The Duval County Master Electricians Association held its third annual Fun Shoot on Sept. 4 at the Jacksonville Skeet & Trap Club.
Each year the group chooses a benefiting charity for the event and this year it chose Community Hospice of Northeast Florida. The event raised $1,000 for Community Hospice to help patients and their families live better with advanced illness.
Established in 1979, Community Hospice of Northeast Florida is the only locally based, nonprofit hospice provider. Each day, through the support of more than 900 employees and 940 volunteers, the organization helps about 1,300 patients and their families live better with advanced illness.
During its 35-year history, Community Hospice has served more than 91,000 adults and children in Baker, Clay, Duval, Nassau and St. Johns counties.
To learn more about the support and services, visit communityhospice.com.
Cast your vote for Rethreaded
Rethreaded Inc. invites the community to cast their vote for Martha Stewart American Made 2014.
Rethreaded is competing against other national finalists, with the winner receiving $10,000. With the funds, Rethreaded would create a prevention program, empowering girls through business.
Rethreaded seeks to reverse the effects of the sex trade on a global and local level.
The nonprofit employs women coming out of the sex trade to create items made from up-cycled T-shirts. Products include pillows, “Freedom Band” headbands, “Grace” scarves and “Threads for Hope” bracelets. Each item purchased helps break the cycle of the sex trade and offers healing to the women affected by it.
Last year, Rethreaded received the top award given at One Spark, voted on by the people of Jacksonville.
The organization seeks to expand the momentum from One Spark with the opportunity to gain visibility nationwide through Martha Stewart American Made 2014.
Votes are accepted through Monday. Visit http://goo.gl/w8NTDB for voting instructions.
Dragon Boat Festival raises $114,000 for In the Pink
Thousands of athletes and spectators turned out Sept. 27 for the 2014 Fidelity Investments Jacksonville Dragon Boat Festival.
The St. Johns River provided the backdrop for 42 teams participating in the 2,000-year-old sport.
For the second year in a row, the Fire Breathers team from Charleston, S.C., took the top spot in the event by winning the Grand Champion Division A trophy and gold medals.
Trophies went to the top teams in each division and the top three teams in each also received medals.
A full list of award winners can be found at jacksonvilledragonboatfestival.com.
Additional activities lined the Downtown along the Northbank Riverwalk, which also housed the day’s official scoring tent and extended to interactive games by Jacksonville Scene.
Race teams donated $114,000, with proceeds supporting In the Pink, a nonprofit dedicated to helping men, women and children in Jacksonville and the surrounding area heal, cope and survive the effects of cancer.
Clay County Animal Care and Control wins $40K in $100K Challenge
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals announced Tuesday that Clay County Animal Care and Control in Green Cove Springs won Division Two of the 2014 ASPCA Rachael Ray $100K Challenge.
The shelter found homes for 1,049 pets during the three-month competition, an increase of 562 lives saved over the same period last year. It was awarded a total of $40,000 in grant funding from the ASPCA and television celebrity chef Rachael Ray.
Fifty animal shelter contestants worked to save more animals during the months of June, July and August than they did over the same three-month period in 2013. This year’s competing shelters saved a total of 68,805 cats and dogs during the contest, an increase of 16,789 over the same period in 2013.
Over the five years of the $100K Challenge – held annually since 2010 – contestants saved a total of 282,679 lives.
The ASPCA Rachael Ray $100K Challenge is a contest that challenges animal shelters across the country to come up with new ways to engage their communities and get more homeless cats and dogs into loving homes.
Sodexo Foundation scholarships and grants available
The application period for the Stephen J. Brady Stop Hunger Scholarship closes Dec. 5.
The program is sponsored by the Sodexo Foundation.
This year’s application drive urges students to #Get5Give5 and impact millions.
Students from K-12 through graduate school are eligible to apply by visiting sodexofoundation.org.
Hunger statistics have remained relatively unchanged over the past few years, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which reports 49 million people living in the U.S. being at risk of hunger, nearly 16 million of them children.
Each year, Sodexo Foundation recognizes youth initiatives that work to improve the quality of life for children and families who are impacted by hunger in local communities.
Up to five national scholarship recipients will be selected based on their ongoing work to fight hunger, with each receiving a $5,000 scholarship and a matching $5,000 grant for their anti-hunger charity of choice. Sodexo Foundation will recognize up to 20 Stop Hunger Regional Honorees with a $1,000 donation for their preferred hunger-relief charities.
To date, Sodexo Foundation has recognized 130 Stop Hunger Regional Honorees with grants totaling $130,000 for their hunger-relief charities.
In addition, it has awarded 40 recipients with $360,000 in scholarships and matching grants for the hunger-relief charities of their choice.
To be eligible, students must be enrolled in an accredited education institution (kindergarten through graduate school) in the United States and be able to demonstrate a commitment to hunger-relief activities in their community.
Scholarship recipients will be announced June 15 at the 16th Annual Sodexo Foundation Dinner.
$25,000 services grant offered by Wingard Creative
Wingard Creative is accepting applications for the Wishing Well, its pro-bono initiative.
The program, now in its second year, will award $25,000 in creative services such as brand development, graphic design, website design and development, and copywriting to one nonprofit organization.
Application instructions are available at wingardcreative.com/wishingwell.
Nonprofits may submit an application for the Wishing Well through Nov. 14.
The winning organization will be announced Dec. 22.
In addition to providing one organization with $25,000 in creative services, the agency has created a new policy that will allow each full-time employee to use 12 hours of company time per year to volunteer at a local nonprofit.
A total of 200 hours, equivalent to $25,000 in billable hours, will be allocated for the program next year.
This year, the Wishing Well program awarded a total of $50,000 in creative services to City Rescue Mission, the Emergency Services and Homeless Coalition of Northeast Florida, First Coast No More Homeless Pets, Friends of Jacksonville Animals, the Marion County Children’s Alliance, Matanzas Riverkeeper, Riverside Presbyterian Day School, OneJax, The Seaside Playgarden, St. Johns Riverkeeper, St. Mark’s Episcopal Day School and the Tom Coughlin Jay Fund.
Justice Coalition launches text campaign
The Justice Coalition has a new way to stay in touch with the community.
It is are now set up to communicate with a new text messaging system. New billboards are going up around town that ask people to text JUSTICE to 84464.
When submitted, the sender will receive a link to a video explaining the mission of the Justice Coalition.
Senders also have the option of texting Isupportjustice to 84464 to create a mobile wallet and donate to the organization.
“We want to make it as easy as possible for everyone to learn about the Justice Coalition and our mission of helping innocent victims of violent crime,” said Ann Dugger, coalition executive director.
In addition to the donation and video message, the Justice Coalition will be able to spread its message via mobile phones to communicate directly to volunteers, supporters and the community about events, opportunities, updates on cases.
For more information on the campaign, visit justicecoalition.org.