The St. Augustine Humane Society has completed its latest fundraising efforts with the Pin Up Paws pet calendar for 2016.
The calendar features local pets on their favorite forbidden chairs and with accessories. A record-breaking $15,182 was raised to support the nonprofit’s mission to promote healthy lifelong pet ownership and reduce the rate of relinquishment to shelters.
Additional programs that will benefit from the promotion include the nonprofit’s charity pet clinic, low-cost spay neuter program, dog training classes, pet food bank, grooming services and its re-homing assistance program.
The fundraiser started in June when donors began submitting photos of their pets to be considered. There was a $5 charge to submit the photos. Winners were determined by online public voting with a $1 donation per vote.
The calendar will be available Oct. 30 for a $10 donation. They may be purchased online, by phone, at select retail locations and at the society, 1665 Old Moultrie Road in St. Augustine.
For information, visit staughumane.org.
Publix raises $6M for March of Dimes
For two decades, Publix Super Markets Inc. has worked alongside the March of Dimes to give all babies a healthy start in life.
This year, during the annual three-week March for Babies fundraising campaign, Publix customers and associates donated $6,050,470. That is an 18 percent increase from 2014, bringing the 20-year total to $57 million.
The campaign is the nonprofit’s largest annual fundraising effort. Since 1970, the event has raised $2.3 billion and takes place in nearly 700 communities.
For more than 75 years, mothers and babies have benefited from March of Dimes research, education, vaccines, and breakthroughs.
For resources and information, visit marchofdimes.org or nacersano.org. March for Babies is sponsored nationally by the March of Dimes No. 1 corporate supporter, Kmart, and top sponsors Famous Footwear, Macy’s, Cigna, United Airlines and Mission Pharmacal.
Pink Ribbon Symposium Oct. 3 in Orange Park
The 8th Annual Pink Ribbon Symposium presented by Baptist Health is 8 a.m.-1 p.m. Oct. 3 at the Thrasher-Horne Center, 283 College Drive in Orange Park.
The free event is the place to find answers about cancer from area physicians and experts.
Sponsorship opportunities are available and all proceeds go to support this regional community health education event. Since seating is limited, advance registration is required.
The featured speaker is Marc Heyison, founder and president of Men Against Breast Cancer. His presentation is “Men Supporting the Women they Love In their Fight Against Breast Cancer.”
Men Against Breast Cancer is the only national nonprofit founded to educate and empower men to be effective caregivers when breast cancer strikes their families.
Attendees will be able to ask medical questions of the speakers during the question-and-answer time at the end of each session.
Also scheduled is a Health Expo of more than 50 local and national exhibitors, displaying health, beauty, wellness and medical products and services.
For information about the symposium, to volunteer or to register, visit pinkribbonsymposium.org or call the Pink Ribbon Symposium Hotline at (904) 385-7106.
Communities In Schools donates supplies to military dependents
Communities In Schools of Jacksonville, a local dropout prevention organization, collected more than 2,000 school supply items through a back-to-school drive organized by the nonprofit’s VetSuccess Americorps program.
Communities In Schools staff distributed the supplies to 250 military dependent students in partnership with fellow nonprofit, The Mission Continues.
The donated items were distributed to families at Naval Station Mayport during the Back to School Splash.
Funded by Volunteer Florida, VetSuccess Americorps helps K-12 students by connecting them with active-duty military and veterans who serve as volunteer mentors and literacy advocates through the Communities In Schools “Duval Reads” initiative.
The program also provides veterans working to earn college degrees with tutoring referrals, job fair information and assistance with registration and veteran’s benefits. For more information, visit CISJax.org.
Baptist Health and Borland Groover sponsor ‘Bottoms Up’
Baptist Health and Borland Groover Clinic are platinum sponsors of the inaugural Bottoms Up for CCFA to raise money for the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America.
The event is 5:30-7:30 p.m. Oct. 7 at Pusser’s Bar & Grille in Ponte Vedra Beach. Entera Health and Smart Pharmacy also are sponsors.
Bottoms Up is tied to Take Steps Jacksonville, which occurred in May at Riverside Park. Take Steps walks are held in 145 communities nationwide and have raised nearly $32 million for patient services and research.
Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 at the door and include hors d’oeuvres and adult beverages plus music by Ryan Creary. Tickets may be purchased in advance at ccfa.org/jaxbottomsup.
Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, which affect nearly one in 200 people, are painful, medically incurable illnesses that attack the digestive system.
Most people develop the diseases between the ages of 15-35; however, the rate is increasing in young people.
The mission of the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America is to cure Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, while improving the quality of life of children and adults affected by the diseases.
Bank of America gives $54,000 to 5 nonprofits
Bank of America Charitable Foundation awarded $54,000 in Community Development grants to five local nonprofits that seek to revitalize distressed neighborhoods, provide housing solutions to disadvantaged individuals and families, and improve the quality of life in Northeast Florida.
Community development, employment assistance and combating hunger are priorities for Bank of America because there is significant need in these areas in Northeast Florida and across the country.
Local Initiatives Support Corp. received $23,000 to support the national group’s Empower People—Inspire Change initiative. The organization combines corporate, government and philanthropic resources to help nonprofit community development corporations revitalize distressed neighborhoods.
Ability Housing of Northeast Florida was awarded $15,000 to support the nonprofit’s 2015 Villages Program, an initiative that seeks to address the urgent need of permanent housing for the chronically homeless.
Community Development grants also were awarded to Jacksonville Symphony Association ($6,000), Family Foundations of Northeast Florida ($5,000) and Grace and Truth Community Development Corp. ($5,000).
For more information on nonprofit programs and services that may qualify, or to submit an application for grant funding, visit bankofamerica.com/foundation.