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 encourage our readers to become more aware of the needs of these worthy organizations as they continue to provide much-needed services with reduced resources.
St. Johns County students receive school supplies and more
The Players Championship and community partners helped more than 600 St. Johns County students return to school with the right supplies through the second Back-to-School Day on Saturday.
Through donations from PGA Tour employees, the community, St. Johns County Education Foundation, businesses and partners, students from The Webster School and those who qualify for the school district's A.S.S.I.S.T program received clothing, school supplies, health services and other social services.
"Back-to-School Day was a great example of a community coming together to help those in need," said Cathie Hurlburt, director of charitable outreach for the PGA Tour.
"We are thankful for the community partners and volunteers who helped us provide supplies, medical and dental services, and other resources and services to more than 600 children, allowing them to begin the school year prepared," she said.
More than 235 students received health screenings courtesy of St. Vincent's Mobile Health Unit, The Players Center for Child Health at Wolfson Children's Hospital, Vision is Priceless and the Speech and Hearing Center of Jacksonville.
About 5,000 clothing items from Dignity U Wear were distributed to the students and families.
Panache Salon, Philosophie Salon, Mane de Leon Salon, Salon 192 and Great Clips of Cobblestone Village provided 100 haircuts to attendees.
Walmart donated new backpacks and school supplies.
Alpha Omega provided a new pair of shoes for each student.
Colgate Bright Smiles, Bright Futures provided dental screenings and hygiene lessons to attendees.
Office Depot and Books-A-Go Go also contributed to the event.
"Without the help of The Players and our community partners, many St. Johns Country children would be going back to school without the proper supplies and resources needed to learn," said Joseph Joyner, St. Johns County School District superintendent.
In the past two years, The Players Back-to-School Day has helped more than 1,100 children in St. Johns County.
American Lung Association run and walk Aug. 17
Show your homage to the 1980s by dressing up to run back in time Aug. 17 with the American Lung Association at the Landing Downtown.
The certified 5K run will begin at 8 a.m. Runners and walkers can choose either a 3-mile or 1-mile fun run course. Awards will be given to the top three male and female finishers in various age categories.
A costume contest will be ongoing throughout the event and the best '80s-themed participants will be given a prize.
Funds raised through the event will support programs and services of the local office of the American Lung Association. Visit FightForAirRunWalkJacksonville.org for more information and to register.
The American Lung Association funds research on the causes and treatment of lung disease, advocates for clean air both indoors and out and provides education about the dangers of tobacco in any form.
The Donna Foundation celebrates first decade
The Donna Foundation is 10 years old. To commemorate the decade of service to people living with breast cancer in Northeast Florida, it announces "A Decade with Donna."
The foundation has partnered with Alhambra Theatre & Dining to present an evening to celebrate "A Decade with Donna." The event will include a pre-show reception, dinner and a show.
The featured show is "The Dixie Swim Club," a story of five Southern women who met on their college swim team and for 30 years have set aside a long weekend every August to meet at the same beach cottage on North Carolina's Outer Banks to recharge their relationships. Free from their husbands, children, and jobs, the ladies catch up, laugh and meddle in each other's lives.
One of the story lines in the show coincides with Donna's own story and how the foundation was started.
"A Decade with Donna" will be celebrated during the Alhambra's regular run and is scheduled at 6 p.m. Aug. 29. While tickets for a Thursday evening at the Alhambra are usually $49, tickets for this show are $75 with proceeds from the event supporting The Donna Foundation.
"In 10 years, The Donna Foundation has surpassed all of our goals and have now assisted over 6,500 women and raised over $2 million," said Donna Deegan.
"We continue our partnership with Catholic Charities who carefully screens each one of our recipients and ensures we are good stewards of our donations," she said.
Donna Deegan was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1999 and is a three-time breast cancer survivor. Through her battle, she was inspired to start The Donna Foundation, a nonprofit organization formed to raise money exclusively for women living with breast cancer.
The foundation assists women who are underinsured or the working poor to provide temporary financial assistance once they have been diagnosed with breast cancer.
Since 2008, the largest contributor is the 26.2 With Donna The National Marathon to Finish Breast Cancer. The Donna Foundation receives 30 percent of the proceeds and 70 percent is donated to Mayo Clinic's clinical trials for breast cancer.
Refreshed and rebranded in 2009, the Alhambra is the oldest continually operating dinner theater in the United States and the only professional resident theater in the area south of Atlanta, east of New Orleans and north of Orlando.
For ticket information, visit thedonnafoundation.org.
Main Street America Group supports local school
The Main Street America Group enabled Jacksonville's Woodland Acres Elementary School to finish the 2012-13 school year on a high note by hosting a field trip at its corporate headquarters for the entire fifth-grade class and conducting a summer reading book drive for the school's primary grade students.
The super-regional property/casualty insurance carrier already is gearing up for the 2013-14 school year by holding a supply drive and preparing its employees for their tutoring roles at the Duval County public school. The school is in Jacksonville's Arlington community.
The field trip, book drive, supply drive and on-site tutoring are elements of Main Street America's year-round partnership with Woodland Acres.
Main Street America also is funding a new community outreach initiative to better involve parents of Woodland Acres in their children's education. The business-school partnership is considered one of the success stories of the University of North Florida's College of Education and Human Services Urban Schools Program. The partnership between Main Street America and Woodland Acres began at the start of the 2009-10 school year.
"Main Street America is the model business partner," said Timothy Feagins, principal at Woodland Acres.
"We are so grateful to have a business partner like this that takes time out of their busy schedules to provide tutoring to our students on campus, hold book drives and supply drives, host field trips and fund our community outreach to help our students succeed in life," he said.
Main Street America's employees donated more than 500 books this year, enabling each primary grade student (kindergarten through second grade) to choose a book for summer reading. Extra books will be used by Woodland Acres teachers throughout the upcoming school year.
"The books provided by Main Street America were a blessing for all of my students," said teacher Hannah King. "Some of my students don't have any books to read at home and this experience allowed them to choose from a variety of books that they can take home and enjoy."
"My students were so grateful to get a free book," said teacher Nadine Williams.
"They could not believe that Main Street America really gave everyone a book at no cost. They were so excited about the books to the point that I had to stop my instruction in the classroom to allow them time to look through and share their books with their friends," she said.
JPMorgan Chase supports New Town project
Through the partnership that Habitat for Humanity of Jacksonville has developed with JPMorgan Chase, the organization has been able to continue its efforts of revitalizing New Town, the area just west of Downtown. The plans include building more than 100 new homes in the next three years.
JPMorgan Chase presented HabiJax with a donation for $35,000 that will go toward building a home for another Jacksonville family.
Since 2000, JPMorgan Chase has donated more than $275,000 to the local nonprofit and provided 114 volunteers who collectively contributed more than 900 hours of service.
For more information about HabiJax and how to attend a Homeownership Orientation Session, call (904) 798-4529.