For the eighth consecutive year, The Main Street America Group continued its partnership with Woodland Acres Elementary School.
The annual back-to-school supply drive is one example of the Jacksonville-based insurance carrier’s year-round support of Woodland Acres.
The company’s employees donated thousands of packs of notebook paper, pencils, erasers, copy paper, washable markers, highlighters and other items.
More than 50 large boxes of supplies — the most donated since the program began — were delivered so teachers could select what they needed to set up their classrooms for the first day of the new year.
The company bought 25 tablets that are being used to tutor struggling readers at Woodland Acres. It also financed the launch of the school’s Positive Student Behavior Rewards Program and helped create a community outreach initiative to get parents more involved in their children's education.
Main Street America’s partnership with Woodland Acres began in 2009 through the University of North Florida’s College of Education and Human Services Professional Development Schools program.
Volunteers in Medicine sets $50,000 goal
In a note accompanying a $50,000 gift, an anonymous donor asked Volunteers in Medicine to use the donation to challenge the community to participate in a fall fundraising campaign.
The donor cited the work of the organization and its more than 230 volunteers who provide free health-care services to Northeast Florida residents who can’t afford them, despite having a job.
The “50 Days to $50K” campaign kicked off Aug. 10 with the organization’s board of directors, volunteers and patients.
The agency has raised more than $6,000, with several patients making contributions in appreciation for services they receive.
The public campaign began Tuesday and features a series of messages designed to attract the awareness, participation and support of new donors and community partners.
Volunteers in Medicine’s board of directors and volunteers will drive the campaign by wearing “50 Days to $50K” stickers and buttons to initiate conversations and donations.
Contributors will help give 1,000 working, but uninsured, men and women a medical home at the free clinic.
The organization will match donations to provide up to 1,000 wellness exams and required annual screenings and tests.
Volunteers in Medicine, a nonprofit founded in 2003, is funded by grants and donations. It receives no federal funding.
The clinic Downtown sees patients five days a week, including Saturdays.
For information, visit vim-jax.org or call (904) 399-2766.
Tourney to benefit child abuse prevention
The Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Coalition and the Somer Sunshine Foundation have formed a partnership with Tadlock Roofing to support the seventh annual Children’s Safe Passage Charity Golf Tournament on Oct. 24.
As a first-time title sponsor of the tournament, Tadlock Roofing is joining the effort to stop the epidemic of 1-in-10 children being sexually abused before age 18.
The sponsorship also will help fund Stewards of Children workbooks that will enable the coalition to provide sexual abuse prevention training to 500 adults in Northeast Florida.
The organization’s mission is to protect children by preventing child sexual abuse. The Somer Sunshine Foundation is dedicated to protecting children against sexual predators.
The goal is to train 50,000 adults in the Darkness to Light Stewards of Children child sexual abuse prevention program. Darkness to Light is a national nonprofit that provides a two-hour program to teach adults how to prevent, recognize and react responsibly to child sexual abuse.
Since the inaugural golf tournament in 2010, more than $115,000 has been raised for charities.
For more information, visit childsafepassage.org.
‘Central Park jogger’ joins Weaver initiative
Trisha Meili has joined the Justice for Girls Duval County Initiative: Leadership Council at the Delores Barr Weaver Policy Center.
Members gain an understanding of how girls enter the juvenile justice system and make recommendations to create long-term change for girls who have entered the justice system.
Meili received a bachelor’s degree in economics from Wellesley College and master’s degrees in business administration and international relations from Yale University before becoming an investment banker at Salomon Brothers in 1986.
Her life changed when on the evening of April 19, 1989, during a run in Central Park, she was beaten, raped and left for dead.
Now, Meili speaks to groups about her journey of recovery and healing, encouraging people to overcome life’s obstacles and get back on the road of life.
She is the author of the best-selling memoir “I am the Central Park Jogger: A Story of Hope and Possibility.”
The center was established through a grant from the Delores Barr Weaver Fund at The Community Foundation of Northeast Florida. To learn more, visit seethegirl.org.
Fort preservation project nearing success
The North Florida Land Trust is getting close to raising the $400,000 needed to save the Spanish American War Fort — but needs more help.
An anonymous benefactor has offered to match donations up to $39,000 to raise the money needed to complete the purchase.
The Jaguars Foundation gave $10,000 toward the effort and attorney Wayne Hogan donated $5,000, which means the organization must raise $24,000 to purchase the property.
City Council approved spending $162,500 to help buy the fort and the Delores Barr Weaver Fund gave a challenge grant of up to $100,000 to preserve it.
When the purchase is complete, the trust will hand over the property to the National Park Service. It will become part of the Fort Caroline National Memorial as a public access park.
The 1898 Spanish-American War artillery battery was one of four fortifications on St. Johns Bluff that acted in defense of the river and the only one that remains.
Donations should be marked “Fort” and sent to NFLT, 2038 Gilmore St., Jacksonville, 32204 or donate online at northfloridalandtrust.org.
For information, contact Jim McCarthy at [email protected] or call (904) 479-1967.
4 stars for Ronald McDonald House
Ronald McDonald House Charities of Jacksonville, an organization that serves as a “home away from home” for families while their children receive medical care, earned a four-star rating from Charity Navigator.
Charity Navigator, the largest independent charity evaluator in the U.S., evaluates thousands of nonprofits each year. Only 25 percent receive the four-star rating.
Supporting five local hospitals, Ronald McDonald House serves more than 1,100 families a year.
In addition, the Ronald McDonald Family Room at Wolfson Children’s Hospital provides annually a place of respite for more than 25,000 visitors.
More information is available at rmhcjacksonville.org.