The JCPenney Afterschool Fund has awarded six grants totaling $30,226 to support after-school care at the Chickahominy, Downtown, North Richmond, Patrick Henry, Shady Grove and Tuckahoe YMCAs. The money was donated by customers during Round Up Weeks at five area JCPenney stores. By rounding up a purchase to the next dollar and donating the difference to after-school programs, customers at Regency Square, Chesterfield Towne Center, South Park Mall, Virginia Center Commons and the Shops at White Oak Village combined for $5,448.14 during the October round-up and $16,122.13 year-to-date, said Kevin Kennedy, manager of the White Oaks store.

The number of volunteers in the Richmond region declined by 38,600 people last year as the economic downturn took its toll. Even so, a report on Volunteering in America found about 231,100 people, or 21 percent of adults, volunteered in 2008. Based on an average of 2006 and 2008 data, the number of volunteers in Richmond ranked the city 40th of 51 large cities in percentage of volunteers. The average of 34.9 volunteer hours per resident ranked 27th of 51 large cities.

With his senior year at Franklin Military Academy fast approaching, Sgt. Maj. Kimara Davis is spending his summer honing his leadership skills. It’s not a school-based pursuit, though. Davis is getting his practice at the North Richmond branch of the YMCA, thanks to a program run by the Bank of America Charitable Foundation. He and four other area students are among 230 juniors and seniors nationwide participating in the foundation’s Neighborhood Excellence Initiative leadership program. Starting July 19, they’ll spend a week in Washington, where they’ll participate in workshops and seminars. The foundation also will fund eight-week paid internships at nonprofit groups—YMCAs, for the Richmond-area students.

A Highland Springs couple remained in the Henrico County jail last night, arrested on multiple firearms and neglect charges after allegedly taking turns pointing a handgun at a busload of elementary school students. Patricia Edwards Murray, 26, and Brian Phillip Stephenson, 36, both of the 200 block of Mapleleaf Avenue, face hearings March 9 on a total of 13 charges, six of them felonies dealing with reckless disregard for a child.

Miranda Harrison has been selected as Virginia’s Teen Wellness Leader. Miranda, a 10th-grader at the Henrico Center for the Arts and J.R. Tucker High School, is passionate about making Earth a better place to live. She created a program called “Go Green Girl” that raises awareness about people’s carbon footprints and provides solutions for reducing society’s negative impact on the planet.