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 believe would be of interest to our readers. Email 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.
'Project Future' aids students
The cafeteria at Hilliard Middle Senior High School looked more like a corporate job fair than a lunch room March 21, when 120 students in grades 8-12 filed in with resumes for a chance to interview with local executives.
There were few "real" jobs available, but the students — part of Communities In Schools' Project Future program — gained real-world experience.
The Interview Challenge was the culmination of an interview-skills program taught to the students by organization Executive Director Susan Milana.
Executives from different industries volunteered their time to provide practice interviews, feedback and career information.
Each interviewee was scored based on answers to standard interview questions, with the top-scoring candidates receiving medals.
The students had an opportunity to choose an interviewer from an industry of interest.
Organizations providing volunteer interviewers for the day were RockTenn; Nassau County government; Nassau County Sheriff's Department; Okeefenokee Rural Electric Management Corp.; Wells Fargo; FNB South; the Federal Aviation Administration; Guardian ad Litem; Web.com; the U.S. Army; the U.S. Navy; the U.S. Air National Guard; Iron Workers Local 597; Walmart; Winn-Dixie and Publix.
Tim Tebow Foundation golf tournament Friday and Saturday at TPC Sawgrass
Tim Tebow will host his annual Tim Tebow Foundation Celebrity Gala & Golf Classic on Friday and Saturday at TPC Sawgrass.
The weekend's events begin Friday evening with an invitation-only Celebrity Gala that features a Hollywood-style red-carpet reception.
On Saturday, Tebow will host a tournament incorporating games and activities into each hole of the course.
He will join a list of celebrities that includes athletes, actors, entertainers and media members from across the country who are taking part.
Fans can be involved in the weekend's events in two ways. A limited number of tables are available for purchase at the Friday evening Celebrity Gala and fans also can purchase tickets to watch the golf tournament that begins at 9 a.m. Saturday.
Tickets are available for $25 for adults and $15 for attendees 18-and-under.
The funds raised through the weekend's events will support the Tim Tebow Foundation.
For more information about the foundation, its mission and the Tim Tebow Foundation Celebrity Golf Tournament, visit timtebowfoundation.org.
'An Evening of Taste' April 28
Tickets are on sale for the 10th anniversary of "An Evening of Taste with Chef Matthew Medure" scheduled 5:30-8 p.m. April 28.
Medure is again opening the doors to his San Marco restaurant at 2107 Hendricks Ave. to benefit the Children's Home Society of Florida Buckner Division.
It will showcase local culinary skills paired with silent auction items and live music by The Murray Goff Connection.
Tickets are $150 per person and include a menu of the food presented by Medure and a selection of wines.
Chartered in Jacksonville in 1902, Children's Home Society of Florida is dedicated to embracing children and inspiring lives.
For tickets, visit chsfl.org/eveningoftaste, call (904) 493-7739 or email Eric Scott at [email protected].
Nonprofit in the running for $25,000 grant
The Jacksonville community can support a local cultural program for foster teens to receive a $25,000 grant by casting daily votes on Facebook.
The State Farm Neighborhood Assist program, a crowdsourced philanthropic initiative that lets communities determine where grant funding is awarded. It has selected Family Support Services of North Florida's "Just Like Me" program as one of the top 200 causes across the country, selected from 3,000 program entries.
The "Just Like Me" program is an arts and education summer camp for 16- and 17-year-old youth in foster care.
Using self-expressive art through dance, drama, song, creative writing, videography or visual art, the teens tell their stories, share their feelings and divulge their hopes and dreams as they deal with the sense of loss, trauma, abandonment and inconsistency that comes with being in foster care.
If the public chooses the three-week cultural arts experience as one of the Top 40 causes, the local program for teens in foster care will receive a $25,000 grant.
Votes are cast on Facebook by downloading a free Neighborhood Assist Facebook app.
To vote for the organization's "Just Like Me" cultural arts program, visit www.stateassist.com/cause/3971/just-like-me.