Rent-to-own News - RTO industry raises close to $30,000 for shuttered school

Vivian Saunders, APRO's 2011 customer of the year (center) with Richard Rose and her assistant Tameika O. Jordan.

APRO's 2011 Customer of the Year, Vivian Saunders, already knew she had won the award going into the industry's annual awards banquet Wednesday night in Little Rock.

But she got a big surprise anyway.

At the conclusion of the affair, seasoned on-the-spot fundraiser Jamie Slatton took up the microphone and egged on his colleagues -- more than 300 of whom filled the ballroom -- to step up APRO-style for Saunder's "Hive": an alternative school for at-risk African American boys in rural Bertie County, North Carolina.

The school, opened in 2009 was forced to close this spring as a result of $120 million in state education budget cuts.

With Slatton at the helm, a call for contributions went up as hands shot in the air pledging individual $1,000 donations around the room. When the dust settled, APRO members collectively pledged close to $30,000 for Saunders and her vision to bring education and often times, a second chance, to young men in her community.

"I'm awestruck," said Saunders, a BestWay customer from Ahoskie, North Carolina as she  fought back tears. "That APRO would think enough of its customers to take this type of action for the children, to give back to the people and communities where they do business is just…inspiring."

Saunders, who calls herself "the realness of Bertie County" continues to run a downsized after hours summer program, serving around 80 boys in 6th through 12th grade in one of her community centers.

Saunders keeps it "real" by facing the area's "real" problems as the executive director of The Hive and as the director of two community centers that provide everything from a food pantry to a computer lab, job training and drug counseling.

In her rural community where 46 percent of students who begin high school do not graduate and often turn to drugs, gangs and violence as a means of survival, Vivian Saunders is a ray of hope to young boys in Bertie County.

"What she is doing for the community, it just sends chills up your spine," said BestWay owner Richard Rose. "There are a few angels out there among us, and she's one of them."

The stakes are too high to leave these boys to their own devices, she said, noting a recent study that showed the juvenile crime rate declined last year in Bertie County --  while it went up in adjacent counties. She says the Hive is the reason.

However, it takes money to get those results, though much less than dealing with the same population through the criminal justice system.

Due to the state education funding shortfall, The Hive is short $250,000 to continue running operations for the upcoming school year, Saunders said.

The generous contribution of APRO members to her cause will allow her to proceed, even if temporarily.

"I want this school to be a turning point," she said. "A place where I would provide everything they need in terms of food and shelter and would offer something that no dollar amount can give…the love and support of a mom. Thank you APRO."

Her mission has even inspired Hollywood.

Independent film icon, producer and director Robert Townsend recently premiered the feature film, In the Hive, as the opening night film of the American Black Film Festival, which ran July 6 through July 9 in Miami Beach, Florida.

The film stars Michael Clark Duncan, Loretta Divine and Vivica Fox and is based on the Saunder's story.

See Saunders full story here.

See video about The Hive here.

See photo gallery of APRO's 2011 Awards Banquet here.

To contribute to Saunder's Hive, send contributions in care of Tameika O. Jordan at P.O. Box 40, Lewiston, North Carolina 27849. Make checks payable to "One Economy -- The Hive".

For more information about The Hive or it's parent organization, One Economy, contact Sonja Murray, One Economy Senior Vice President at 336/692-8222 or at smurray@one-economy.com.