The Waterford-based Ryan Bartel Foundation, a Loudoun County nonprofit focused on preventing youth suicide, announced this week the launch of a new $2,500 scholarship award called “The Heart of Humanity Award."

The Ryan Bartel Foundation Launches $2,500 Heart of Humanity Award Scholarship on February 14.

The Ryan Bartel Foundation, a Loudoun nonprofit focused on preventing youth suicide, is launching a $2,500 “The Heart of Humanity Award” scholarship, planned for Valentine’s Day.

Ryan Bartel Foundation, a Loudoun County-based nonprofit whose mission is to prevent youth suicide, has launched of a new Mental Health Advisory Board, as well as three new members to its Board of Directors.

The Claude Moore Charitable Foundation is distributing $2.6 million in grants to nonprofit organizations in Virginia and Washington, DC. The grants are designed to support organizations that work to improve the lives of individuals living in under-resourced conditions and to initiate programs and partnerships that increase academic competence and encourage leadership, especially for under-resourced populations.

The Loudoun Chamber Foundation has awarded $4,000 each to 11 local nonprofits working to support workforce development, economic growth and quality of life in Loudoun County.

Adolescence is a critical time to explore and engage with the world, but for many the pandemic took away this opportunity and left teens in a mental health crisis. Despite efforts to break the stigma and bring awareness to suicide prevention, too many parents shy away from the discussion. The Ryan Bartel Foundation asserts that suicide has touched the lives of too many unsuspecting families to risk avoiding the issue.

Through a joint effort of the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia and the Community Foundation for Loudoun and Northern Fauquier Counties, the Loudoun Impact Fund brings together individuals and businesses to pool funds for charitable gifts.

This year, the Loudoun Impact Fund recently awarded $112,000 in grants to 14 nonprofit organizations serving Loudoun County, according to a recent press release.

There's a Leesburg home that's making a name for itself with its holiday lights display. The home, located at 704 Seaton Court SE in Leesburg, is twinkling with lights-- and lit up for a good cause. For 2022, the owners, Matthew and Melissa Mulato, have chosen to light up for The Ryan Bartel Foundation. The charity provides "upstream programs to prevent youth suicide and empower families with acceptance, connection, resiliency and hope," as the mission statement states. Visitors can scan a QR code while visiting the home's decked out display.

The Ryan Bartel Foundation held its seventh 5K We’re All Human Color Run on Sunday to raise awareness of and funding for its teen suicide prevention programs.

“We started this seven years ago after we lost our son to suicide and we decided that we really didn’t want any other families to go through what we had gone through,” Suzie Bartel told the crowd before the start of the race.

When the school year started last fall, many teens found themselves struggling with mental health issues as they were thrust back into their classrooms following two years of isolation. "The pandemic had a really huge impact on their lives," said Val Walters, executive director of the Ryan Bartel Foundation. "They're social beings. They thrive on that social connection, and that was ripped away from them. And just as it started, it ended and we put them back into school."

The Rotary Club of Leesburg recently donated $10,000 each to two local nonprofits selected as the beneficiaries of the club’s annual Sticky Wicket Croquet Tournament. The grants were presented by outgoing Club President Bruce Roberts to representatives of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library and its Loudoun County Chapter “Roots Grow Wings” and The Ryan Bartel Foundation, a youth suicide prevention organization.