Helping is Their Jam

Friends of Southern Pines, a new nonprofit hoping to be a source of support to improve the town, plans to launch Saturday, Aug. 1. Ashley Tramontin, owner of Against the Grain Shoppe and vice president of the group, said the idea for the nonprofit originally started while she and group president Kate Shinkwin were working together with the Southern Pines Appearance Commission and noticed gaps in municipal funding for projects they wanted to do.

“The biggest to-dos are to talk to people and see what they want and what they think the gaps are,” says Ashley. Suggestions are welcome from anyone. “One thing that we all share is just extreme love for this town,” says Kate. “We are a group that is dedicated just to helping a town grow in a direction that we, collectively, want.” Be a friend and follow the nonprofit on Instagram.