from staff
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 feel 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.
Offering much more than cookies
Girl Scouts of Gateway Council serves more than 18,000 girls and 8,000 adult volunteers in 16 North Florida counties. Funding comes from product sale activities, United Way, foundations and individual and corporate support. Fewer than than 55 full time staff serve the membership with the majority of Girl Scout activities being facilitated by community volunteers.
Most Girl Scouts are active members of a troop and they benefit from consistent and positive interaction with dedicated volunteer troop leaders and advisors. Troops have been the basic operating units of Girl Scouting since 1912.
The fastest growing segment of Girl Scout membership, however, is girls served in program-specific groups. These programs focus on fulfilling a specific community need. They offer opportunities for girls to develop and explore specific issues and for girls with special circumstances to participate in appropriate settings.
The success of the special programs relies on increased donor funding and dedicated volunteer support. The unique nature of the programs also offer opportunities for even busy professionals to share their unique talents with a group of girls eager to learn from their expertise.
Take the best of classic Girl Scout experience then distill it into one week in a private natural setting where girls learn to co-exist peacefully with one another and find their inner strength. Summer Resident camp is the essence of classic Girl Scouting.
Smile Camp is a week-long summer camp for children with disabilities. Teen Girl Scouts receive extensive training in day-to-day management of children with special needs. Girls develop leadership skills as they plan and direct camp activities. Volunteers provide guidance and encouragement to assure that teens are well equipped to provide a positive experience for their campers.
Classroom Girl Scouting serves students with emotional, mental and physical disabilities. Volunteers assist classroom teachers with program activities, help conduct award ceremonies, and assist with very popular annual “Adventure Days” day camp outings.
Passages is an orientation for girls entering middle school. Specially trained volunteer facilitators help girls develop their abilities to manage projects, stay safe at school, develop healthy peer relationships, express their personal styles within school dress code, open their lockers, navigate the hallways and get to class on time.
Volunteers bring the Girl Scout Leadership Experience to girls living in subsidized housing sites in Duval County, addressing their distinct challenges and offering an increased sense of self esteem and fostering a feeling of belonging and connectedness to the entire community.
Girls four to five years of age participate in volunteer-led activities encouraging pre-literacy skill development. Through active listening, storytelling, singing, dramatic play, dancing and drawing, girls learn to express themselves, understand others and look forward to learning to read.
Group sessions are facilitated by trained adults, and focus on topics including self-esteem, responsibility, caring for others, prejudice and stereotyping, peer pressure, abstinence, substance abuse prevention, conflict resolution, and social skills. On alternating weeks, girls participate with their individual volunteer mentors, with conversations based on the topic presented during the previous session.
Girl Scout volunteers make a lasting impact on the lives of girls. Volunteering can be as simple as sharing your hobbies at a troop meeting, or giving girls a better understanding of the path they need to follow to have a career like yours.
To learn more about lending your support to the Girl Scout Leadership Experience contact Girl Scouts of Gateway Council at www.girlscouts-gateway.org or call 388-4653.
Vestcor Bridges Run raises $25k
More than 750 runners raced through the streets of Downtown to support local charities during the 14th annual Vestcor 5K Bridges Run July 18. The course began at Hemming Plaza and crossed over the Main Street and Acosta bridges with the finish line in front of City Hall on Duval Street.
In total, the event raised more than $25,000. All of the proceeds will benefit local nonprofit organizations such as Children’s Miracle Network, Arc of Jacksonville, Brooks Health Foundation, Shands Trauma One and Families First among others.
“Our company believes it’s important to ensure the success of local nonprofits and bring people to downtown Jacksonville,” said John Rood, chairman of The Vestcor Companies. “Every year the Vestcor 5K is becoming increasingly more popular. I am very pleased with this year’s turnout.”
Following the race participants celebrated with friends, coworkers and family during a block party at Hemming Plaza. The party was filled with live music, free hot dogs, free beer and other refreshments.
Seniors helping nonprofits
Barnabas International was awarded a two-year matching grant of $150,000 from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) to support their Seniors on a Mission program.
“The 350 Seniors on a Mission participants give thousand of volunteer hours annually, saving nonprofits thousands of dollars. More importantly, the program
provides mental, physical and spiritual support to seniors who desire to remain active and independent,” said Major Jim Arrowood, Area Commander of The Salvation Army of Northeast Florida.
The Salvation Army nominated Barnabas International for this RWJF Local Funding Partnerships grant. Local foundation funding partners helping to supply the matching dollars include the Jessie Ball duPont Fund, Ida M. Stevens Foundation, Riverside Hospital Foundation, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida and Jacksonville Rotary Foundation. Additionally, local donors have lent their support to the initiative in senior health and community involvement.
The Local Funding Partnerships (LFP) program is one of the most competitive national grantmaking programs of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The review process took nearly a year to complete. The LFP office received 127 applications from across the U.S. for the 2009 awards and only 11 projects (9 percent) were selected.
Seniors on a Mission engages live-alone senior citizens in meaningful, age-appropriate, team-oriented volunteerism for local nonprofit organizations. The project reduces the social isolation that can lead to depression and medical problems in older persons by providing safe, convenient transportation to accessible, comfortable places to work, a nutritious meal and coordination with the needs of area nonprofits.
The seniors’ pro bono services have been enthusiastically received for tasks such as bar-coding new elementary textbooks, labeling thousands of fundraising letters and repairing items donated to a clothing bank.
Last year through Seniors on a Mission, 7,738 hours of donated service time saved local nonprofit organizations $156,705. The seniors currently assist Clothing Warehouse/Dignity-U-Wear, First Coast Women’s Services, Healthy Start, Hope Haven Children’s Clinic, Housing Partnership, Jefferson Davis Middle School, Keepsafe Adult Daycare, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Project SOS, Salvation Army, Seamark Ranch Children’s Home, Word to Works, Let Us Play and YMCA of Florida’s First Coast. Seniors on a Mission is actively seeking additional nonprofits who would like to utilize the seniors’ services.
“This grant is the beginning of a new era in active aging. Community service is a great option for older people looking to enrich their lives, find purpose and support a community in desperate need of help. Barnabas encourages and supports seniors in their desire to maintain their independence as well as their mental, physical and spiritual well-being,” said Ted Brauch, first vice president, Private Wealth Management at SunTrust Bank and chairman of the board of Barnabas International, Inc. “It’s a great honor to be in a financial partnership with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and our local funding partners. But the real excitement comes from the fact that we can leverage this grant through matching donations. Thus Barnabas is able to triple the impact of donations with the added value that the seniors donate to our city in the form of their labor. It’s a win-win win situation.”
Seniors on a Mission currently works out of donated space in The Salvation Army Senior Center. The RWJF grant is the largest ever made to Barnabas International’s Seniors on a Mission program. The organization plans to use the funds to add additional staff to support the recent increase in senior participation in the program.
For information call Joanne Hickox at 507-4784, e-mail [email protected] or visit www.BIIJAX.org.