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.
Tournament raises $100k for kids
The Florida Chapter of the Club Managers Association of America partnered with Mark and Stacy Brunell as well as Circle K Furniture April 17-18 to host the 19th Annual Mark Brunell Club Managers for Kids Charity Gala and Golf Tournament.
“I am very thankful for the opportunity to be partnered with the club managers for another successful charity event. I’m so proud of all of our sponsors, volunteers and participants who have truly made a difference in the lives of so many children in our community. I’m especially thankful for our title sponsor Circle K Furniture for their commitment and generosity,” said Brunell.
Both events raised more than $100,000 for the Mark Brunell Family Foundation, Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and Special Olympics of Duval County.
John McGuire, COO and co-owner of Circle K Furniture, said he was “extremely proud to be part of such a wonderful event. It was indeed a pleasure to help such wonderful causes. We anticipate growing our community involvement, and are committed to being the title sponsor for this event for as long as Mark Brunell would like for us to do so. Mark truly is the kind of moral person that any company or charity would want to align themselves with.”
Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals is a nonprofit organization dedicated to saving and improving the lives of children by raising funds for children’s hospitals across North America. Each year, more than 170 Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals provide medical care, life-saving research and preventative education to help millions of kids overcome diseases and injuries of every kind. Locally, Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals of Northeast Florida/Southeast Georgia benefits the pediatric programs at Shands Jacksonville and Wolfson Children’s Hospital.
$900k to revitalize communities
The Jessie Ball duPont Fund and The Community Foundation in Jacksonville have come together to invest $900,000 in LISC Jacksonville to support a new broad-based effort to revitalize communities in Duval County.
Leaders of both foundations are challenging the community to raise an additional $2 million to fully fund LISC Jacksonville’s EPIC (Empower People and Inspire Change) Communities initiative.
“LISC Jacksonville has a proven track record in our community of helping local people build safe, stable neighborhoods that nurture strong families and healthy young people,” said Sherry Magill, president of the Jessie Ball duPont Fund.
To support the initiative, trustees of the Jessie Ball duPont Fund have approved a $750,000 investment and the trustees of The Community Foundation have approved a $150,000 investment.
The total cost of the EPIC campaign is about $6.5 million, said LISC Jacksonville Executive Director Janet Owens, with about $4 million raised to date from a variety of funders, including LISC’s national office.
“One of the strengths of LISC is its ability to bring national investment to Jacksonville,” said Nina Waters, president of The Community Foundation. “As a national organization, it has a broad network of investors who recognize the critical importance of growing strong communities.”
LISC Jacksonville opened its offices in Jacksonville in the late 1990s, spurred by invitations from the Jessie Ball duPont Fund, The Community Foundation and the Jaguars Foundation. Since then, LISC Jacksonville has invested almost $42 million in Jacksonville, working in some of the city’s most challenged neighborhoods.
The EPIC Communities initiative will focus initially on two pilot communities in urban Jacksonville with the goal of nurturing resident-led improvements supported by LISC Jacksonville’s financial investment.
To learn more about LISC Jacksonville and the EPIC Communities initiatives, visit www.liscjacksonville.org.
The Jessie Ball duPont Fund makes grants to more than 330 eligible organizations identified by duPont in her will. The Fund has assets of more than $281 million and has awarded $303 million in grants since 1977.
The Community Foundation in Jacksonville, Florida’s oldest community foundation, works to stimulate philanthropy to build a better community. It has assets of $154 million and has made grants in excess of $170 million since 1964.
Picnic in the Park Benefits Community PedsCare
Table captains created 28 different themes to entice and entertain their friends and guests for dinner at “Picnic in the Park” held at Pablo Creek Reserve Central Park April 14.
The “dinner with a twist” was designed by event chairs Willow Logue, Jill McGriff and Ingrid Perdikis, and presented by Stellar Foundation to share information and build support for Community PedsCare, the nationally recognized pediatric palliative and hospice program of Community Hospice of Northeast Florida.
The event also raised more than $16,000 to help children with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions.
Zoo hosts water safety fair
The Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens is hosting the Kohl’s Family Water Safety Fair at the Splash Ground, 10:30 a.m-2:30 p.m. Saturday, presented by Safe Kids Northeast Florida and led by Wolfson Children’s Hospital.
“We are very proud to host Safe Kids Water Safety Day to help educate the public on this most important topic,” said Janet Johnson, deputy director of the Zoo. “It is our hope that the instruction from this organization and its partners will result in lives being saved.”
For more than 96 years, the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens has been dedicated to inspiring discovery and appreciation of wildlife through innovative experience in a caring environment. Since its beginning in 1914, with an animal collection that consisted of only one red deer fawn, the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens has become one of the top zoos in the nation. It now features more than 1,800 rare and exotic animals and over 1,000 unique plant species. Preservation of sustainable biodiversity is a key mission of the Zoo.
The Zoo is a nonprofit organization and an accredited member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
For more information, go to www.jacksonvillezoo.org.