from staff
Highlighting Jacksonville’s Philanthropic Community
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.
Chair named for Arthritis Walk
The Arthritis Foundation has named Nathan Johnson event chair of the 2010 Jacksonville Arthritis Walk. Other members who will serve with Johnson on the Arthritis Walk committee are sponsorship chair Sarah Beekman, public relations chair Tiffany Googin, mission chair Jim Minton, logistics chair Sherri Louer, online fundraising chair Stacy Harper and team development chair Allyson Doerr.
Johnson is the director of rehabilitation for Spine & Sport, a physical therapy clinic. He works with people with arthritic conditions to decrease their pain and improve their function in the clinic and wanted to extend that effort into the community.
“By teaming up and participating in the Arthritis Walk, corporations and individuals can make a difference in the lives of 46 million Americans, and nearly 300,000 children, who suffer from arthritis,” said Johnson.
Teams are forming now for the Arthritis Walk May 15 at Municipal Stadium. To join the Let’s Move Together movement and sign up for the 2010 Arthritis Walk, log on to 2010awjax.kintera.org or contact Spine & Sport at 370-1040.
Vistakon supports Dreams Come True
Dreams Come True has received a $5,000 grant from Vistakon to support the nonprofit’s programs and services.
Michael Whitehead, worldwide vice president of information technology for Johnson & Johnson and a Vistakon representative, was recently appointed to the Dreams Come True board of directors.
Founded in 1984, Dreams Come True has fulfilled dreams for almost 2,600 children in Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia. Dreams Come True applies 100 percent of all donations, unless otherwise specified, go directly to the dreams of children battling life-threatening illnesses. For more information about Dreams Come True, call 296-3030 or visit www.dreamscometrue.org.
Arts awards gala Friday at Deerwood
Cathedral Arts Project will honor Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida with the 2010 Guardian of the Arts Award at Spring for the Arts Friday. The annual award recognizes exceptional efforts in safeguarding and advancing the arts along the First Coast.
Honorary chairs Joan Newton, chairman emeritus of Regency Centers Corp., and Russell Newton, chairman of Timucuan Asset Management, will present the award.
The sixth annual gala is at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Deerwood Country Club. The 2009 event raised $358,000 and organizers plan to exceed that this year.
The event will feature fine wines from Southern Wine & Spirits and from the award-winning vineyards of Fidelity National Financial Chairman Bill Foley, along with a silent and live auction and dining. All proceeds directly benefit the programs of Cathedral Arts, the largest provider of after-school arts programming in Northeast Florida.
For more information on Spring for the Arts, contact Melanie Messer, director of community relations, at 281-5599, ext. 18. Sponsors for the event include EverBank, Fidelity National Financial, Regency Centers and Bank of America.
Grants awarded for mental health services
The Florida BrAIve Fund, a fund at The Community Foundation in Jacksonville, has awarded 10 grants totaling more than $917,000 to organizations that help North Florida military service personnel and their families during the transition from active duty in Afghanistan and Iraq to U.S. civilian life.
The conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq are unusual in many respects, among them the large percentage of service personnel who have experienced multiple deployments and the presence of large numbers of National Guard and Reserve troops who might lack the support and infrastructure available to traditional branches of service. Consequently, more returning service personnel are experiencing mental health challenges after deployment and the challenges are more pronounced.
The grants included:
• $130,000 to Zero to Three to develop and provide three 45-60 minute training models for medical professionals across North Florida that will assist them in identifying and caring for children who are suffering emotional or physical stress as a result of a family member’s deployment.
• $75,000 to Jewish Family & Community Services to provide individual, couples, family and group counseling services to military veterans and families affected by deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan.
• $75,000 to the Greater Jacksonville Area USO Inc. to provide mental health professionals at its family support group meetings and to make appropriate referrals to clinical mental health services.
• $72,420 to the Life Management Center in Panama City to provide specialized behavioral health services and supported employment services to Iraq and Afghanistan military veterans and their families.
• $50,000 to Vets4Vets to create a peer support group for Iraq and Afghanistan-era veterans in Northeast Florida and provide connections to community and nonprofit resources, as well as additional mental/behavioral health services.
• $31,000 to the Marion County Veterans Helping Veterans in Ocala to provide counseling, advocacy and integration into the VA system and to individually assist veterans in Marion and Levy counties, and their families, with the community and government services and benefits available.
• $217,046 to the University of North Florida to establish a Veterans Resource Center on campus to provide mental health and disability counseling on campus and to expand the military competency and capacity through the development of a military counseling curriculum and expansion of the counseling student interns working with active duty military and veteran students.
• $79,623 to Florida State College at Jacksonville to support its AI Veterans-2 Students Project. The project includes conducting a campus needs assessment to inform programming in order to improve services for Iraq and Afghanistan student veterans and implementation of a pilot Student Life Skills course designed to meet the needs of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.
• $75,000 to Sante Fe College in Gainesville to support its “Current War Student Veteran Leadership Initiative.”
• $5,000 to the Milton Elks Lodge in Milton to support its Operation Connect-Vet program, which provides transportation for veterans to the Veteran Administration Joint Ambulatory Care Center and Pensacola Naval Hospital in Escambia County.
• $107,000 to the Military Spouse Corporate Career Network to provide intensive support to North Florida spouses of those deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq who are seeking employment.
The Florida BrAIve Fund was established at The Community Foundation in Jacksonville and two other Florida-based community foundations in 2008 with funds from the Iraq-Afghanistan Deployment Impact Fund of the Los Angeles-based California Community Foundation.
The Florida BrAIve Fund at The Community Foundation in Jacksonville has awarded more than $2.8 million in grants to date. The Community Foundation in Jacksonville works to stimulate philanthropy in order to build a better community. The oldest community foundation in Florida, it has assets of $141 million.
Walk to cure diabetes
Emily Williams, 14, a type 1 diabetic from Ponte Vedra, is being honored by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation as the Youth Ambassador for the 2010 Walk to Cure Diabetes.
Each year, the foundation chooses a child with type 1 diabetes to serve as its Youth Ambassador. The Youth Ambassadors raise awareness about the need for funding for diabetes research. Through their presence at corporate events, programs and fundraising activities, the Youth Ambassadors communicate the importance of finding a cure for type 1 diabetes and its complications.
“It’s so important to me to find a cure not only for myself but also for my friends who are having to live with the day-to-day struggles of having type 1 diabetes,” said Williams. “I can’t wait for the day when I can eat a meal and not have to prick my finger and give myself a shot.”
Anyone interested in registering for the 2010 Walk to Cure Diabetes can contact the North Florida foundation at 739-2101 or visit www.walk.jdrf.org.
Realtors present fishing tournament for charity
For the seventh consecutive year, the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors will raise funds for the Haven Hospice Roberts Care Center in Palatka through a catch-and-release Charity Bass Fishing Tournament March 27.
The association donates 100 percent of all proceeds raised to Haven Hospice, and has donated more than $108,000 over the past six years.
For details, including boaters registration forms and event sponsorship information, visit www.nefarcharitablebasstournament.org or contact Nancie Zimmerman or Glenn East at 394-9494.
The Northeast Florida Association of Realtors is headquartered in Jacksonville with satellite service centers in Orange Park, Jacksonville Beach, World Golf Village and Palatka. It serves more than 5,400 Realtor and affiliate members in Duval, Clay, Putnam and St. Johns counties.
Mission seeks volunteers
City Rescue Mission is seeking groups to sponsor its Supper Club program. The Supper Club offers organizations the opportunity to select the dinner menu and serve a meal to the homeless.
“The Supper Club is a great way for an organization to serve the homeless,” said Patrick Hayle, executive director, City Rescue Mission. “In addition to helping the needy, Supper Club promotes teamwork and facilitates learning for volunteers. It is a great opportunity for churches, schools, businesses and other organizations to come together.”
The Supper Club is open for groups to sponsor as many meals as they would like. Group members work with chefs at either the New Life Inn or the Christian Recovery Institute campus for City Rescue Mission’s LifeBuilders program to select and prepare a meal. The group then serves and shares fellowship with homeless and needy persons that evening. Supper Club is also available for lunch service.
For more information, call Kathi Crothers at 421-5157.