As the weather around Central Virginia is beginning to heat up, so too are VPM’s community engagement efforts! This month, VPM connected with Virginia residents at multiple events, through podcasts and videos and also won several awards!
Read more below about some of VPM’s monthly community engagement activities in May 2025.
Events
More than 400 people joined VPM at The Byrd Theater on May 3 to be a part of the premiere for Chasing Cambodia, a new documentary film that explores one cyclist’s journey to finding the balance between his Cambodian heritage and his American upbringing.
On May 10, Richmonders stopped by the Virginia Home Grown (VHG) booth at the RVA Big Market to learn how to make wildflower seed balls, ask VHG team members gardening questions, as well as questions about the show.
Speaking Engagements
VPM multimedia journalist Keyris Manzanares was featured in a video series from Civics Connects, which is an initiative from the Virginia Museum of History and Culture. In the video, Keyris speaks about what the role of media is in reporting on local politics and will be included in the VDOE teaching guides for Virginia middle school teachers.
On May 16, VPM community engagement manager Mary Arritt spoke at Creative Mornings RVA to let attendees know how they can support VPM and other public media outlets by using ProtectMyPublicMedia.org. Attendees also learned how to create an A.I. Muppet of themselves and post their support of VPM on social media.
Members of the Virginia Home Grown team, including host Peggy Singlemann, senior producer Bryant Dameron and executive producer Shawn Freude, joined host TV Jerry for a podcast episode celebrating the show’s 25th anniversary. You can listen to the episode here.
Awards
This year, VPM Music was voted as the ‘Best Radio Station’ in Central Virginia by the readers of Virginia Living during their ‘Best of 2025’ campaign! The results were announced on May 2 after nearly half a million votes were cast throughout the campaign.
On May 8, VPM President & CEO Jayme Swain was recognized at the Outstanding Women Awards Luncheon as part of the Class of 2025.
VPM, together with its producing partners, was nominated for 5 awards at the 67th Capital Emmy Awards. Winners will be announced on June 21 at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel and Conference Center in Maryland.
VPM also brought home 11 Telly Awards at the 46th Annual Telly Awards, which were announced on May 20.
The VPM News team won three Regional Murrow Awards from The Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) for its comprehensive coverage of several significant issues and events around Virginia.
VPM’s most recent Annual Report won a ‘Capital Award’ in the publications category from PRSA Richmond! Style Weekly also won an award for its influencer marketing campaign. The winners were announced at a ceremony on May 28 and you can view the full list of winners here.
Education
VPM was one of select organizations that was asked to create a ‘Stories of Success’ video for the Public Media Learns Community Engagement Course, designed to strengthen PBS member stations' capacity for meaningful, sustained engagement.
Looking to learn more about VPM’s impact in our communities? Visit the VPM Impact Page.