Southern Serendipity
Fortson, president of The Southern
Alliance. “The South is in our blood
and in our hearts. We enjoy reminiscing about all things Southern and we
celebrate various aspects of the South,
Southern cooking, entertaining, culture.”
REACHING BACK TO THE SOUTH
Starting in the mid-1980s, The Southern Alliance expanded its activities by
developing philanthropic efforts and
selecting a primary beneficiary of these
funds: The Crossnore School, a K–12
charter and residential school for children located in the mountains of North
Carolina. It was founded in 1913 by
Dr. Mary Martin Sloop as a boarding
school for children in need who were
living in rural areas throughout the
Western North Carolina mountains.
Crossnore is continuing its mission
by providing a residential facility to
care for 95 children between the ages
of 1 and 21 who can no longer live at
home because of neglectful or abusive circumstances. Crossnore School,
which secured one of North Carolina’s
first charters in 1999, continues to
provide all-encompassing services and
education for students with special
needs that traditional public schools
find challenging to serve.
“To me, one of the most exciting
aspects of Crossnore is the 360-degree
care we are able to give our kids,”
Loftis says. “On campus, we have
comprehensive health care, masterslevel therapists, non-denominational
spiritual development, equine therapy,
sports, on-campus jobs as well as providing high quality education.”
The history of how and why Crossnore
was selected is unclear, but Loftis feels
certain that there must be a connection
to the Daughters of the Revolution, of
which Crossnore is one of si