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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 believe 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.
Foundation supports Communities In Schools
In honor of what would have been automotive pioneer and philanthropist Jim Moran’s 92nd birthday, The Jim Moran Foundation recently awarded a special “Founder’s Day” grant for $92,000 to Communities In Schools of Jacksonville.
CIS provides comprehensive, community-based, in-school, safety-net services. With the grant, the organization will expand its Student Enrichment Program to offer social and academic assistance to 200 additional at-risk students at three area schools: Long Branch Elementary, Pickett Elementary and Frank H. Peterson Academies of Technology.
“We are extremely grateful for the generous support of The Jim Moran Foundation. This grant will allow Communities In Schools to significantly expand our services at both the elementary and high-school level,” said Jon Heymann, CEO of Communities In Schools.
“It is a great honor to receive this award in recognition of Jim Moran, who was an outstanding business leader, visionary and philanthropist. I think Mr. Moran would have been particularly proud that one of the schools represented, Frank H. Peterson, has an automotive training program. The Jim Moran Foundation, through the Founder’s Day grant and many other initiatives, has truly made this a better community in which to live,” he said.
The Student Enrichment Program operates on the principle of relationship-building to help children and teens succeed in school. The keys are full-time student advocates, embedded within the schools, who work directly with students, their families and school officials.
In addition to being supportive, caring adults for the students, Student Enrichment Program advocates develop plans and monitor their progress, hold individual and group discussion sessions on topics such as anger management, study skills and conflict resolution, and take note of physical, psychological and educational needs.
“My husband, Jim, believed in giving children the support, guidance and encouragement they needed to be successful and he established his foundation so that his care and compassion would continue for generations to come,” said Jan Moran, chair and president of The Jim Moran Foundation.
“By awarding this grant to Communities In Schools, we are carrying on his life’s work and providing these children with an opportunity to reach their fullest potential,” she said.
Jim Moran founded the diversified automotive company JM Family Enterprises more than 40 years ago and the foundation 10 years ago. The foundation annually awards special grants during JM Family’s Founder’s Day celebration to two nonprofits, one in South Florida and one in North Florida, where the company has major business operations.
Communities In Schools partners with Duval County Schools to identify the needs of at-risk students and is the city’s largest provider of in-school dropout prevention services. The organization provides after-school, mentoring, scholarship, case management and literacy programs to nearly 7,000 students annually.
The mission of Communities In Schools is to champion the connection of needed community resources with schools to help young people successfully learn, stay in school and prepare for life. For more information, visit www.cisjax.org.
Children’s chorus hosting poker tournament
The Jacksonville Children’s Chorus is hosting a Texas Hold ‘Em poker tournament at 6 p.m. Oct. 1 at The Poker Room at Orange Park Kennel Club.
The buy-in is $125, including food and refreshments. The grand prize is $1,500 and the competition is limited to 150 players.
For information, call 353-1636 or visit www.jaxchildrenschorus.com.
Contest for pet advertisements
The Jacksonville Humane Society is searching for the star of the organization’s next advertisement.
The society is asking pet owners to create an advertisement for the organization’s new “Suddenly” marketing campaign. The ad should include a pet photo and a tag line explaining how the animal suddenly changed the owner’s life.
Advertisements currently featured in the campaign include pictures of dogs and cats with the slogan “Suddenly, someone likes all of your jokes.”
To submit an advertisement to the contest, pet owners can sign up for the contest at www.firstgiving.com/jaxhumane . After registering, they can upload their ad photo and tag line to a fundraising page and solicit votes for their ad. Every dollar donated on the ad’s fundraising page equals one vote.
The society will post all ads submitted on the Jacksonville Humane Society website. The public can view all ads submitted to the contest. Each ad will link to the ad’s fundraising page. Members of the public can vote for their favorite ad by donating money.
The ad that raises the most money will win the contest. In addition to publication of the ad, the first-place winner will receive a two-night stay at the West Palm Beach Marriott. The second-highest fundraiser will win a two-night stay in Savannah, while the third-highest fundraiser will receive a stay at a Flamingo Lake RV Resort cabin.
“Our contest offers the community a great opportunity to get involved with JHS and help share the benefits of pet ownership,” said Leona Sheddan, executive director of the society.
“Not only will members of the community select the ad we will use in an actual advertisement, they will learn about and help the animals available for adoption at JHS,” she said.
The “Suddenly” ad contest runs through Dec. 26. The contest is free to enter. All proceeds from the advertisement selection process will benefit the Jacksonville Humane Society.
Two companies building houses
Numerous St. Johns County families live in safe, affordable housing because BB&T and The St. Augustine Record sponsored their Habitat for Humanity homes.
“These two companies have been two of our biggest corporate supporters,” said Diane Quick, executive director of the St. Johns County Habitat for Humanity. “They’re currently building their fifth and sixth homes with our affiliate, contributing the funds to purchase the materials and providing hundreds of volunteer hours to help get the homes built.”
Three homes have been built in Vermont Heights and eight in the West Augustine area, with two three-bedroom, two-bath homes currently under construction in Habitat’s new 34-home development, Crawford Park, thanks to the two businesses.
Mortgage Loan Officer Ron Gelinas has been instrumental in BB&T’s support of Habitat for Humanity locally. “BB&T has sponsored one home a year to help improve West Augustine and St. Johns County as we are a community-based bank serving the local community,” he said.
Gelinas also serves on Habitat’s board of directors.
The St. Augustine Record has sponsored six homes since 2002 when the former publisher, Ronnie Hughes, made the commitment to sponsor a home for an elderly resident whose home burned to the ground.
After Hughes retired in 2005, Derek May gave the approval to sponsor a home each year with the Habitat affiliate. Now with Ron Davidson at the helm, The Record continues to support the local nonprofit.
“The Record is proud to be associated with Habitat for Humanity,” said Davidson. “We strive to be an active participant in the communities we serve and we know of no better way to accomplish that.“
BB&T has also supported affordable housing in St. Johns County by signing the first three contracts for the Community Workforce Housing Innovation Pilot Program through the St. Johns County Housing Department.
A total of 111 units of affordable housing will be built just off Four Mile Road in West Augustine. St. Johns County is the only county in the state to have been approved for CWHIP funding. Out of the 111 affordable homes, Habitat will construct 34 in Crawford Park, named after County Housing Director Tom Crawford. The new development is one mile southeast of Royal St. Augustine.
New officers for Cathedral Arts
Cathedral Arts announced officers for 2010-2011: President, Susan Greene; President-elect, Paul Tyler of Haskell; Secretary, David Busse; and Treasurer, Chuck Hedrick, managing partner of Foley & Lardner.
Newly elected board members are Teri D. Amthor, Acosta Sales & Marketing; Chad Clarke, BB&T Nancy Federico, Deutsche Bank; Marty Flack, Wells Fargo Private Bank; Gary Goldberg, Harden; Candace Boselli Hodgkins, Gateway Community Services; Jennifer Jones, R. Roberts Gallery; and Anthony Scott, Interline Brands.
Cathedral Arts serves more than 1,000 youth each week with after-school programming in dance, drama, music and visual arts. For the past five years in a row, four out of five youth in the program showed measurable improvement in grades, behavior, communication techniques and anger-management skills.
The organization’s mission is to enrich the quality of life in Northeast Florida through unleashing the creative spirit of young people.
Cathedral Arts is funded in part by the City of Jacksonville, the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville, the State of Florida Division of Cultural Affairs, the Florida Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts.
For more information, call Kimberly Hyatt at 333-2544.