Leadership

Mission and Leadership

Live, Work, Eat, Gather, Inc. is a 501c3 non-profit corporation. Its mission is to cultivate and nourish community through the support of local food and farms, the creation and growth of jobs, the security of a home, and the gathering of friends and neighbors.

LWEG furthers this mission by providing support to two projects: the Hale Community Garden and The Old School. The Hale Community Garden offers 70 garden plots located in Blacksburg. The Old School offers economic development opportunities for food-based entrepreneurs within the historic former Prices Fork elementary school, including a shared-use kitchen (Millstone Kitchen).

Live, Work, Eat, Gather, Inc. furthers this mission by providing support to two projects: the Hale Community Garden and The Old School. The Hale Community Garden is a five-acre garden located at the end of Maywood Street off North Main Street in Blacksburg. The garden includes 70 garden plots, a solar greenhouse, beehives, food forest project, small apple orchard, asparagus patch, herb garden, and flowers. The Old School offers economic development opportunities for food-based entrepreneurs within the historic former Prices Fork elementary school, including the commercial shared-use Millstone Kitchen.

Board of Directors

  • Kevin Byrd, Executive Director of the New River Valley Regional Commission
  • Dr. Jennifer Culhane, Community Member
  • Joseph Fortier, Founder and Manager of Taylor Hollow Construction​
  • Shelley Fortier, Community Member
  • Christy Gabbard, Local Concepts Inc.
  • Emily Gibson, Montgomery County Planning Director
  • Teresa Martin, Vice President and Mission Deposit Manager at Virginia Community Capital​
  • Justin Mosby, Associate Director of Philanthropy, Guideposts Foundation
  • Michelle Narramore, Administrator of Warm Hearth at Home
  • Marlin Reeves, Vice President Retail for Freedom First Credit Union
  • Ellen Stewart, Housing and Community Development Grants Coordinator for the Town of Blacksburg and New River Valley HOME Consortium
  • Kim Thurlow, Housing and Community Development Initiatives Manager for the Town of Blacksburg and New River Valley HOME Consortium
  • Elisabeth Willis, Community Member
  • Jennifer Wilsie, AICP, Senior Planner with the New River Valley Regional Commission