The Wake Forest Chamber Foundation has been awarded a grant from the U.S. Chamber to create the Wake Forest Career Readiness Academy. The academy’s goal is to help students learn the skills required to be tomorrow’s successful employees. Along with classroom training, on-the-job internships will complete each student’s experience. The Chamber Foundation is seeking the support of area businesses and asking them to host a high school intern for a semester during the 2019/2020 school year. Businesses that participate can benefit in many ways: Interns provide an extra pair of hands to help with projects; they can be groomed into a potential future employee; and businesses will have access to professional human relations consultants and attorneys at no charge. “Many businesses today report that they are lacking in qualified, trained young employees,” said Corey Hutcherson, vice president of community relations for the chamber. “This Career Readiness Academy is an attempt to

More than 5,000 rubber ducks will race to the finish line in the Wakefield Rotary Club’s first Super Duper Duck Splash on Saturday, June 15, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the WRAL Soccer Park, Parking Lot 5, 7700 Perry Creek Road, Raleigh. By adopting ducks in the Super Duper Duck Splash fundraiser, the public has the chance to win $1500, $1000 or $750 if their duck is the first, second or third to cross the finish line. Other prizes will also be given away. Ducks can be adopted for as little as $5 by visiting www.NCDuckSplash.com Other activities taking place during the June 15 Duck Splash include family games, bouncy house, food trucks, sponsor booths and giveaways. Proceeds from the fundraiser will benefit four local youth-focused non-profits who the club calls their Duck Buddies—Note in the Pocket, Wake Forest Boys & Girls Club, SAFEchild and North Carolina Football Club Youth. Michael Travis, fundraising chair for Wakefield Rotary, said the club’s first Super Duper Duck Splash will have a big impact

The Northeast Community Coalition is sponsoring an essay contest for the Juneteenth Celebration, asking youth from 16 to 23 for live in the Northeast Community to write a one-page essay expressing how Nipsey Hussle (Grammy-nominated rapper Ermias Aschedom) inspired them and describing a community project they would like to coordinate that would uplift the Northeast End Community. The typed essays must include the full name, address, email address, mailing address and contact number, and the deadline is June 15. The reward is $100 and the assistance (within reason) in accomplishing that community project. Juneteenth commemorates the day in June 1865 when the enslaved people of Galveston, Texas learned of their freedom. The news came two years after the Emancipation Proclamation and six months after Congress passed the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, formally abolishing slavery. Members of the Northeast Community Coalition and their partners are inviting everyone to join them

The Wake Forest Area Chamber of Commerce will host a state of the chamber celebration on Thursday, June 20, 2019, at The Sutherland, presented by North State Bank. Tickets are $25 each and guests are asked to register early to ensure your seat at this fun event. Door will open at 5 p.m. for registration and drinks, and the state of the chamber update will begin promptly at 5:30. Afterward, guests will enjoy heavy hors d’oeuvres catered by chamber members along with cocktails and non-alcoholic beverages provided by Pour Bar Services. * * * * Thank you to these chamber members for offering an internship this fall to a high school student enrolled in the Wake Forest Career Readiness Academy. We appreciate your support of this new program that teaches leadership skills, on-the-job training and financial literacy. Ads N Art Aging Care Matters Allen Tate Realtors – Fabioloa Adler AlliBeth

*The Wake Forest Farmers Market will be open from 8 a.m. to noon this Saturday, June 8, in the employee parking lot along South Taylor Street behind Wake Forest Town Hall. Local farmers and artisans will have meats, seasonal vegetables, bread, baked good and other local wares for sale. See the market’s Facebook page for information about the vendors and sign up for a weekly notice about the offerings that Saturday. Remember the Wake Forest Farmers Market is unusual in that it is owned by the farmers who sell their wares there. *Monday Night Bingo at The Factory is hosted by the Wake Forest Kiwanis Club in the Mill Room from 7 to 9:30 p.m. every Monday night. All profits support the club’s projects for children. Visit www.wakeforestbingo.com for more information. *Tri-Area Ministry Food Pantry at 149 East Holding Avenue is now open from 9 to 11 a.m. every third