The Gloucester Resource Council and the Gloucester Community Education department were recognized with a 2016 Virginia Association of Counties Achievement Award for the Gloucester Community Needs Network communications initiative.

This effort uses the efficiency of an e-mail network to notify organizations and individuals in Gloucester of unmet community needs, according to community education director Christi Lewis. Twenty-nine award recipients were selected out of 91 submissions this year.

During fiscal year 2016, Lewis said more than 40 requests were received and communicated to the network for unmet needs such as wheelchairs, appliances, repair or donation of vehicles, a computer donation, plumbing repairs or special transportation needs, to name a few.

Through the services of the GRC, a network of nonprofit, community-based organizations, requests for needs are broadcasted initially to over 150 contacts who are then able to multiply the broadcast to almost 8,000 other contacts,...