Latest news with #RandyHensley
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Coalition For Kids celebrates 25 years empowering children
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) — A Johnson City non-profit dedicated to caring for and teaching children is marking a quarter century of operation. Coalition For Kids (C4K) began 25 years ago because an apartment complex had no access to after-school care. 'So a pastor friend, Mitch Cox, who is our founder, got the idea of helping those kids in that apartment complex,' C4K Executive Director Randy Hensley said. 'That's the only reason we began.' Mother's Day, live music, car show and more | Weekend events in the Tri-Cities In the last 25 years, C4K has grown to serve more and more children by providing a nurturing and faith-based environment. 'We've had over 11,000 kids come through our doors in these 25 years, and so what we know is, we even have the data we can prove it, we know we're making a difference in the world, especially with families and children because they don't pay anything,' Hensley said. 'Especially this day and time, when the world we're living in economically is not easy to live in.' The students who attend C4K after school have access to numerous resources. 'They're getting a snack, they are getting supper, they are getting help with homework, they are getting extracurricular work. You name it, they are getting it, getting their hearts touched, they are getting loved on, everything every child needs and isn't getting enough of.' C4K has grown to work with 19 local schools and hopes to be in six more soon. The non-profit is raising money to be able to expand into more schools and help more children. 'We've got 19 schools that we're in in Johnson City, Washington County and Bristol, and six more schools puts us in 25 schools, so we're raising money this year specifically in the 25th year to be in 25 schools,' Hensley said. Hensley said C4K hopes to raise $400,000 to expand into those schools. The non-profit always accepts donations through its website. C4K will also host a raffle soon and will host fundraising golf tournaments in the fall. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Associated Press
13-03-2025
- Health
- Associated Press
Sioux Honey and Food City Partner for Record Honey Donation
Children's charities in Virginia & Tennessee receive gift - and sweet lesson, too Johnson City, Tennessee--(Newsfile Corp. - March 12, 2025) - The Sioux Honey Association Co-op is pleased to announce its participation at the Coalition For Kids after-school program alongside a group of about 50 children during in an interactive lesson on honey and honeybee pollination on Wednesday. The event at the Johnson City nonprofit was part of a broader effort to make a record donation of honey by the Sioux Honey Association Co-op, a beekeeper-owned group of 175+ beekeepers, that was joined by regional grocer Food City to donate 2½ tons of SUE BEE® clover honey to three child-focused organizations: Coalition For Kids; Boys & Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley in Knoxville; and Mountain Mission School in Grundy, Va. The honey will be used as part of meals and snacks for after-school programs, organizers said. The donation of 540 cases (with 6,480 bottles of honey) was divided evenly among the three nonprofits. 'It's a ton of honey - actually about two-and-a-half tons,' said Kevin Hueser, President & CEO of the Sioux Honey Co-op. 'But it will go fast; it should certainly be gone before the three-year expiration date for honey passes.' On Wednesday, children at Coalition For Kids learned about worker bees, drone bees and queen bees, as well as how honeybees help pollinate everyday foods, such as almonds, melons and avocados. To demonstrate the pollination process, children played 'honeybees,' with yellow cotton balls while other students portrayed 'flowers' by holding cups filled with different-colored glitter. The children learned how honeybees carry pollen from flower to flower, and how cross-pollination happens as pollens mix. 'It was a fun exercise for our after-school kids,' said Randy Hensley, Executive Director at Coalition For Kids. 'And the honey donation will help with snacks for the kids in our after-school programs.' Said Chris Mitchell, President at Mountain Mission School: 'As a beekeeper myself, I understand the importance of this process of nature; honeybee pollination is an essential part of the food production process.' Wednesday's donations to the three child-focused organizations are just one of several donation efforts planned by the Sioux Honey Co-op in 2025. More donations will be coming later this summer following the honey harvest season. 'As beekeepers, we are passionate not only about our honey, but also about giving back to the communities we serve,' said David Coy, a third-generation Sioux Honey Co-op beekeeper whose family tends to beehives in Perkinston, Miss., and Hebron, N.D. More than 50 students who take part in the Coalition For Kids after-school program in Johnson City, participated Wednesday in an interactive and hands-on lesson about honeybees and how honeybee pollination works. The event was part of a large honey donation made by the Sioux Honey Association Co-op and Food City. A donation of 2,160 bottles of SUE BEE® honey was made to Coalition For Kids in Johnson City on Wednesday by the Sioux Honey Association Co-op and Food City. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: [ This image cannot be displayed. Please visit the source: ] To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: ABOUT SIOUX HONEY: In 1921, the Sioux Honey Co-op began as a small group of just five beekeepers. Located near Sioux City, Iowa, they shared equipment, marketing and processing facilities - all to help support one another. Today, Sioux Honey is still a co-op, but it has grown into 175+ beekeepers nationwide. Some have been members for decades - part of families who have passed down the trade for generations - and some have pioneered and started their own bee farms. But all of the members have a passion for producing a pure, quality product that customers can trust. And we're proud to say we know each of our beekeepers by name, because we've learned that's how you produce the best honey for more than a century. ABOUT FOOD CITY: Headquartered in Abingdon, Virginia, K-VA-T Food Stores (Food City's parent company) operates 158 retail outlets throughout southeast Kentucky, southwest Virginia, east Tennessee, north Georgia, and Alabama. 402-740-8188
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Coalition for Kids receives 2,160 bottles of honey
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) — Coalition for Kids in Johnson City got sweeter on Wednesday. After an interactive demonstration about pollination, Sioux Honey and Food City donated 2,160 bottles of premium SUE BEE Clover honey to Coalition for Kids. Randy Hensley, executive director for Coalition for Kids, said the honey was donated to three organizations. Community Heroes: Tri-Cities artist mending memory loss by painting 'Honey, that's all exciting to us because one of the things that comes out of this, which we've really never thought of, is teaching our kids about bees,' he said. 'Honey bees. And the idea of honey bees and teaching the kids are things I've already learned since I've learned about this honey. And that is that 75% of every insect, every vegetable, every leafy atom needs our pollination from these honey bees, or we wouldn't exist.' Hensley said the donation came in time for Coalition for Kids' quarter-of-a-century anniversary. 'We're going to share it with the kids,' he said. 'We have 850 kids a day that come through our program. We're in those ten schools. It's our 25th anniversary, so it's a pretty special time for us. This whole year, people continue to pour in to help us reach more kids and more kids.' To learn more about Coalition for Kids, visit its website. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Sioux Honey and Food City Partner for Record Honey Donation
Children's charities in Virginia & Tennessee receive gift - and sweet lesson, too Johnson City, Tennessee--(Newsfile Corp. - March 12, 2025) - The Sioux Honey Association Co-op is pleased to announce its participation at the Coalition For Kids after-school program alongside a group of about 50 children during in an interactive lesson on honey and honeybee pollination on Wednesday. The event at the Johnson City nonprofit was part of a broader effort to make a record donation of honey by the Sioux Honey Association Co-op, a beekeeper-owned group of 175+ beekeepers, that was joined by regional grocer Food City to donate 2½ tons of SUE BEE® clover honey to three child-focused organizations: Coalition For Kids; Boys & Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley in Knoxville; and Mountain Mission School in Grundy, Va. The honey will be used as part of meals and snacks for after-school programs, organizers said. The donation of 540 cases (with 6,480 bottles of honey) was divided evenly among the three nonprofits. "It's a ton of honey - actually about two-and-a-half tons," said Kevin Hueser, President & CEO of the Sioux Honey Co-op. "But it will go fast; it should certainly be gone before the three-year expiration date for honey passes." On Wednesday, children at Coalition For Kids learned about worker bees, drone bees and queen bees, as well as how honeybees help pollinate everyday foods, such as almonds, melons and avocados. To demonstrate the pollination process, children played "honeybees," with yellow cotton balls while other students portrayed "flowers" by holding cups filled with different-colored glitter. The children learned how honeybees carry pollen from flower to flower, and how cross-pollination happens as pollens mix. "It was a fun exercise for our after-school kids," said Randy Hensley, Executive Director at Coalition For Kids. "And the honey donation will help with snacks for the kids in our after-school programs." Said Chris Mitchell, President at Mountain Mission School: "As a beekeeper myself, I understand the importance of this process of nature; honeybee pollination is an essential part of the food production process." Wednesday's donations to the three child-focused organizations are just one of several donation efforts planned by the Sioux Honey Co-op in 2025. More donations will be coming later this summer following the honey harvest season. "As beekeepers, we are passionate not only about our honey, but also about giving back to the communities we serve," said David Coy, a third-generation Sioux Honey Co-op beekeeper whose family tends to beehives in Perkinston, Miss., and Hebron, N.D. More than 50 students who take part in the Coalition For Kids after-school program in Johnson City, participated Wednesday in an interactive and hands-on lesson about honeybees and how honeybee pollination works. The event was part of a large honey donation made by the Sioux Honey Association Co-op and Food City. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: A donation of 2,160 bottles of SUE BEE® honey was made to Coalition For Kids in Johnson City on Wednesday by the Sioux Honey Association Co-op and Food City. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: For media inquiries or to schedule an interview with a Sioux Honey representative, please contact Jim Minge at 402-740-8188 or jim@ PHOTOS; For additional photos and VIDEO available upon request via jim@ To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: ABOUT SIOUX HONEY: In 1921, the Sioux Honey Co-op began as a small group of just five beekeepers. Located near Sioux City, Iowa, they shared equipment, marketing and processing facilities - all to help support one another. Today, Sioux Honey is still a co-op, but it has grown into 175+ beekeepers nationwide. Some have been members for decades - part of families who have passed down the trade for generations - and some have pioneered and started their own bee farms. But all of the members have a passion for producing a pure, quality product that customers can trust. And we're proud to say we know each of our beekeepers by name, because we've learned that's how you produce the best honey for more than a century. ABOUT FOOD CITY: Headquartered in Abingdon, Virginia, K-VA-T Food Stores (Food City's parent company) operates 158 retail outlets throughout southeast Kentucky, southwest Virginia, east Tennessee, north Georgia, and Alabama. COALITION FOR KIDS: & GIRLS CLUBS of the Tennessee Valley: MISSION SCHOOL: CONTACTJim MingeSioux Honey PR Liaison402-740-8188jim@ To view the source version of this press release, please visit Sign in to access your portfolio
