News about grants, gifts
The board of trustees of Saint Luke’s Foundation of Cleveland has approved its first cycle grants for 2015, awarding a total of $1,438,812 to 15 organizations that advance the Foundation’s strategic priorities of Healthy People, A Strong Neighborhood and Resilient Families.
The Freudenberg Group announced its three-year partnership with two Detroit non-profit organizations. The company is donating a total of $150,000 to The Greening of Detroit and Beyond Basics over the next three years.
With support from business partners nationwide, Apartment Investment and Management Company (Aimco) raised $515,000 during its 12th annual Aimco Cares Charity Golf Classic. Presented in partnership with RE/MAX, the tournament benefits the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors which supports family members who have survived the loss of a loved one in the line of duty; Project Sanctuary, a nonprofit that works with military personnel returning from overseas duty with their transition to civilian life; and college-bound students living in affordable housing who receive financial assistance through the Aimco Cares Opportunity Scholarship.
The Annenberg Foundation, a Los Angeles-based organization, has recently granted San Diego Zoo Global $200,000. This new funding will be divided between two projects: one that assists researchers in finding breeding alternatives for the northern white rhinoceros and one that delivers children’s educational programming, filled with animal interactions and animal stories, to promote well-being of young patients.
Mercury Insurance auctioned a 2013 Toyota Highlander to combat childhood cancer on July 13th, raising $14,700. All proceeds benefit Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to finding cures for pediatric cancers.
On June 18th, the Parker Center for Plastic Surgery once again participated in the Alzheimer’s Association’s annual Longest Day event to raise money and awareness for the Alzheimer’s epidemic. The Parker Center offered patients selected free cosmetic treatments and services all day long. To qualify for these savings, each patient was required to donate at least 50% of the value of their chosen treatment directly to the Alzheimer’s Association, raising $11,480.
Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute (PHI) was recently awarded a $50,000 grant from the John A. Hartford Foundation in honor of Corinne H. Rieder, Ed.D., who as president led the Foundation for nearly 20 years until her retirement this spring. The John A. Hartford Foundation’s Board of Trustees gave Dr. Rieder the opportunity to select one of its grantees to receive the one-time award to commemorate her retirement; she chose PHI.
Coding Dojo, a 12-week coding accelerator with campus locations in Seattle, San Jose and Los Angeles, is launching a $250k social innovation fund that will award Impact Scholarships to individuals who want to learn coding to impact the greater good, or to inspire significant change in their own lives. The first round of Impact Scholarships have been awarded to Redlight Traffic, a Seattle-based non-profit helping communities combat and deal with the impact and effects of human trafficking.
The St. Baldrick’s Foundation, a volunteer-powered charity dedicated to funding children’s cancer research, is pleased to award 70 grants in 48 states and 11 countries, totaling $21.2 million to support the best in childhood cancer research.
The Evanston Community Foundation awarded a $2,500 Community Catalyst grant to support a partnership between Evanston/Skokie School District 65, Caring Outreach by Parents in Evanston and the District 65 PTA Council to provide school supplies for students in need.
Saint Arnold Brewing Co, the oldest craft brewery in Texas, raised over $60,000 during its sold-out annual Feast of Saint Arnold event for Texas Children’s Hospital’s Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center. The Feast of Saint Arnold, begun in 2011, honors the Houston brewery’s namesake, St. Arnold of Metz, who is the patron saint of brewers.
Smithfield and Kroger partnered to help feed families in Kentucky by donating 26,000 pounds of protein to God’s Pantry Food Bank and Dare to Care Food Bank. This donation was in celebration of the grand opening of the new Kroger store in Versailles, which will be the largest of its kind in the state.
The KeyBank Foundation is committed to helping more full-time students complete their undergraduate degrees on time. Recently, the Foundation granted $1M to improve the rate of on-time completion of undergraduate programs at Cleveland State University (CSU) through their KeyBank Foundation Scholars Program. The program is a series of initiatives designed to increase the rate of on-time completion of undergraduate programs at CSU by students who graduated from the Cleveland Metropolitan School District; it will begin in the 2016-2017 school year.
News about people, groups
At CMA Association Management interns become a valuable member of the team, working closely with account executives to gain hands-on experience and a deep understanding of how the organizations’ day-to-day operations are run. This summer, CMA Association Management has provided Sandra Penas Mur, a Rider University MBA candidate, an opportunity to work with the North American Association of Commencement Officers and the Third Party Marketers Association.
The Aspen Institute, in partnership with the Greenville Health System, named 20 health care leaders selected to participate in the inaugural class of its Health Innovators Fellowship. This new two-year Fellowship will strengthen the leadership of innovators across the US health care ecosystem and challenge them to create new approaches that will improve the health and well-being of all Americans.
The Chester County Fund for Women and Girls is pleased to announce the appointments of Mary Chan, Tricia Lefkof, Mary Beth Morrissey, and Christina Shipe to its Board of Directors. By engaging new leaders the Fund expands the effort to make lasting change for women and girls in Chester County.
MyLifeLine.org – a Denver-based, national nonprofit connecting cancer patients and caregivers to their community of friends and family for social and emotional support – joined together on July 16th with members Jen Garza and Britton Thomas for National #Ribboning Day, dedicated to inspiring compassion, awareness and unity for those affected by cancer. National #Ribboning Day is over; however the #Ribboning fundraising effort will take place for 60 days, concluding September 14, 2015.
Yard House, which helped launch Round It Up America® in 2010, has raised more than $2 million since the organization’s inception by inviting guests to “round up” their checks to the nearest dollar and donating the change to national and local causes. Yard House disperses its donations to its non-profit partners on a quarterly basis.
Harvest Homes Apartments, a joint venture between People’s Community Development Association of Chicago, Inc. and The NHP Foundation (NHPF), is developing a new $12 million, 36-unit multi-family affordable housing facility in the East Garfield Park community. This public-private venture is made possible through support from the City of Chicago’s Department of Planning and Economic Development, the State of Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, J. P. Morgan Chase Bank, the Chicago Community Loan Fund, and NHPF.
On July 16th, the Foundation Center released the 2015 edition of “Advancing Human Rights: Update on Global Foundation Grantmaking,” which analyzes $1.8 billion granted by 774 foundations in support of nearly 11,000 organizations worldwide.
Gina D. Dalma has been promoted to the role of special advisor to the CEO for public policy, Silicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF) announced. In this role, Dalma will be responsible for leading SVCF’s ongoing lobbying efforts in Sacramento and its emerging efforts in Washington, D.C.
Children’s Mercy announced the creation of the Brendan Tripp Elam Transplant Center, bringing together the collective strengths, knowledge and experience of their liver, kidney and heart transplant teams to provide the best care possible for the region’s pediatric transplant patients. The Center’s work will be supported through a philanthropic gift from the family of Brendan Tripp Elam, who in December 2012 received a liver transplant at Children’s Mercy when he was 10 years old.
News about opportunities, initiatives
Young People Matter, an Atlanta-based nonprofit that provides services for young people, opened their Open Hearts Drop-In Center on July 21st to provide a safe space for homeless youth.
Grant Simmons, VP of Search Marketing at Homes.com is hosting the Building Unscalable Content Strategy and Other Truths of UnOptimization webinar on July 29th to discuss searcher intent through understanding of ‘triggers and tickle,’ Google’s content quality signals, leveraging social media for promotion and positioning and how to plan and execute an UnOptimized content strategy.
Oceana, the largest international advocacy organization focused solely on ocean conservation, will host the 8th annual SeaChange Summer Party on Saturday, August 1st.
The National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC) invites all Latino TV writers who want to hone their skills to apply for its annual five-week intensive workshop. NHMC’s Television Writers Program will focus on writing an original TV pilot or a spec episode of a current TV series, conducted in an environment that simulates a TV writers room. The deadline to apply is August 3rd.
Blackbaud, Inc., announced the opening of nominations for the Global Impact Awards, an awards program honoring nonprofits that use technology in innovative ways to spread good throughout the world. The awards will be presented at bbcon 2015, Blackbaud’s annual conference for nonprofits, being held October 26-28 at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, TX.
The Women’s Business Center at Community First Fund strives to offer one-on-one counseling to clients as well as numerous classes aimed at educating prospective and current entrepreneurs. On July 27th they will host “Access to Capital and Finance 101,” a free webinar. In August, they will host another free webinar as well as free classroom trainings and seminars.
To best serve the more than 1.7 million annual visitors eager to view the magnificent Thomas Jefferson Building in Washington, D.C., and learn about the treasures it contains, the Library of Congress’s Visitor Services Office relies on more than 300 trained volunteers to greet and direct visitors and to conduct tours. The Library is recruiting volunteer docents to lead tours of the nation’s first established federal cultural institution.
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