🌱Help The Homeless Fund Raises 11K + New Mill Mtn. Zoo Animals

Morning, neighbors! It's me again, Nicole Fallon-Peek, your host of the Roanoke Daily.

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First, today's weather:

Partly sunny and warmer. High: 68 Low: 53.

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Here are the top stories in Roanoke today:

1. Roanoke City Public Schools raised nearly $11,300 for its Help the Homeless Fund during the annual Breakfast with Santa event this past Saturday, Dec. 11. The fund provides support to RCPS students and families experiencing homelessness. Since the Help the Homeless Fund's inception in March 2016, RCPS has provided $43,483.86 in support to help 288 families, impacting 625 students. (Press Release Desk)
2. There are some new additions to the Mill Mountain Zoo. The new animals include a pot-bellied pig named Odysseus and a flock of wood ducks. (WSLS 10)
3. While no cases of the omicron variant of COVID-19 have been found in Virginia, the molecular diagnostics lab at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech-Carilion is keeping an eye out for any cases in Southwest Virginia. The institute started performing genome sequencing after months of conducting COVID-19 testing for the state. (Roanoke Times)

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From my notebook:

• Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center of Roanoke shared a photo of an American Crow recovering from an injured wing. (Facebook)
• Roanoke City Public Schools announced that 15 of its elementary schools received the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program grant this year. This grant allows RCPS in partnership with SodexoMagic to provide a fresh fruit or vegetable to elementary students three days per week. (Facebook)
• Wasena Elementary School students will have a virtual learning day today due to a planned power outage. (Facebook)

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That's it for today. See you all tomorrow for another update!

— Nicole Fallon-Peek

About me: Nicole Fallon-Peek is a journalist and copywriter with a degree in Media, Culture and Communication from New York University. She has served as a freelance reporter, managing editor, copy editor, and editorial director for a variety of B2B news outlets. She currently co-owns and operates content creation agency Lightning Media Partners.