Members of the HOPE Fund steering committee of the Wayne County Common Good (WCCG) met Nov. 9 in Smithville. Jo Winkler and Lee Peart reported on their work with ABLE students to select new Pay It Forward projects. This month ABLE students put up Veterans Day flags for Rotary and helped make soup for Westminster Presbyterian Church’s famous soup sale. They are currently planning a community Chili Cook-off to increase awareness of the HOPE Fund and raise money for the GED test scholarships and other initiatives. The cost to take the GED is expected to triple by 2014.

The HOPE Fund (Helping Others Prepare for Employment) is a self-sustaining work and education fund at the Wayne County Community Foundation. It supports the efforts of the Wayne County Common Good to help adults get jobs or better jobs by providing “pay it forward” scholarships, grants, and good faith, interest-free loans. Current initiatives include GED test scholarships for ABLE students, emergency gas vouchers for adult education students and emergency book loans for Wayne College students. The committee is currently accepting applications for new initiatives from Common Good members. The application and guidelines are at http://www.hopefundwayne.org.

The next meeting will be held Wednesday, Dec. 14, at 6 p.m. at the Smithville Inn in Smithville.

For more information, go to the website or email info@hopefundwayne.org.