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Highlighting Jacksonville’s Philanthropic Community
As our community continues to face a tight economy and shrinking budgets, the Daily Record has established this page that will each week chronicle the efforts of local nonprofit organizations. Bailey Publishing & Communications invites all members of the local nonprofit community to submit news, announcements, success stories and any other information they feel would be of interest to our readers. E-mail to: [email protected].
We also encourage our readers to become more aware of the needs of these worthy organizations as they try to continue to provide valuable services with reduced resources.
Junior League teams with Jaguars
Volunteers from the Junior League of Jacksonville and Family Support Services of North Florida will be at the Riverside Arts Market every Saturday through Oct. 10 collecting backpacks and gift cards for local foster children. Everyone who donates a backpack or gift card or makes a financial pledge will be entered into a drawing to win two tickets to see the Jacksonville Jaguars take on the Buffalo Bills Nov. 22. A parking pass is also included.
Junior League members will fill the backpacks with essentials for children entering the foster care system, while the gift cards will be given to foster teens who are close to aging out of the system.
“Sadly, some children are taken from their homes with only the clothes on their back,” said FSS CEO Jim Adams. “The Junior League started this campaign more than 10 years ago and it has touched the lives of thousands of children in our community.”
FSS will have staff representatives at the booth to answer questions about adoption and foster care. Award-winning artist Adrian Pickett will be onsite creating a portrait of a local foster child and will donate the portrait to the child’s adoptive family.
Fostering Futures Project Backpack is sponsored by Family Support Services of North Florida, the Junior League of Jacksonville, Action News on Ch. 47, the Department of Children and Families and the Riverside Arts Market.
To learn more about the program or to donate online, visit www.juniorleagueofjax.org.
New Web look for foundation
The Monique Burr Foundation for Children has unveiled a redesigned Web site to inform the community of its mission, upcoming events and volunteer opportunities. The Web site can be found at www.moniqueburrfoundation.org.
“Our Web site is the first impression many have about our organization and we want to make sure it reflects our passion and mission to provide hope in the lives of children by preventing child abuse throughout Florida,” said Lynn Layton, executive director for the Monique Burr Foundation for Children. “The redesigned site is visually appealing, but more importantly, it allows users to truly become engaged with the foundation through giving, volunteering and understanding what we are about.”
On the new Web site users can register for the foundation’s monthly newsletter, learn about its child abuse educational programs and donate money to the foundation. There is also a list of upcoming foundation events in the Northeast Florida and Tampa areas as well as a section for those who wish to apply for grants through the foundation. A resources page allows users to gather information, statistics and prevention about child abuse. The newly designed site was created, designed and donated by The Dalton Agency.
Currently, the foundation reaches children in 94 of the 107 public elementary schools in Duval County in addition to several private and Catholic schools in the area. It is expanding its reach to include Baker, Clay, Nassau and St. Johns counties. The foundation also works in partnership with agencies serving children whose primary focus is preventing abuse of children.
For more information about the Monique Burr Foundation for Children, call 642-0210 or visit www.moniqueburrfoundation.org.
Compete with the pros to benefit daniel
Fans of the Jacksonville Jaguars and the “Madden NFL” video game have a chance to combine their passions while helping local abused, abandoned and neglected kids at daniel.
Jaguars lineman Uche Nwaneri protects quarterbacks on the gridiron and he’s battling on the virtual field to help daniel kids. Nwaneri and some of his fellow Jaguars are teaming up with Sneakers Sports Grille and Gamestop to kick off “Gaming 4 The Cause.”
The contest invites area video gamers to Sneakers Sports Grille to face off against each other on games such as “Madden Football” and Wii Sports every other Tuesday night at from 6-8 p.m. throughout the NFL football season. The weekly entry fee is $10 per person and enables gamers to play others and earn eligibility for weekly prizes. In addition, all players accumulate points from week to week, which enables the season winner to publicly compete against the top winner from among the Jacksonville Jaguars’ gamers, who will be holding their own intra-team contest.
In addition to the gaming activities, a raffle will also be held each week, featuring Jacksonville Jaguar autographed merchandise and memorabilia. All net proceeds raised from the contest and the accompanying raffle drawing will benefit programs at daniel, Florida’s oldest child-service organization.
Kids from daniel will be at Sneakers Sports Grille for a preview of the event tonight to meet Nwaneri and get a sneak peek at the contest.
“Uche and the wonderful people from Sneakers and Gamestop came and toured our campus, met some of our kids and saw for themselves the urgent needs daniel meets,” said Jimmy Kelly, director of development for daniel. “I love that now some of those same kids will be able to see how something they love doing is being used to raise money to provide them with the support they need.”
Daniel is Florida’s oldest non-profit child-service agency. Originally established as an orphanage in 1884, daniel has evolved into a multi-service agency that assists more than 1,000 children, adolescents and families each day with a variety of innovative and nationally-recognized programs.
Charity offshore fishing tournament this weekend
The Monique Burr Foundation for Children is hosting the 21st Annual El Pescado Billfish Tournament this weekend. One of Northeast Florida’s most celebrated fishing events, the El Pescado Billfish Tournament will run out of Camachee Cove Marina in St. Augustine with more than $100,000 in cash prizes available. Proceeds from the tournament will benefit the foundation and its programs, which provide child abuse education and prevention to children in Northeast Florida.
“This tournament is a prestigious World Billfish Series and IGFA/Rolex Championship sanctioned event and will draw an extraordinary amount of avid fishermen,” said Tournament Co-Director Dennis Rosa. “Last year we raised more than $90,000 for the Monique Burr Foundation and we expect this year to be just as successful thanks to our generous sponsors and participants.”
The festivities will begin with a Captain’s Dinner Thursday. Boats will depart at 5 a.m. Friday and Saturday from Camachee Cove Marina and the first lines will be cast at 8:30 a.m. The tournament will conclude with an awards ceremony Saturday evening where more than $100,000 in cash prizes will be awarded.
In conjunction with the awards ceremony the foundation will host a Fish-N-Chips Marina Casino event which will include Texas hold ‘em, blackjack, roulette and slots as well as the unique “Ladies Tackle Box” featuring shopping opportunities with local artists who support the Monique Burr Foundation for Children.
A limited number of 200 tickets for the event will be sold separately at $75 each. Ticket price includes cocktails, dinner, gambling and chips. At the end of the evening, chips will be cash-ed in for tickets that can be entered in prize drawings. To purchase tickets for the Fish-N-Chips Marina Casino e-mail Lynn Layton at [email protected] or call 642-0210.