Give for Good breaks records for a causeGive for Good breaks records for a cause

Patrons enjoy lunch at the Red River District form one of three food trucks there in support of Cohab and Give for Good day.(Photo: Douglas Collier/The Times)

Give for Good, a 24-hour fundraiser for nonprofits in North Louisiana, outpaced its inaugural year even before it began at midnight Tuesday.

And then the money started rolling in.

Compared to the 77 organizations asking for a one-day give-till-it-hurts boost participating in 2014, there were 156 organizations in the mix this year, according to Jennifer Steadman, the Community Foundation of North Louisiana director of external relations

aWeare way ahead of where we were last year at this time,a Steadman said during the late afternoon hours. At 7 p.m., Holy Angels had collected the most money a $241,868.

A contributing factor to more organizations and donors, Steadman said, is a bolstered awareness of the campaign in its sophomore year.

Give for Good is a community-wide day of giving, but the benefits was more than monetary.

aOne of the intentions is to raise awareness and attract new donors,a Steadman said.

Events popped up across the area with entertainment, food specials and other activities for the public.

Cohab celebrated both its 5th anniversary and Give for Good campaign with a lunchtime event with food trucks lining the Red River Entertainment District and a pub crawl later in the evening.

Samantha Iraca elected new president of Lambertville Area Education Foundation | NJ.com Pictured is Samantha Iraca who has been elected to the Lambertville Area Education Foundation, as its new president. (courtesy photo)Hunterdon County Democrat

Tower repairs advance – Daily Jefferson County Union: News

The Fort Atkinson City Council on Tuesday approved two contracts with Utility Service Group of Atlanta to complete repairs at the historic 1901 watertower.

Funds for the repair work were secured from three sources: the Fort Atkinson Community Foundation has pledged $8,000, the city has approved one-third of the cost up to a $10,000 maximum to come from the room tax funds, and fundraising by the Fort Atkinson Historic Preservation Commission raised $12,977.

However, a restoration process led by the Fort Atkinson Historic Preservation Commission began in 2003 after local residents learned of the cityas plans to raze the tower, which has stood across from the current Fort Atkinson Middle School on the cityas east side for the past 114 years.

There also were grants from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Jeffris Foundation and the Fort Atkinson Community Foundation.

Both the Jeffris Foundation and Fort Atkinson Community Foundation provided grants of $70,000 to cover two-thirds of Phase II of the project in 2009.

Copyright 2015, Daily Jefferson County Union, Fort Atkinson, WI.

Kimball International-Habig Foundation contributes $50,000 for Stellar

Participating in the check presentation were Julie Heitz-Cassidy (Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, Kimball International), Bob Schneider (Chairman of the Board and CEO, Kimball International), Mayor Dennis Spinner, Greg Kincer (Vice President, Corporate Development, Kimball International), and Nicole Kreilein (Dubois County Community Foundation).

The Kimball International-Habig Foundation has made a $50,000 contribution to the Huntingburg Stellar Community Project.

According to Kimball International CEO and Chairman of the Board Bob Schneider, “We believe the Stellar Communities projects will assist local employers in not only retaining current employees but also attracting new employees to the county. “The Stellar Communities Project has the potential to touch all aspects of our communities, enhancing their sense of place and building more vibrant, stronger communities, which in turn, helps local employers to recruit and retain excellent employees in our area.”

The City of Huntingburg and Dubois County Community Foundation continue a partnership to build a $1.8 million endowment by aligning the philanthropic sector to assure community projects are sustained with perpetual resources.

Each day, Jacksonville’s arts and culture community enriches our city as a whole and our quality of life as individual citizens.

But occasionally, our arts and culture community is too passive in touting its massive impact across the city.

And, too often, it hasn’t been proactive in using its influence to demand a seat at the table when city leaders make decisions on major issues.

“The cultural community has been a little whiny about not being included,” said Hope McMath, director of the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens. There’s not an issue that the arts and culture community can’t play a role in (addressing).”

WORKING TOGETHER

For Numa Saisselin, president of the Florida Theatre, the challenge has been about getting organizations to move out of their individual silos within Jacksonville’s cultural circle and to “play nice with others” for the good of the whole community.

It’s about looking “to expand the circle,” Saisselin said.

To that end, the Cummer and Florida Theatre are among 50 area institutions and organizations in Cultural Fusion, a loosely formed coalition working to make sure the arts and culture community has a voice that’s heard and acknowledged on the city issues.

THE YEAR OF THE RIVER

McMath, Saisselin and Jacksonville Dance Theatre creative director Tiffany Fish were part of a contingent of local arts and culture leaders who recently met with the Times-Union editorial board to lay out Cultural Fusion’s recent progress.

The group is dedicating 2015 to raising community awareness about the St. Johns River is our region’s most important natural resource.

ONE ARTISTIC, CULTURAL VOICE

It’s a fact that Cultural Fusion will admirably embrace during its “Year of the River” campaign.

Cultural Fusion members will work in tandem to hold exhibits, special programs, performances and other creative events focusing on the St. Johns’ natural beauty to its geographic importance.

It’s an inspiring undertaking that deserves applause.

“We’re trying to use our collective assets to make the community better,” McMath said of Cultural Fusion’s members.

And they are.

If to paraphrase Shakespeare Jacksonville is a stage and we all have our roles to play on it, Cultural Fusion is playing its part very well.

What: Community Foundation Santa Cruz County works to distribute millions of dollars in funding to nonprofits and other organizations each year.

Who: 905 organizations and individuals received the funds.

How much: The foundation distributed $13,432,405 in awards in 2014.

Details:

Source: Community Foundation Santa Cruz County

SANTA CRUZ >> More than 900 organizations received more than $13.4 million in funding through Community Foundation Santa Cruz County in 2014.

The foundation works with individuals and organizations who want to help organizations through philanthropy. “We’re helping nonprofits understand donors and helping donors understand nonprofits with the endgame being making this a better place.”

A report released by the foundation, which is a nonprofit itself, detailed the 905 recipients of the $13.4 million in funding distributed in 2014. “There’s no way that we would be able to do that kind of work at the level we’re doing without the support of the community foundation.”

Watsonville Wetlands Watch, which received $59,000 through the foundation, depends on the funding for its educational youth program and wetlands restoration efforts.

“Our programs are exclusively reliant on foundation grants, whether it’s the community foundation or other organizations,” she said.

Outside of working with donors, the foundation also hosts workshops for other nonprofits to help them grow and serve their mission, he said.

“Our job is to create more opportunities for donors to invest in our community and come up with creative ways of partnering with entities,” Linares said.

Grants, awards by the numbers

What: Community Foundation Santa Cruz County works to distribute millions of dollars in funding to nonprofits and other organizations each year.

Who: 905 organizations and individuals received the funds.

How much: The foundation distributed $13.4 million in awards in 2014.

Details: www.cfscc.org

Source: Community Foundation Santa Cruz County.

Buoyed by the potential for $225,000 in private donations, city officials are considering a proposal to add four baseball diamonds at Fancyburg Park.

Bear Cub Baseball, a Little League organization based in Upper Arlington, and a foundation which city officials said wants to remain anonymous have offered to pay half the estimated $450,000 needed to build the four new baseball fields.

The proposal still requires approvals from the Upper Arlington Board of Zoning Appeals and Upper Arlington City Council. It is expected to be reviewed by the city’s parks and recreation advisory board during a public meeting May 27.

Additionally, the city may hire a professional consultant to provide greater detail about how the addition of four baseball fields could be achieved, and if other features at the park — including parking facilities, drainage and current walking paths — might be affected.

“(Bear Cub Baseball) had a vision for park improvements at Fancyburg and they were prepared to bring money to the table,” Upper Arlington City Manager Ted Staton said during a May 4 council conference session.

Staton said preliminary discussions have called for a “wagon wheel” configuration of four new fields added to two existing fields at Fancyburg.

“This allows much of the Little League baseball activity to be concentrated,” he said.

Bear Cub Baseball would provide $75,000 for the additions, Staton said, and the anonymous foundation would contribute $150,000 to the project.

The city’s share for the improvements currently is estimated at $225,000.

According to its website, Bear Cub Baseball has a total of six divisions for children ages 4 to 12.

Council Vice President Debbie Johnson said 873 youths are participating in the league this year.

If the proposal is approved, Staton said his office and the Upper Arlington Parks and Recreation Department would recommend converting two current baseball fields at Northwest Park into fields for other sports, such as lacrosse or soccer.

City Parks and Recreation Department Director Todd Younkin said a renovated Fancyburg would help Bear Cub Baseball maintain its spring seasons while baseball fields at Northam Park are unavailable due to redevelopment work there.

Northam’s redevelopment is now being planned. The city expects to invest approximately $10 million in that project, while the Upper Arlington Community Foundation plans to raise as much as another $7 million for the improvements.

“One of the benefits (of the Fancyburg proposal) is taking the pressure off Northam Park during the two years it’s out of commission,” Younkin said.

Councilman Mike Schadek called the Fancyburg proposal a “great idea conceptually,” but said more parking would have to added to the park or the project could have negative impacts on surrounding neighborhoods.

Johnson also asked for more review of parking and potential drainage issues that could arise if the park is redeveloped, and Councilman Erik Yassenoff said the city would need to be careful not to affect other youth sports programs by making Fancyburg a more baseball-focused park.

“This is a major park for (the Northwest Kiwanis Club) in terms of the soccer program,” Yassenoff said.

Staton said additional study would take place while the proposal receives public input and review by the parks and rec advisory board and BZAP.

However, the foundation could decide against funding the improvements if the reviews take too long, he said.

“This foundation wants to spend this money quickly,” Staton said.

In other action Monday, council entered executive session at the end of the public portion of its meeting following a motion by Johnson, a second by Yassenoff and a unanimous roll-call vote.

Council President Don Leach said the private session was called to discuss the potential purchase of land and economic development issues protected by provisions in the Ohio Revised Code allowing private discussion of confidential information.

Rock-A-Thon, a biennial fundraiser, ran from April 23 to 25 and raised $132,000 for the American Cancer Society.

Rock-A-Thon co-chairmen Mason Bikshorn and Joshua Aroesty organized the event and said they are excited about the record, but any amount would have been an accomplishment.

“Everybody looks at the final number, but what it comes down to is that $132,000 is an aggregate of 50-cent donations, $1 donations or $5 donations,” Aroesty said. “If you can raise even $10,000 for the American Cancer Society, or any other philanthropic organization, you are doing an incredible thing.”

Although other AEPi chapters in America do some form of Rock-A-Thon, none have been as successful as MU’s chapter. The proceeds from the Rock-A-Thons go to different philanthropies for each chapter, and this created tension between MU AEPi and their national organization.

According to Bikshorn, national AEPi has tried to obtain some of MU’s proceeds for their own philanthropy instead of giving it to the American Cancer Society.

“They have come to us personally and said, ‘Give us Rock-A-Thon’ or ‘Give us five or ten percent of Rock-A-Thon to our national philanthropy,'” Bikshorn said.

CVS to rebuild Baltimore locations damaged in protests – The Washington Post

Give Ozarks Day nets more than $800,000; event ends at midnightGive Ozarks Day nets more than $800,000; event ends at midnightBarbara Lytle with Community Partnership of the Ozarks posts a name of someone who donated to #GiveOzarks Day on the entranceway to the building on Tuesday, May 5, 2015. (Photo: Nathan Papes/News-Leader)Names of people who donated for Give Ozarks Day are posted on a wall at Community Partnership of the Ozarks. (Photo: Nathan Papes/News-Leader)Community Partnership of the Ozarks is taking part in Tuesday’s Give Ozarks Day, with its main office staying open for 24 hours. (Photo: Nathan Papes/News-Leader)Community Partnership of the Ozarks organizers discuss signage and mailers for Give Ozarks Day. (Photo: Submitted photo)Ozarks Food Harvest is participating in Give Ozarks 24-hour online day of giving Tuesday.