Sept. 14, 2026
Jonathan Rich
BrevardBeagle.com
At the most recent Brevard City Council meeting, Mayor Maureen Copelof commemorated the 30th anniversary of the founding of the Rise and Shine after-school program in Transylvania County.
“It is such a great organization that is celebrating 30 years in existence,” Mayor Copelof said before reading a special proclamation at the Sept. 8 meeting. “The legacy of enriching children, empowering parents, encouraging community and building the beloved community of racial justice and reconciliation has become the hallmark of Rise & Shine.”
Rise & Shine was created as a non-profit organization in response to public Ku Klux Klan rallies held in Brevard in 1988 and 1992 when an interracial group initially calling itself Friends was organized by local social activist Fay Walker and began meeting for monthly dialogues centered around dismantling racism, racial justice and reconciliation in Transylvania County.
The group hosted a series of talks titled “Racism: Everybody’s Problem” at Bethel “A” Baptist Church where the Rev. Frederick Gordon suggested steps be taken to help underserved children and families.
Gordon and Walker worked together with parents and community members to design an after-school program focused on providing daily one-on-one educational tutoring to young students.
The founders recruited teams of volunteer tutors and mentors from local churches and community-based organizations to create The Rise & Shine After School Program in October 1996 with a handful of students, called scholars by Rise & Shine, for the new endeavor.
During the next three decades, the program was nurtured by community volunteers and institutions and supported by local businesses and individuals to now serve a capacity of 50 scholars each year.
“There are a lot of scholars and supporters who have made this happen over the past 30 years,” said Rise & Shine Executive Director Maurice Jones after receiving the proclamation from Mayor Copelof. “Rise & Shine will be celebrating its 30th anniversary with a gala that’s going to be held in the Parker Concert Hall at the Brevard Music Center on Oct. 3. Tickets are still available and we’d love for you to come join us because we want to celebrate this great organization even further. We have so many nonprofits in Transylvania County, over 400 nonprofits I believe, that it’s amazing how we all do things to help fund and keep things going for the children of Brevard and Transylvania County. Please come to this event to celebrate with us everything that Rise and Shine has offered in the last 30 years and what we want to continue to do in the future.”
More information about Rise & Shine, including tickets for the Oct. 3 gala, is available at www.riseshine.org.