by David Chapman
Staff Writer
For Meninak President Harrison Conyers, 89 years of existence is more than just a figure.
“It’s about legacy,” said Conyers. “It’s about recognizing the 89 years of service and millions of dollars used to provide assistance to people in Jacksonville and especially the youth.”
For Conyers and the rest of Meninak, Monday was a time to celebrate and reflect — on the civic organization’s past and future — while hearing about some of the needs of Jacksonville and awarding its 2008 Charity Grant.
Lisa Moore and Skip Cramer of the Blueprint for Prosperity initiative — a joint effort between the City, the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce and WorkSource to increase income levels of Duval County residents — updated the crowd of almost 100 on the study’s nine benchmarks.
Many of those benchmarks, especially the ones relating to children, are issues Meninak tries to assist as per its “lending help where none is available,” credo.
Meninak also announced Safe Harbor Boys Home as its 2008 Charity Project winner. The 501(c)3 nonprofit organization serves as a residential and educational facility on the St. Johns River for at-risk boys ages 15–17. It’s the third time the organization has received the $30,000 Charity Grant award.
The money will be used to build a commercial laundry facility and wouldn’t have been planned if not for the award.
“We’re extremely grateful for all that you (Meninak) have given us over the years,” said Dr. Robbie Smith, Safe Harbor director. “We can’t even begin to tell you what it has meant to us.”
356-2466