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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 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.
Volunteers aiding the elderly
Hart Felt Ministries has been selected “Best of Jacksonville – Senior Citizen Services” for the second consecutive year by the U.S. Local Business Association. The USLBA recognizes outstanding local businesses for achieving exceptional success and enhancing the positive image of small business through service to their community and clients.
Hart Felt is a faith-based non-profit organization that utilizes a network of community volunteers to provide non-medical support, companionship and advocacy for frail elderly age 60 years or more who require assistance to continue living independently. Services are provided at no charge and range from friendly visits and respite for family caregivers to transportation, housekeeping chores, yard cleanup, grocery shopping, minor home repairs and the construction of wheelchair ramps. Volunteers must be at least 18 years of age, are carefully screened and trained and get to choose who, where, when and how they serve.
Incorporated in 2003, Hart Felt Ministries was founded by Jane Hart. Having lived in Atlanta for more 20 years, she visited Jacksonville on a first-time, one-day business trip in 1999 and left knowing this was where she was supposed to live and here was where God wanted this work to begin.
The reason became clear as Hart researched the needs of Jacksonville’s senior population and found that of the approximate 100,000 residents age 65 or older 30 percent live alone, almost half have one or more disabilities that prevent them from accomplishing their daily tasks and about 10,000 of them face those challenges all alone with no one to lend a helping hand or a listening ear. Many have lost connection to their family, friends, neighbors, church and community and have become both vulnerable to and distrustful of strangers. Many also live in homes and neighborhoods that have slowly deteriorated around them.
Hart Felt launched July 1, 2004 with one volunteer, one client and a Faith in Action seed grant from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Since that time, 221 volunteers have donated 26,000 hours of service to 433 clients providing more 15,000 individual acts of kindness.
Hart Felt’s story is one filled by steps of faith and acts of love and compassion and its mission is all about neighbors helping neighbors. Volunteers form strong bonds of friendship with their clients, advocate for them as their needs change and have often been the only one at their bedside as their lives end. The organization’s 150 active volunteers served 290 clients and donated 8,600 hours of service to Jacksonville in the last year.
Hart Felt has a waiting list of 250 potential clients throughout Duval County that continues to grow as word of the organization spreads. For more information on how to become a client, volunteer or donor contact Jane Hart at 538-0306 or visit www.hartfelt.org.
Walking to find a cure for cystic fibrosis
Thousands of Northeast Floridians recently walked for a cure during the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s “Great Strides” events. The foundation raised a record-breaking $258,000 during the series of walks.
“We employed a grassroots campaign for Great Strides this year and reached out to some tremendous teams and walkers who raised an extraordinary amount of money for the foundation,” said Jody Adams, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Advisory Board chair in North Florida and owner of Adams Interior Contractors, the title sponsor of this year’s walks.
Participants walked 10 kilometers or 6.2 miles for a cure and celebrated after with food and refreshments provided by local sponsors.
Other Great Strides local sponsors included Roy Williams Sheet Metal, T.C. Cochran Painting, Kohl’s, Callahan Body & Paint, Carter’s Pharmacy, Advanced Disposal, Cook Electrical, Crowne Plaza Jacksonville Riverfront, Harris Guidi, Best Buy, Outback Steakhouse, Crispers, St. Vincent’s, Winn-Dixie, Alpha Mortgage Associates, Inc. and the Bonefish Grill of Mandarin.
“It is because of our generous sponsors and supporters throughout the First Coast that we were able to reach a milestone and raise more money for the foundation than ever before with Great Strides,” said Claudia Werner, executive director of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in North Florida. “There is so much research that needs to be funded and the dollars we generate help ensure that vital cystic fibrosis research can continue.”
For more information, visit www.cff.org or call the North Florida CFF office at 733-3560.
Microbrewer hosting fundraiser for LLS
Seven Bridges restaurant at Tinseltown is hosting a fundraiser to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society July 14 at 6 p.m. In addition to a donation for each glass of “LLS Beer” sold that evening, the wait staff will ask patrons to add a donation to their check from now until July 14 in a “Go Bald for Blood Cancer” competition. The server who raises the most money will earn the privilege of shaving the head of the general manager or lead chef.
For more information call 332-6414 or visit www.lls.org/nfl.
Reeboks for Sulzbacher
The Maurice Jones-Drew Foundation donated 161 pairs of children’s shoes to the Sulzbacher Center during a weekend of fun for nine boys and nine girls living at the center. The children were invited by Jones-Drew to participate in his annual football camp. The camp was open to the general public, youth ages 8-15, and limited to 200 participants.
All of the children who attended the camp received a T-shirt, backpack, Jaguars hat and a pair of Reebok shoes. More pairs of new shoes were donated to the Sulzbacher Center to be distributed to future residents.
Jones-Drew also donated a signed poster print of himself and the Jaguars in action on the football field that will displayed in the Sulzbacher Center’s Barnett Children’s Building.
$1 million for autism
The HEAL! Foundation, a local organization dedicated to helping individuals in North Florida with autism and their families, has reached its goal of raising more than $1 million for programs to help Northeast Florida children with autism.
With the support of The Players Championship, HEAL’s 3rd Annual “Valley of Dreams” Gala and Golf Classic at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach raised nearly $300,000 from silent and live auctions along with the Bobby Weed-Pete Dye Charity Golf Classic.
The “Valley of Dreams” galas in 2007 and 2008 raised a combined $800,000. All of the money raised to date will benefit individuals in the area who are on the autism spectrum through a wide array of grants, seminars and educational programs.
Since its inception, the HEAL Foundation has assisted more than 500 autistic children in Jacksonville through specialized programs, camps, educational enhancements and financial aid for those in need. A portion of funds raised is being set aside to one day build “The HEAL House,” a local facility that will provide services and therapy to those who suffer from autism.
Two grants for Episcopal Children’s Services
The Jaguars Foundation awarded $19,500 over three years to Episcopal Children’s Services to support the “Men Matter” program at nine area Head Start and Early head Start centers. This year marks the third year the foundation has funded the program for a total investment of $38,520.
The goal of the “Men Matter” initiative is to increase the role fathers play in the healthy development of their children by encouraging and supporting male involvement in the community. The program consists of monthly father-child activities that give fathers the opportunity to learn positive parenting practices that support the child’s learning, discuss parenting challenges with other fathers and spend quality time with their children.
ECS also received a $2,500 grant from Comcast to fund a parent education project in Orange Park. The goal of the program is to help young children succeed in school by educating parents about the most positive ways to impact their development. Over the past three years, Comcast has donated a total of $17,500 to the effort.
Established in 1966, ECS provides programs to more than 27,000 children each year and is the largest not-for-profit child care agency in Northeast Florida.