The Daily Tell

Goodwill announced this week that it has launched a new campaign with cable television channel WE tv that encourages women nationwide to do 24 hours of nonprofit work in their communities over the next year.

Women may sign on to WEVolunteer.tv and pledge 24 hours of time to the nonprofit group of their choice between now and January 31. This new campaign is the latest feature in a four-year public relations effort by WE tv devoted to fostering and celebrating the confidence, diversity and strength of women nationwide.

"Goodwill knows that there is a great need for the valuable work volunteers provide every day," said Goodwill president and chief executive Jim Gibbons.

Women will be able to track the amount of time they have volunteered and share stories with other participants through the online portal provided by WE tv. The portal is powered by VolunteerMatch, an online service that matches people with volunteer opportunities at charity groups based on location and interests.

Participants who pledge to volunteer at Goodwill through the online portal will be automatically entered in a sweepstakes for a free vacation for two to New York City. The prize package will include a stay at a luxury hotel, as well as tickets to a movie premiere, dinner at a gourmet restaurant and a $200 shopping spree at Saks Fifth Avenue.

"As the leading nonprofit provider of job training and career services, Goodwill knows that there is a great need for the valuable work volunteers provide every day," said Gibbons.

Nonprofit organizations such as Goodwill have seen a significant increase in demand for financial and job training services since the onset of the recent economic downturn. U.S. poverty rates hit an eight-year high of 13.2 percent in the latest Census Bureau statistics, while unemployment stands at 10 percent

Sophia Gran-Ruaz remembers the moment she was inspired to start her charity, Snug as a Bug, Kids Helping Kids. As she was walking along a street she saw a group of children she immediately identified as homeless. She told the Toronto Sun she was overwhelmed with empathy; Gran-Ruaz (then 11) promptly made the decision to go to Toys R Us and similar stores and ask them for donations.

Gran-Ruaz’s empathy stemmed from her own stint as a homeless child. When she was just under a year old, her mother ran into financial difficulty and the pair lived in shelters. Unfortunately, Gran-Ruaz’s story is a reality for many children.

According to the National Center on Family Homelessness, one in 50 kids – more than 1.5 million – experience homelessness in America each year. These children are twice as likely to experience hunger and four times more likely to get sick than other kids their age. Perhaps worse, homeless children have three times the rate of emotional and behavioral problems compared to non-homeless children.

The memories of starting her life as a homeless child inspired Gran-Ruaz to try to reach out to those in need. By the age of 10, she had started interviewing homeless people she met on the street.

Following her encounter with the group of homeless kids, Gran-Ruaz started Snug as a Bug, Kids Helping Kids at the age of 11. The young organization leader fought hard to earn respect for her charity. "It was hard at the beginning because [potential donors] didn’t take me seriously at first," she told the source.

Her efforts paid off. The organization provides shelters in the Toronto area more than 3,000 care packages every year. Moreover, Gran-Ruaz recently won Canada’s Top Teen Philanthropy Search. She will receive $1,000 toward a college tuition and $5,000 to donate to Hockey for the Homeless.

Gran-Ruaz is pleased about her award, and she is also happy to have additional funds to give to her cause. "I’m really honored and I’m glad to hear that despite what you hear on the news, people are really good-hearted and willing to help out people in need," she said.

A partnership of national public and private organizations announced on Wednesday that they will host events and distribute literature in conjunction with an upcoming PBS television series on mental health.

The series, called The Emotional Life, will explore the roots of happiness by focusing on a combination of personal stories and the latest brain science research. It will air from January 4 through January 6 on PBS. It is a co-production of Vulcan Productions and the NOVA/WGBH Science Unit.

"The TV series is the cornerstone of a broader project to help people form better, deeper and more profound human connections," said Vulcan Productions senior executive producer Richard Hutton.

A number of national private and nonprofit health groups assisted in developing content for the series, including Blue Star Families; Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration; Mental Health America; the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance; the National Alliance on Mental Illness; University of Phoenix; and the Mayo Clinic.

The groups have prepared two informational packets to distribute in conjunction with the series. The first aims at new parents and infant caregivers, and will be distributed at high birthrate hospitals, community-based clinics and pediatric doctors’ offices. The other focuses on military deployments, and will be distributed through a partnership between government agencies, military family groups and educational institutions.

"Our hope is that viewers come away with what years of research have shown: individuals who feel connected are healthier and happier and better equipped to deal with stress and adversity," said Mental Health America president and chief executive David Stern.

An estimated 26.2 percent of American adults suffer from a diagnosable mental illness, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Approximately 6.7 percent of adults suffer from a major depressive disorder, making depression the leading cause of disability for Americans ages 15 to 44.

Even as some suggest that Central Texas is poised to emerge from the grips of the global recession, the recovery will take time and some will still struggle for basics such as healthcare.

With its latest round of grants, St. David’s Foundation is awarding $7.2 million to area nonprofit organizations that provide access to healthcare for less fortunate Central Texans.

Just under $6 million in grants will go directly toward specialty and primary care – a need in the region, the foundation said.

"By investing over $5.7 million today for primary care, St. David’s Foundation helps many Central Texan families to stay healthy and continue to be productive in their daily lives," said Bobbie Barker, vice president for grants and community programs at St. David’s Foundation.

In addition to the grants for primary care, St. David’s also awarded a number of grants for specialty care and elderly-specific programs.

Specialty groups such as AIDS Services of Austin, Breast Cancer Resource Center and People’s Community Clinic received total grants of a little more than $1 million.

Elderly care – a focus of the foundation every December – received more than $1 million in grants. Some of the services organizations receiving grants will provide for the elderly include intensive therapy for stroke survivors, transportation and support services for seniors, handyman services, and nutrition programs.

Earl Maxwell, CEO of St. David’s Foundation said, "We recognize that so many of our older residents face a daunting array of challenges from maintaining proper nutrition, getting to and from doctor’s appointments and even obtaining needed dental care… the foundation hopes to help address these needs in a significant way."

Since 2005 the foundation has approved more than $31 million to organizations
providing primary and other healthcare services through its semi-annual grant program.

Earl and Lanice Riopelle of Fort Worth, Texas, graduated from Kettering University in 1937 during one of the worst recessions in history. They likely experienced the struggles of Americans facing high unemployment rates first-hand. Now, the late Kettering graduates are making a gift to their alma mater in a period when college graduates face unemployment rates of similar proportions to the Great Depression.

The Riopelles bequested $1.2 million to Kettering University to establish post-baccalaureate courses to better prepare engineers for corporate management roles. The money will be used to develop new coursework and provide resources and library material for graduate-level classes.

According to Kettering provost Michael Harris, the funds will be directed to Kettering’s graduate program, continuing education program, and the department of business. He thinks the development of these programs will not only strengthen the university but also result in graduates who will be well-equipped to serve America in the current, trying climate. "Economic conditions now require stronger skill sets in international commerce, management and forecasting."

Kettering University officials told the Toledo news that the gift from the estate of Earl and Lanice Riopelle is one of the largest ever received by the school.

Notably, the gift comes in a period when most universities’ endowments are getting hit hard by the recession. According to a preliminary report for the National Association of College and University Business Officers and the Commonfund Institute, university endowments fell 10 percent on average in 2009.

Nonetheless, the Riopelles have made a sizeable contribution to Kettering University in the midst of recession. Their endowment could not only help start off the new year with more favorable giving trends for univiersites, but it could prepare students to find jobs in spite of dismal unemployment rates.

According to Career Builder, 23 percent of financial service employers plan to add full-time, permanent employees in 2010. The Kettering grads benefiting from improved courses on corporate management could be competitive applicants for these positions.

A senior minister at one Michigan church launched a new campaign asking residents of Detroit and Wayne County not to use guns during New Year’s celebrations.

This latest campaign marks the twelfth consecutive year that Rev. Nicholas Hood III, senior minister at the Plymouth United Church of Christ in Michigan, has asked county residents to abstain from a local tradition in which residents shoot of guns at 12 a.m. on New Year’s Day. It was launched through a partnership with the New Millennium group, Health Alliance Plan and the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office.

"I believe our campaign works. The support from the citizens gets bigger each year because all of us want to end gun violence," said Hood.

The reverend launched his first campaign in 1997, after Detroit grandmother Sandra Latham was killed by a stray bullet from a New Year’s reveler while sitting at her dining room table. Hood claimed that gun-related injuries have gone down substantially in Detroit between the hours of midnight and 2 a.m. on New Year’s Day since the launch of the first campaign.

The campaign began on December 26 this year with television spots, and culminated with an annual press conference. Campaign participants also distributed informational cards reminding local residents to abstain from gun use during New Year’s festivities.

"I applaud Reverend Hood for bringing attention to the important issue of firearm safety, and for continuing to make this a priority year after year," said Bill Alvin, president and chief executive of the Health Alliance Plan.

The efforts of Reverend Hood in Detroit mirror the work of many law enforcement agencies and nonprofit partnerships across the nation. Officials in Los Angles, Las Vegas, Concord, North Carolina and a host of other U.S. cities have also issued statements asking revelers to abstain from celebratory gunfire this New Year’s Day.

While Congress debates the merits of universal healthcare, Kaiser Permanente of Georgia announced a $5 million multi-year gift to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta with the goal of improving access to care for low-income children.

Half of the donation will help fund healthcare at the facility for Metro Atlanta children who are uninsured or underinsured, while the remainder will help fund the construction and operation of a new, hospital that replaces the existing Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Hughes Spalding facility in downtown Atlanta.

"As a nonprofit health plan, Kaiser Permanente understands and appreciates the important safety net role Children’s Healthcare Atlanta, and particularly their Hughes Spalding facility, has in our community, especially for our most vulnerable population," said Peter Andruszkiewicz, president of Kaiser Permanente of Georgia.

The new building will help to transform the care of the 71,000 inpatient admissions, emergency department visits and outpatient appointments made every year, the foundation said. The facility features brighter colors, child-friendly surfaces, interactive entertainment centers, a consumer library, child life specialists and up-to-date equipment.

The new Children’s at Hughes Spalding facility is designed to enhance access and quality of care and reduce the care disparities and inequities that exist for many children in the metro area.

"Kaiser Permanente’s generosity is a wonderful example of how groups within the Brafton style is healthcare industry are working collaboratively to solve important issues, as well as serve the most vulnerable population – our children," said Donna Hyland, president and CEO of Children’s Healthcare.

The multi-year gift includes a $1 million donation from Kaiser Permanente each year through 2013. Overall in 2009, Kaiser Permanente has provided more than $21 million in community benefit funding.

A new website helps movie lovers and history buffs support a range of different charity groups through a weekly series of online auctions.

The site, called Newenglander Hollywood Props, auctions off a new set of framed collector’s items called "keepsake cards" each week on eBay, and then donates the proceeds to a rotating series of charitable organizations. The cards include a fragment from a movie prop or a historically significant item, as well as a set of photos of the film or historical figure of origin.

"We have sold thousands of our cards all over the world in the past two years," the website said in a statement.

Items currently listed in the site’s eBay store include a remnant from a scarf worn by Elvis during a 1976 Pittsburgh concert, a fragment from an Egyptian scroll used in the 1999 film The Mummy, and a glass pendant from the original Star Trek series.

Charities receiving funds from the auctions so far include the Children’s Hospice Coalition, Paul Newman Charities, the Global Fund and the Elton John Aids Foundation. In 2010, the site will launch a new online campaign called Many Hearts – Many Causes, and will ask people to donate $1 to a different humanitarian, environmental or children’s welfare charity each month.

"It is our belief that together we can make a difference in the lives of many by supporting the efforts of those organizations who we feel are impacting the lives of others throughout the world," said the site in a statement about the new campaign.

As this website shows, online auctions are a growing source of revenue for independent retailers and nonprofit organizations alike. New smartphone applications helped eBay host more than half a billion dollars in transactions during the 2009 holiday season.

In his best-selling memoir, Always Looking Up, Michael J. Fox describes the morning routine he and his disease have carried out for more than a decade. "I swing my legs around to the side of the bed, and the instant my feet hit the floor, the two of them are in an argument." The actor illustrates how his left hand battles to remove the toothbrush from his right hand, "shaking the brush loose as though disarming a knife-wielding attacker."

Though he uses a light-hearted sense of humor in his account of life with Parkinson’s, the yet-incurable disease is no laughing matter; this laborious morning is ritual is a reality for Fox and more than 6 million others worldwide who suffer from the degenerative nerve disease.

But there is still hope. The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research has announced that its 2009 Rapid Response Innovation awards reached $2.1 million; the money was – and is – used for therapeutic research.

The funds provided this year might help improve the lifestyle for people who currently have the disease, and might make it more bearable for those who remain undiagnosed. According to Ezilion Infobase, one person in every 200 will be diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in their lifetime. Even with no cure in sight, the Rapid Response Innovation projects could provide treatments that will alleviate the disconnect between brain and body caused by Parkinson’s.

The money went toward therapeutic development of high-risk, high-reward approaches to treatments for the disease. Researchers received grants for projects revolving around neuroprotective approaches, therapies to alleviate symptoms, therapeutic targets for genes associated with Parkinson’s disease, and more.

Hopefully, Fox’s donations and his own high spirits can offer hope to others with Parkinson’s disease. As Fox says, once the morning tasks for the day are done, "It just gets better from here."

The Grameen Foundation, a nonprofit microfinance group, announced that it has awarded more than $2.2 million in microloans to Indonesian women affected by tsunamis that swept the island nation five years ago.

Loans went to more than 16,000 women in Banda Acech, the region hit hardest by the 2004 tsunami, according to the organization. The loans are designed to help Acechenese woman and their families start new, sustainable businesses.

"The scale of the devastation and suffering was overwhelming, but we knew that microfinance had a crucial role to play in the long-term economic recovery of the families and communities," said Grameen Foundation president Alex Counts.

Grameen delivered the loans in association with local microfinance institution Mitra Dhuafa, and with financial backing from a number of major businesses and nonprofit groups, including the American Red Cross, Nokia, Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation and Saudi transport and financial services company Abdul Latif Jameel Group.

Bamda Acech, one of Idonesia’s poorest regions, had little microfinance activity before international tsunami relief efforts began in 2005. Grameen Foundation activities in Indonesia have therefore focused on providing technical assistance and expanding staff for local microloan firms, in addition to direct lending.

"Our goal was to help give the people of Banda Aceh access to the financial resources they would need to reignite their lives and the local economy," said Counts.

Nearly 230,000 people in 13 countries died as a result of earthquakes and tsunamis in the Indian Ocean on December 26, 2004. Approximately 166,000 of those victims lived in Indonesia’s Acech province, where 100-foot waves washed ashore and devastated the region’s infrastructure. Governments, businesses and nonprofit groups worldwide have donated almost $6.7 billion to victims since the disaster, but damages caused by earthquakes and flooding remain.