a veteran and former community college student brings valuable insight to our mission,” said FTCC President Dr. Mark Sorrells. “We look forward to her contributions as we continue supporting our active-duty service members, veterans, and military families.”
FTCC celebrates Dr. Andrews’ appointment as yet another step forward in advancing its goal of connecting education, leadership, and community engagement for the greater good.

(Top Photo: FTCC student learns in an FTCC Cyber Class. Bottom Photo: Ms. Amanda Smith, Ms. Dianica Atkins, Commissioner Glenn Adams, Hon. Rosalyn Hood, Dr. Vikki Andrews, Ms. Edithe McLean, FTCC President Dr. Mark Sorrells and retired N.C. Supreme Court Associate Justice Patricia Timmons-Goodson pose at the swearing-in ceremony for Dr. Vikki Andrews. Photos courtesy of FTCC)