Beneficiaries

The Village Improvement Association does much to meet the needs of local communities. Read our ‘History’ section to see what we have done over the last century of service. The VIA contributes to the local communities and beyond in three major ways: volunteer hours, in-kind donations, and financial support.

Being a civic and service organization, members contribute countless volunteer hours. In 2010, hours totaled approximately 12,000. Members can be seen manning the Kiosk on the Boardwalk and serving chocolate goodies at the Chocolate Festival. They are docents at local museums and Art League events. They are mentors and tutors at local schools (HOST, LEAP, Dr. Seuss, ‘Kind News’ for kindergarten students at Rehoboth and Shields Elementary Schools) and West Side New Beginnings. They volunteer at Casa San Francisco, Meals on Wheels, All Saints, New Life and Conley’s Church thrift shops, Southern Delaware Therapeutic Horseback Riding Organization, Beebe Medical Center Hospital Auxiliary, Red Cross, Wellness Community Center, Read Aloud, Therapy Dog, Rehoboth Beach and Lewes Public Libraries, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, adult literacy, dune planting and clean-up, Delaware Veterans Home, Rehoboth Beach Film Festival, Habitat for Humanity, income tax preparation, Coffee House for international students, HOBY, Stockley Center, Gull House, and Delaware Hospice. Members help local realtors purchase and wrap gifts for the youth holiday program, help feed and distribute free bicycles to international students, cook and feed participants in National Trail Days, and the list goes on.

Members contribute more than $10,000 in in-kind donations to such programs as the People’s Place, Crisis House, Abriendo Puertos, Food Bank, Stockings for Soldiers, Coffee for Veterans, UNICEF, TAP Project, Heifer project International, Inland Bays Water Monitoring project, Home of the Brave veterans’ project, Cell phones for soldiers, and Domestic Violence programs. Members knit blankets for the Warm Up America program, knit/crochet hats for cancer victims and preemie program at Beebe Medical Center, and make Dichronic glass jewelry to give to nursing home patients. Members bake for bake sales and luncheons, cook and help at soup kitchens. Again, the list goes on.

The VIA provides financial support annually to organizations in need. Through fundraising efforts, approximately $20,000 is donated each year. A sampling of beneficiaries is listed here:

West Side New Beginnings Youth Program
West Side New Beginnings Coalition
Stockley Center
Casa San Francisco
Cape Henlopen Senior Center
Sussex County Crisis House
Rehoboth Art League
HOBY (Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership)
Rehoboth Beach Public Library
Cape Henlopen Food Basket
Southern Delaware Therapeutic and Recreational Horseback Riding
Read Aloud Delaware
The Mildred Gray Beebe Nursing Scholarship
Cape Henlopen High School Citizenship Award
Rehoboth Beach Historical Society
Lewes Historical Society
Lewes Public Library
Rehoboth Beach Fire Company
UNICEF
Delaware Hospice
Main Street
Sussex Family YMCA
Meals on Wheels
Cape Henlopen Educational Foundation
Friends of Cape Henlopen