Top winners Care Free Medical and Dental Center, Origami Brain Injury Rehabilitation Center, and the East Lansing Rotary supporting the Weekend Survival Kits program were awarded gift certificates totaling $20,000 toward future fundraising events at the University Club.(Photo: Courtesy photo)

Care Free Medical & Dental Center came out on top at Michigan State Universityas Big Bang-quet Community Charity Challenge.

They were awarded the grand prize a a $10,000 credit toward a fundraising event at the University Club, plus $10,030 earned from their votes.

The nonprofit organization offers medical, dental, optometry and behavioral health services at no or reduced cost to those without insurance or without access to affordable health care.

Twenty-one local charities competed to be the winner of the University Club of MSU’s Big Bang-quet Community Charity Challenge.

A total of $80,245 was awarded to the 21 charities.

By Davood Rahni, New York – March 2015

Fatema Soudavar Farmanfarmaian
Photo courtesy of Gitty Darugar.

The devotion of one’s intellectual and material resources to the betterment of human society has been emphasized in Persian/Iranian literature, culture and religions since the earliest times. Endowments (vaqhf) for the benefit of society have a long history in the Iranian world that preceded Islam.

Against that historical background and anchored on the prior ten thousand years of history and three thousand years of continuous governments, the Iranian Constitutional Revolution of 1906 was promulgated by various segments of society, including intellectuals who had recently returned from Europe with a baggage of modern education.

The Achaemenid Empire at its Zenith (535 BCE)

Fatema Soudavar Farmanfarmaian has earned accolades for taking such a dual ethos to a higher level. You can listen to her two recent interviews first one given in Persian to the World Zoroastrian Council following a conference on Iran’s cultural heritage: From Persepolis to Isfahan, held in London in January 2015 under the joint sponsorship of the Soudavar Memorial Foundation and Iran Heritage Organization (with contributions from the British Institute for Persian Studies and the Flora Family Foundation); and the second in English focusing on the destruction of cultural heritage in the wider region:

The ALS Association Honors MicroPact and Kris Collo for Corporate Philanthropy Efforts — WASHINGTON, March 30, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — Kris Collo, CEO, President and Founder of MicroPact, accepted the Corporate Impact Award from Judy Taylor, Executive Director of The ALS Association – DC/MD/VA Chapter Kris Collo, CEO, President and Founder of MicroPact, accepted the Corporate Impact Award from Judy Taylor, Executive Director of The ALS Association – DC/MD/VA Chapter

WASHINGTON, March 30, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — MicroPact, Inc., the global leader in Data-First Case Management and Business Process Management (BPM) software, was honored on Thursday, March 26, with the Corporate Impact Award from The ALS Association DC/MD/VA Chapter as part of the organization’s “Best of the Ice Bucket Challenge” Corporate Awards.

“Our Chapter is proud to be able to recognize local companies that participated in the Ice Bucket Challenge to help bring awareness to ALS, as well as support families affected by this devastating disease,” said Judy Taylor, CNM, Executive Director, The ALS Association DC/MD/VA Chapter.

Members of MicroPact’s Senior Management Team joined dozens of MicroPact Team Members and their families to collectively soak themselves with buckets of ice water at the company’s Annual Family Picnic while raising money to donate to The ALS Association, the leading not-for-profit organization dedicated to funding research to curing and treating people affected by ALS.

Kris Collo, CEO, President and Founder of MicroPact; Michael Cerniglia, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of MicroPact; and Marty Herbert, Vice President of MicroPact and a member of The ALS Association National Board of Trustees, then presented a check for $6,000 to Barbara Newhouse, President & CEO of The ALS Association, at MicroPact Corporate Headquarters on Nov.

“The entire MicroPact Team believes in the important work that The ALS Association does on a local, national and global scale,” said Kris Collo, who was also recognized for his work on behalf of raising funds and awareness during The ALS Association’s Ice Bucket Challenge.

The ALS Association’s mission includes providing care services to assist people with ALS (commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease) and their families through a network of chapters working in communities across the nation and a global research program focused on the discovery of treatments and eventually a cure for the disease.

The ALS Association is the only national non-profit organization fighting Lou Gehrig’s Disease on every front.

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Hot Dogs for Homeless: Philanthropic event makes first stop in S.A.

Hot Dogs for Homeless(Photo: Wienerschnitzel)

SAN ANTONIO — A big, national initiative to give back to the homeless kicked off today, and San Antonio is the city where event organizers chose to kick it off.

It’s called Hot Dogs for Homeless and it’s bringing an RV full of food to areas in need.

J.R.

NJ foundation grants wishes to children

Residents Announce a New Community Fund to Enrich the Quality of Life in Dexter

A group of Dexter community volunteers have gathered together to establish a new permanent endowment at the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation to benefit the residents and community of Dexter.

The Dexter Community Fund (DCF) is a source of community capital that will be available to support and invest in a wide range of community initiatives, projects, and organizations that enrich the quality of life in Dexter. Members of the DCF’s initial advisory group have made personal contributions to establish the Fund, with hopes that additional contributions from local residents, businesses, community groups and anyone with roots or ties to Dexter will help grow the Fund.

As the Dexter Community Fund grows, the Fund’s Advisory Committee will award grants beginning in 2016 to support non-profit organizations and community projects that enrich the quality of life in Dexter across a number of areas: arts and culture, education, the environment, youth, senior services, health and wellness, human services, and/or community improvement.

The vision for creating a permanent community endowment for Dexter originated more than 10 years ago with Julie Schumaker, a local resident and member of the Dexter Board of Education.

“I wanted to create a vehicle for those of us who love Dexter to be able to say ‘thank you’ and financially support the community in perpetuity,” Schumaker said.

Early in 2014, Schumaker partnered with Ann Davis, another long-time Dexter resident, to explore the possibilities and find a way to make it happen. As a charitable endowment, the Dexter Community Fund, will be managed by the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation (AAACF). Residents Announce a New Community Fund to Enrich the Quality of Life in Dexter

A group of Dexter community volunteers have gathered together to establish a new permanent endowment at the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation to benefit the residents and community of Dexter.

The Dexter Community Fund (DCF) is a source of community capital that will be available to support and invest in a wide range of community initiatives, projects, and organizations that enrich the quality of life in Dexter. Members of the DCF’s initial advisory group have made personal contributions to establish the Fund, with hopes that additional contributions from local residents, businesses, community groups and anyone with roots or ties to Dexter will help grow the Fund.

As the Dexter Community Fund grows, the Fund’s Advisory Committee will award grants beginning in 2016 to support non-profit organizations and community projects that enrich the quality of life in Dexter across a number of areas: arts and culture, education, the environment, youth, senior services, health and wellness, human services, and/or community improvement.

The vision for creating a permanent community endowment for Dexter originated more than 10 years ago with Julie Schumaker, a local resident and member of the Dexter Board of Education.

“I wanted to create a vehicle for those of us who love Dexter to be able to say ‘thank you’ and financially support the community in perpetuity,” Schumaker said.

Early in 2014, Schumaker partnered with Ann Davis, another long-time Dexter resident, to explore the possibilities and find a way to make it happen. As a charitable endowment, the Dexter Community Fund, will be managed by the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation (AAACF). The Advisory Committee felt affiliating with AAACF would be the most effective approach in growing a community endowment for Dexter, given the Community Foundation’s professional investment management and grant-making experience.

As Davis, who serves on AAACF’s Board of Trustees, said, “Through my involvement with the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation, I have seen the good that an endowment can provide in improving the quality of life in a local community.

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J., March 30, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — New Jersey Health Foundation, a not-for-profit organization that funds research and innovation projects in the state of New Jersey, has committed $1 million to its next round of grant funding, announced James M.

Through its existing New Jersey Health Foundation Research Grants program, an additional $500,000 will be available for awards of up to $35,000 each to fund early stage research projects that demonstrate exciting potential and may lead to larger future grants from other organizations to further advance the research.

In addition, in a new program jointly sponsored with The Nicholson Foundation, headquartered in Newark, $500,000 will be awarded for Innovation Grants grants of up to $50,000 each to advance innovative ideas that move discoveries toward commercialization.

Through its Grants Program, New Jersey Health Foundation has historically awarded more than $54 million to support early stage research in New Jersey.

About New Jersey Health Foundation
New Jersey Health Foundation (www.njhf.org) is a not-for-profit corporation that supports biomedical research and health-related education programs in New Jersey through its matching program, its Grants Program and its affiliate, Foundation Venture Capital Group (www.foundationventure.com) which makes private equity investments in life science start- up companies in New Jersey headed toward commercialization.

About The Nicholson Foundation
The Nicholson Foundation works to improve the quality and affordability of health care for vulnerable populations in New Jersey by transforming how it is paid for and delivered. New Jersey Health Foundation and the Office of Technology Licensing at Princeton University Team Up for Biomedical Research and Technology Projects

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Trio Voronezh brings sounds of Russia to Hesston-Bethel Performing Arts stage – Hesston College Trio Voronezh brings sounds of Russia to Hesston-Bethel Performing Arts stage

The sounds of Russian folk instruments will fill Hesston Mennonite Church when Trio Voronezh rounds out the Hesston-Bethel Performing Arts season at 3 p.m., Sunday, April 12, on the Hesston College campus.

Trio Voronezh made its first HBPA appearance in 2009 when the group dazzled the audience with astonishing virtuosity and artistic innovation.

The Los Angeles Times hailed the trio as “Three players, alone on a large open stage, filling every crevice with their rich, imaginatively conceived music.”

The Russian folk trio of accordion, domra and bass balalaika delights with a repertoire ranging from classical masterworks from composers including Vivaldi and Bach to Russian folk songs, Argentine tangos, gypsy dance music, bluegrass and Gershwin favorites.

The trio was formed in 1993 by Valerie Petrukhin on balalaika, Sergei Teleshev on accordion and Vladimir Volokhin on domra, and was named after the place they studied together the Conservatory in Voronezh, Russia, about 350 miles south of Moscow.

The group’s international recognition began when they were found playing in a Frankfurt, Germany, subway station in 1995. Ticket prices range from $17 to $20 with discounts available for students and senior citizens.

The HBPA Trio Voronezh concert is funded in part by the cities of Hesston and North Newton, Excel Industries and Hustler Turf Equipment (Hesston), the Hesston Community Foundation, the North Newton Community Foundation, Hesston AmericInn, corporations and individuals throughout Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas and the Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission, which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts, federal agency, and the NEA itself.

The Hesston-Bethel Performing Arts series, now in its 33rd year, is a collaborative effort of Hesston College and Bethel College (North Newton), presenting five performances by world-renowned or regionally acclaimed artists each year.