Welcome to Martinsville Field Notes, where you can find quick updates on what’s happening in Martinsville and Henry County every Friday. In this week’s column, you’ll hear about all that’s going on at Patrick & Henry Community College, and how the food pantry will use a $250,000 gift. Don’t forget to check out the last edition if you missed it.
If there’s something you’d like to see in next week’s column, you can reach me at julianna@cardinalnews.org. There’s always something happening in Martinsville and Henry County, and I’d love to hear from you!
Feeding Southwest Virginia gives Henry County Food Pantry $250,000
With a $250,000 gift, the Henry County Food Pantry will expand its capacity through additional food distributions, including delivery to improve food access.
The grant will be distributed across a three-year period and will allow the food pantry to:
- Hire a full-time staff member.
- Expand access to fresh produce.
- Participate in a home delivery service.
- Expand the volunteer network.
- Make capital improvements to their facility.
The non-profit Feeding Southwest Virginia gave the grant to the pantry because it is centrally located, serves more than 2,000 people a month and the area has a higher food insecurity rate than the average of Southwest Virginia, making it a “focus region,” said Molly Pinkston, director of agency partnerships for Feeding Southwest Virginia. The pantry ranks eighth in poundage distribution among the 275 organizations with which Feeding Southwest Virginia partners.
The Henry County pantry operates in one of Virginia’s most economically challenged rural communities, according to a Feeding Southwest Virginia news release. About 25% of children, and one in six people, in Henry County face hunger.
Over the past five years, Feeding Southwest Virginia gave $1.6 million to agency partners, Pinkston said.
The food pantry’s expanding and successful programming was also a reason why Feeding Southwest Virginia chose Henry County, Pinkston said. The food pantry — along with food — offers clothing, furniture, hygiene products, household items and pet food. Its partnership with Purina allows local families to feed their pets, who are meaningful members of the family, said Sharon Mills, the director of the Henry County Food Pantry.
The food pantry has also given over 100 beds to children who did not have one. They receive referrals from the Department of Social Services, schools and first responders to ensure children have stability and safe sleep, Mills said.
Patrick & Henry Community College in the running to win Aspen Prize
The Aspen Institute will be at Patrick & Henry Community College on Wednesday and Thursday for a site visit to consider it for a major award.
The 2027 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence brings with it a prize of $1 million.
Patrick & Henry was announced as the first community college in Virginia to be a semifinalist or finalist for the prize. In the spring, the college was one of 25 semifinalists and then chosen as one of 10 finalists in June. The winner of the prize will be announced in April.
“We are overjoyed and elated to have been named a top 10 community college in America,” said Greg Hodges, the college’s president. “They’re coming here to learn how we’ve achieved the results that we’ve had, and so we’re excited to be able to share with them the work that we’ve done that’s led us to this point.”
In the Aspen Institute’s finalist announcement, it highlighted Patrick & Henry’s 47% completion rate compared to a national average of 37% of students completing a community college credential within four years.
The Aspen Institute is a global nonprofit that focuses on leadership and societal issues. Its College Excellence Program aims to strengthen higher education leadership and improve student outcomes.
Hodges said the community college’s goals have aligned with the Aspen Institute’s focus. About 20 years ago, the focus was college enrollment, and about 10 years ago, the focus was completion. The Aspen Prize now focuses on strong outcomes, such as good-paying jobs or transferring to a four-year university.
“That focus on those good-paying jobs and aligning our career pathways with our regional good-paying jobs and the fact that our community is experiencing a real economic renaissance has really helped get us to this point,” Hodges said.
Henry County announced in the past year three major projects, with an estimated 328 jobs and $123.9 million in investment. Hodges said the community college is deliberate in plugging students into local industry jobs. The community college most recently teamed up with Rural King to meet its truck driving needs.
The site visit next week will include meeting with the president’s leadership team, student service leaders, advisors, career and technical education faculty, general education faculty and advisors.
Also at Patrick & Henry Community College, a certification milestone
Patrick & Henry was awarded 5,061 certifications to students through the National Coalition of Certification Centers, as part of the 1.3 million nationally.
Patrick & Henry has partnered with NC3 since 2018, said the college president, Greg Hodges. The college decided to partner with NC3 after opening the first building of the manufacturing engineering and technology complex in 2017. The certifications are typically in career and technical education and healthcare, including mechatronics and automotives.
The certifications are tied to classes at the community college to help students get a job after completing their education.
Patrick & Henry is a “pioneer” in the Festo Industry Certification Program, offering all three levels of mechatronics certifications. Patrick & Henry was the first college in the nation to offer the third level of the Festo certification, which includes advanced robotics, industrial communications and smart maintenance. Faculty members wrote the curriculum for that.
The number of certifications is rising each year at the college, with 572 so far in 2026. The most popular certifications this year have been various bending certifications and fundamentals of industry, Hodges said. There are a total of 612 students who have completed at least one NC3 certification.
