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Achievers For Life event honors students
More than 900 students and their families enjoyed carnival fun and a barbecue dinner at United Way of Northeast Florida’s Achievers For Life Celebration at the Adams-Jenkins Community Sports & Music Complex at Edward Waters College.
The annual event included activities such as a bounce house, tug of war, sack races and face painting, all to celebrate United Way’s Achievers For Life middle-school students.
They were recognized for honor-roll achievements.
In addition, Eugene J. Butler Middle School was recognized for the most participation at the event. Ensante Manning, parent of Fort Caroline Middle School student Jacquez Manning, was named Most Engaged Parent.
United Way’s Achievers For Life initiative provides family support, mentors and help for middle-school students at school, as well as enhances parent engagement in students’ education.
Achievers For Life partners include Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeast Florida, Communities In Schools, Jewish Family and Community Services and Duval County Public Schools.
More than 60 United Way corporate and community volunteers and Achievers For Life mentors volunteered during the event.
For more information about United Way of Northeast Florida’s Achievers For Life initiative, visit unitedwaynefl.org/achievers-for-life.
North Florida Land Trust fish fry June 4
North Florida Land Trust is hosting its Fifth Annual Fish Fry at Big Talbot Island on June 4.
The event is noon-6 p.m. at Talbot House on Big Talbot Island.
The afternoon includes food, local beers, live music from Firewater Tent Revival and Cain’t Never Could and lawn games in the backyard.
The day also marks National Trails Day and will be celebrated with a free guided nature hike at 2 p.m.
At 4:30 p.m., there will be a guided kayak tour to explore the island. The cost for the kayak tour is $25. Contact Genevieve Fletcher at [email protected] to reserve a spot for either excursion.
Tickets are $25 in advance or $30 at the door and include entry and meal. The ticket cost for children under 12 is $10 each. Tickets can be purchased at FishFry5.EventBrite.com.
For more information, contact [email protected] or call (904) 479-1962.
Free child abuse prevention training
The Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Coalition received a donation from Children’s Safe Passage Inc. to purchase Stewards of Children workbooks that will enable the coalition to provide free training to 500 adults in Northeast Florida.
The organization’s mission is to train 50,000 adults in the Darkness to Light and its Stewards of Children program. They are child sexual abuse prevention programs.
Darkness to Light is a national nonprofit that provides people, organizations and communities with tools to protect children from sexual abuse.
Stewards of Children is a program created by Darkness to Light that teaches adults how to prevent, recognize and react responsibly to child sexual abuse.
The program is designed for use by organizations that serve youth and for individuals concerned about the safety of children.
It is the only nationally distributed, evidence-based program proved to increase knowledge, improve attitudes and change child protective behaviors.
Organizations and summer camp programs that want to take advantage of the opportunity to educate their staff and volunteers can schedule group training by contacting [email protected].
Community trainings are available at First Coast YMCA locations or the Jacksonville Children’s Commission. A schedule of classes can be found at csapc.org.
March of Dimes seeking grant applicants
March of Dimes Florida is seeking applications for grants to support programs that address unmet maternal and child health needs.
Awarding grants to organizations is one way the March of Dimes pursues its mission of improving the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality.
The goal of the Community Grants program is to identify and fund community-based programs addressing the health concerns of pregnant women and infants, with a focus on decreasing preterm births.
Applicants must provide services in Florida.
The chapter grants fund for 2016 is about $120,000.
Proposals will be accepted until June 20 and grantees will be notified Aug. 1.
For more information or questions, email Gillian Cross, director of maternal child health, at [email protected] or call (754) 300-2609.
Fresh Market sidewalk sale June 3-5 for diabetes research
The Fresh Market will mark the 22nd anniversary of its annual “Hope Floats” sidewalk sale June 3-5 to benefit Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the leading global organization funding Type 1 diabetes research.
Each of The Fresh Market’s 175 stores will offer hot dogs, root beer floats and ice cream sundaes, each for a $2 donation. The Fresh Market will donate 100 percent of the funds raised over the three-day sale directly to the foundation to support its research efforts.
In addition to the sidewalk sale, The Fresh Market is hosting a Sneaker Sale campaign through June 5. Customers can make a donation to the foundation by purchasing paper sneakers at checkout counters to show support.
The Fresh Market has raised more than $4.5 million for diabetes research through its in-store events, corporate donations and other fundraising events.
New partnership for 2 local nonprofits
The new leaders at two Northeast Florida nonprofits recently met and committed to strengthening their working relationship.
Feeding Northeast Florida President and CEO Luke Layow and Lutheran Social Services President and CEO Mary Strickland have begun a renewed working relationship between the organizations.
“When Feeding America launched Feeding Northeast Florida as an independent food bank in 2014 to take over that role from LSS’s Second Harvest, it led to a sometimes public dispute between the two agencies,” Layow said.
“However, those disputes have been resolved, and Mary and I both agree that it’s time for us to start working together to focus on our specific missions for the benefit of the community,” he said.
Strickland said Lutheran Social Services plans to move forward with a more concentrated focus on its core missions of helping area refugees, its AIDS care and education initiative and its homelessness prevention program.
Layow, who started at the food bank in January, met with Strickland a few weeks after she took over Lutheran Social Services in March. They discussed several opportunities for the Jacksonville-based agencies to work together.
Feeding Northeast Florida recently launched its annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive, working with the National Association of Letter Carriers to collect food for an estimated 200,000 meals for hungry Northeast Florida residents.
Lutheran Social Services is launching a campaign to promote its Refugee Youth Program that helps refugee high school students and their parents successfully integrate into public schools.