Empowering The Village Group to inspire more underserved youth
The Village Group germinated one warm summer afternoon when Ray Funnye and his wife Queene saw their kids playing in the backyard and thought, “There must be something better for them to do when school is not in session.”
More than 20 years after The Village Group (TVG) was founded in rural western Georgetown County (SC) offers a broad range of programs aimed at shaping a future where their underserved youth primarily from low-income homes.
Plantersville Summer Academy (PSA) prepares students middle-high school for the coming school year, using certified teachers and a nationally acclaimed curriculum focused on math, reading and STEM. Students learn to build robots and fly drones.
During the Summer Academy students get free meals and bus transportation, while their education advances up to to 3 grades. Power:Ed supports of The Village Group touching the lives of hundreds of Plantersville area middle-high school youth since 2023 with a total investment in their futures of $75,000.
“The Village Group has truly been a blessing to my family. They have shown my children that the world has so much to offer them and the possibilities of where they can go are endless. They are motivators and encouragers. They are consistent and always there when needed. The Village Group has provided a safe haven for so many children. They have made a difference in my children’s lives and for that I am grateful.” — LaShawna Armstrong
Other programs by The Village Group include:
Aviation Center Education
By touring control towers and maintenance facilities while hearing from aviation employees, our youth are shown the many career possibilities in the aviation industry.
Tour de Plantersville
Combining Gullah Geechee culture and a bike cycling event, the annual fall Tour de Plantersville attracts hundreds of people from as far away as Connecticut for a ride through the historic Scenic Byway of Georgetown County, SC. Onsite docents explain the history of plantations, churches and estates the riders pass along the way. They end at the day-long Cultural Festival, featuring Gulla Geechee art, food, dance and music.
Plantersville Cultural Complex
Imagine a beautiful 10-acre site in historical rural Georgetown County, where you can bike or walk through a gentle, woodland setting…. learn about the Gullah-Geechee culture…enjoy creations by Black artists…or visit an agroecology site, where the art of living from the land is reawakening.
Viewed as a transformative effort, the 10-acre Plantersville Cultural Complex celebrates the Lowcountry landscape as a site of layered history shaped by centuries of labor, transformation, and resilience. It honors the knowledge, ingenuity, and perseverance of enslaved people, whose contributions are etched into the land.
A building will enable community meetings, classes, art and a kitchen. Boardwalks will be available for biking and walking where observers can enjoy the local foliage.
Drawing on the cultural legacies of the Gullah Geechee people, who retain strong connections to their heritage, the design borrows from West African architectural principles. These principles treat architecture as spaces for education, events, communal gatherings, storytelling, and education.
“Together, we are building more than a complex. We are building a legacy,” Ray Funnye, Executive Director of The Village Group.