The Daily Tell

Soft beverage giant Pepsi is awarding $1.3 million grants to 32 nonprofits and individuals that submitted ideas for projects aimed to bring benefit to society, the company announced recently.

One project seeks to aid wounded military troops, while another supports needy families preparing for the arrival of a baby.

At the beginning of 2010, the Pepsi Refresh Project called out for individuals and nonprofits to submit ideas that were "shovel-ready," or achievable. Online voters at the philanthropy’s website chose the winners from six categories – food and shelter, arts and culture, neighborhoods, health, education and the planet.

One nonprofit chosen in February was The Sparkle Effect, which will use a $25,000 grant to help special needs students form cheerleading squads across the country. Another recipient, 14-year-old Jonny Cohen of Illinois, received $25,000 to help make school buses eco-friendly.

Pepsi president of joint ventures Jill Beraud says that the the project attracted hopeful, innovative youth and nonprofits dedicated to giving back to the community and providing inspiration for others.

"Each of them is a testament to how someone from any walk of life can produce powerful, creative and fun ideas that can make a difference," says Beraud.

All together, the grants included two for $250,000, and ten for $50,000, $25,000 and $5,000.

The philanthropy announced that there will be a new round of grants awarded in the upcoming months, pledging to give more than $20 million in 2010. The organization says it will allow online voters to choose from 1,000 project ideas for up to $1.3 million each month.

The other major cola brand, Coca-Cola, is also donating to needy causes. The company recently announced that it is partnering with the Special Olympics to host the first-ever Unity Cup to coincide with the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Even if every child adjusts to the world at a unique pace, studies indicate that the first five years are the most important ones for cognitive development. Education.com says that brain activity and development proceed at a pace during this time that exceeds any other period in a child’s life.

Preschool education is more important than most people realize. First 5 Contra Costa is an organization that hopes to make more people aware of the significance of early education for kids and to help ensure that young children’s cognitive needs are met.

Now, the organization will get help in achieving its goals thanks to a generous donation from the Thomas J. Long Foundation. First 5 Contra Costa has been awarded a grant of more than $6.2 million for its Preschool Makes a Difference program.

The program provides scholarships to eligible children to attend quality preschools. Scholarships go to children of parents who earn too much for state-funded subsidies, but too little to afford reputable preschools. The funds will be distributed to the organization over five years to offer scholarships for a generation of children.

First 5 Contra Costa currently funds pilot preschool scholarship programs in Antioch and Pittsburgh, and it boasts a soon-to-be-launched initiative in Richmond, Virginia. The Thomas J. Long Foundation funds will be used to more than triple the number of low-income children receiving scholarships next year and help the program expand to Bay Point and Concord, California.

Notably, Bay Point and Concord are communities with four of the lowest achieving elementary schools in the state of California.

"We’re grateful for the Long Foundation grant because it allows us to increase access to quality preschool for the county’s youngest and most vulnerable children," said Sean Casey, executive director of First 5 Contra Costa. "This funding will allow us the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of at-risk children and help get them on the right track."

With their next trip to mall, shoppers across the country could find an opportunity that may seem even more rewarding then finding the perfect pair of flats or some new leather loafers.

Soles4Souls, a Nashville-based nonprofit that collects shoes for charity, recently entered a partnership with a major property owner that manages dozens of malls across the country to encourage shoppers to donate used shoes on their next shopping outing.

Bins will be placed throughout 88 malls owned and managed by CBL Properties. The goal of the campaign is to collect 150,000 pairs of donated shoes.

Vice president of CBL Barb Faucette says the charity partnership is a win-win situation.

"This partnership will provide many families with gently worn shoes, which otherwise may not be available to them," says Faucette. "Soles4Souls’ charitable initiative and CBL Mall’s Celebrating the Earth campaign is a perfect opportunity to work together to support the many families in our communities. This campaign is an extension of CBL’s sustainability efforts across our portfolio."

Soles4Soles has also courted a major name in high-end shoe fashion recently that agreed to provide a little more incentive for shoppers to donate their old shoes. Cole Haan announced that it will give customers 20 percent off for donating their new or lightly used shoes to Souls4Souls.

The Cole Haan charity drive will last one week.

Also contributing to the Soles4Soles cause is the Georgia Recyling Coalition. The group recently prevented 50,000 pairs of shoes from being thrown out by placing 200 shoe recycling bins throughout the state.

Initially going by the name KatrinaShoes, the nonprofit has shifted its initiative to a global mission. The organization has distributed 7 million pairs of shoes in 125 countries since its founding.

The organization estimates that 300,000 pairs of shoes are wasted each year in U.S. landfills while 300,000 children worldwide do not have a pair to wear.

The GE Foundation, the philanthropy branch of the technology and services conglomerate, recently announced it is giving $1 million to four Milwaukee nonprofit health care centers.

The foundation believes the donations will be a benefit to society by helping undeserved populations who are increasingly uninsured but nevertheless need access to health care services. The grants are part of the GE developing health program with a strategy it calls healthymagination, which was created three years ago with a mission of distributing $25 million to nonprofits and extending to 10 cities in the United States.

The $250,000 grants will be disbursed to the nonprofits – the MLK Heritage Health Center, the Isaac Coggs Heritage Health Center, the Chavez Health Center, and the Parkway Health Center – in two installments over two years. Milwaukee is the second city after New York to receive funding from GE’s health program.

The health program also gives GE employees a chance at giving back to the community through volunteer opportunities at health care centers across the country.

Mike Barber, vice president of healthymagination, says that the work done by GE volunteers combined with its donations can truly make a difference in the lives of uninsured patients.

"I’ve lived in Milwaukee all my life and understand well the area’s potential, and its challenges, particularly in the area of healthcare," says Barber. "By partnering with these clinics to increase access to primary care we can help more people get the care they need when they need it. This program and the volunteers supporting it help change the world’s approach to health care by touching more lives and improving quality of care."

Access to health care has been a national problem in recent years. The Census Bureau has estimated that 45.7 million Americans do not have health insurance, but warned that the number would grow with rising unemployment rates.

The Silicon Valley Community Fund, a philanthropy that offers financial support to families, nonprofits and government programs, continues giving back to the community through $525,000 worth of grants to help homeowners prevent foreclosure.

Seven housing counseling and legal services organizations will receive $75,000 each to maintain their teams of counselors and legal advisers during a period of increased demand for their services.

The housing crisis is affecting thousands of homeowners in the San Mateo and Santa Clara counties of California. Nine hundred will receive foreclosure prevention services as a result of the grants, according to the community fund.

Emmett Carson, president and CEO of the community foundation, says that the grants are crucial at this time of economic uncertainty.

"Mortgages are continuing to re-set and homeowners are still being victimized by brokers, lenders and others who are engaging in illegal practices," says Carson. "With unemployment still at record levels, the demand for foreclosure prevention services remains high."

The Silicon Valley Community Fund said that it expects that about 20 to 50 percent of the homeowners who get assistance will receive a loan modification from their lender or find another method to avert foreclosure.

Of the seven nonprofits that received funding from the philanthropy, six have received its assistance in the past to hire more counselors to increase their capacity to serve more clients.

Many of the grant reicipients, like Community Legal Services, plan to host training events at local high schools for homeowners who speak little English.

In an area with a large Latino population, each of the nonprofits that received the grants have Spanish-speaking counselors and legal advisors.

A recent study by the National Council of La Raza, an advocacy group for Latinos, shows that minority families are disproportionately affected by the housing crisis. The report estimated that 1.3 million Latino families will be foreclosed on between 2009 and 2012.

San Francisco Food Bank receives 15 tons of food in celebration of young girl’s commitment to ending local hunger

(This press release is a follow up to last year’s story about Phoebe Russell).

SAN FRANCISCO, March 18, 2010 – Today, Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE:TSN) honored Phoebe Russell of San Francisco for her hunger-relief efforts by selecting her as the next Tyson Hunger All-Star. It is an honor that comes with a donation of more than 15 tons of Tyson protein products to the San Francisco Food Bank.

At the age of five, Phoebe started a fund-raising campaign to raise money for the San Francisco Food Bank. She set a goal to raise $1,000 in two months by collecting and redeeming cans. With the help of her parents and preschool teacher, Phoebe began writing letters to family and friends about her project. As word got around, donations started pouring in. In just two months, Phoebe raised $3,736.30 for the San Francisco Food Bank. That’s enough to feed 17,800 hungry people.

“Protein is an essential portion of a healthy diet and the most-needed donated item at the food bank,” said Paul Ash, executive director of the San Francisco Food Bank. “We cannot thank Tyson Foods enough for this very special gift. The food bank is honored to receive this donation in Phoebe Russell’s name.”

Phoebe was nominated as a Tyson Hunger All-Star through Tyson Foods’ hunger relief online site, http://hungerrelief.tyson.com. Each month, winners are selected from nominations submitted through the Web site. The site has steadily become a place where visitors can read and learn the compelling stories of people’s commitment in the fight against hunger.

“Phoebe’s enthusiasm for helping neighbors who are hungry is inspiring,” said Ed Nicholson, director of community relations for Tyson Foods. “If each local community had volunteers who gave a fraction of what Phoebe Russell has for our nation’s hungry, I believe we could win in the fight against hunger in this country. We’re proud to honor Phoebe as our next Hunger All-Star and pleased to offer this donation of much-needed protein for the hungry in the San Francisco community.”

Since 2000, Tyson Foods has been a leader in the fight against hunger. The company is actively engaged in food-donation events and fund-raising activities year-round to benefit those in need.

The protein given by Tyson today brings the company’s total in-kind donations since 2000 to more than 73 million pounds. This milestone equates to more than 292 million meals donated to food banks and agencies serving local communities around the country. Last year alone, Tyson donated nearly eight million pounds of protein to Feeding America, the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity. For more information on how to get involved in the fight against hunger, go to http://hungerrelief.tyson.com/.

San Francisco Food Bank – Hunger is a serious problem in San Francisco – with 1 in 4 children and 1 in 5 adults at risk of hunger. Every day, the San Francisco Food Bank sources, collects, sorts, inspects and repackages thousands of pounds of food, then distributes it to soup kitchens, neighborhood grocery centers, school programs and seniors in need. The San Francisco Food Bank serves 22,000 households weekly throughout San Francisco and Marin counties, and will distribute 36.5 million pounds of food to the community this year – enough for 78,000 meals every day. Over half of what is distributed is fresh produce. For more information, visit www.SFFoodBank.org.

# # #

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Gary Mickelson, Tyson Foods, Inc., 479-290-6111, gary.mickelson@tyson.com
Stacy Newman, San Francisco Food Bank, 415-282-1907, snewman@sffb.org
Tammy Varner, Mitchell Communications Group, 479-443-4673, tammy@mitchcommgroup.com

The Nina Mason Pulliam Trust is giving $1,872,500 to 21 nonprofits in Indiana, the charity organization announced recently.

The recipients of the grants were organizations that provide healthcare, education, employment programs, food services and other basic human needs.

The Community Economic Relief Fund of central Indiana received $300,000, which will be used to further its work helping households pay for food and utility costs. Grants totaling $274,000 went to environmental programs in the state.

Citing shrinking state education budgets, fund representatives said 50 percent of the funds were focused on education programs for grade school students, like after-school activities, mentoring and children’s advocacy.

Nina Pulliam was a world traveling journalist who wrote several books of articles about post-World War II conditions in Europe. She died as a publisher of the Arizona Republic, the Phoenix Gazette as well as president of Central Newspapers.

Trust representatives stress that they are carrying on Pulliam’s humanitarian mission.

"The trust furthers the causes Nina Pulliam supported during her life, continuing her legacy of helping people in need, protecting animals and nature, and enriching community life in Indianapolis," said Frank E. Russell, trust chairman. "These are challenging times. Our grantees are doing an exceptional job of bringing relief to those in the greatest need."

The trust has been giving back to the community since 1998, when it first started making grants to nonprofits in Indiana. In total, the trust has awarded $86 million in grants.

The Pulliam Trust now has $327 million in funds. It also receives applications for grants in Arizona.

In other Indiana philanthropy news, an Indiana Tech alumnus donated $2 million to underwrite efficient and environmentally friendly LEED certification of one of the college’s administration buildings. The contribution was the second biggest to be made in the college’s history.

MOUNTAIN VIEW — Seven housing counseling and legal services organizations will receive $525,000 in grants from Silicon Valley Community Foundation to help homeowners and renters facing foreclosure.

The grants will help the nonprofit organizations keep additional housing counselors and legal advisors they added last year with community foundation funding to cope with the increased demand for services caused by the ongoing housing crisis.

More than 900 homeowners and renters in particularly hard hit areas within San Mateo and Santa Clara counties are expected to receive services as a result of the grants.

“With unemployment still at record levels, the demand for foreclosure prevention services remains high,” said Emmett D. Carson, Ph.D., CEO and President of the community foundation. “Mortgages are continuing to re-set and homeowners are still being victimized by brokers, lenders and others who are engaging in illegal practices.”

All of the organizations that received grants have bilingual counselors or legal advisors or the ability to help clients with limited English skills. The community foundation anticipates that between 20 and 50 percent of the people who receive help will be able to work out a loan modification with their lender or avert foreclosure through other solutions.

Of the seven organizations that will receive grants, six previously received funding from the community foundation to add staff or expand their ability to serve more clients. Northern California Urban Development, which has a foreclosure prevention and homeownership program, was the only organization that had not previously received funding. Each of the organizations will receive grants of $75,000.

All of the organizations are working to find residents who need help, sometimes in new ways. For example, Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto, which sees about 10 new clients every week, plans to conduct some educational training at local high schools as a way to reach parents who may have limited English skills in addition to providing foreclosure related legal services to homeowners.

About Silicon Valley Community Foundation
Silicon Valley Community Foundation is a catalyst and leader for innovative solutions to our region’s most challenging problems. Serving all of San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, the community foundation has $1.7 billion in assets under management and 1,500 philanthropic funds. The community foundation provides grants through donor advised and corporate funds in addition to its own endowment funds. The community foundation serves as a regional center for philanthropy, providing donors simple and effective ways to give locally and around the world. Find out more at www.siliconvalleycf.org.

Contact information:
Rebecca Salner
Vice President, Marketing and Communications
Silicon Valley Community Foundation
650.450.5525
rsalner@siliconvalleycf.org

Sandra Day O’Connor knows a solid family was an important start to her successful career. The first ever female Supreme Court member and her brother co-wrote a book about their experience of growing up with their family in the Southwest.

Now, two $1 million grants to the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University will establish the Diane Halle Center for Family Justice and the NextCare Urgent Care Family Violence Legal Clinic to address domestic law issues.

The funds are provided by the Halle Foundation, the AVON Foundation for Women and the ASU College of Law. All three organizations are committed to making financial commitments to fight domestic violence and provide access to justice to families in need.

The Diane Halle center will offer legal services to impoverished families and victims of family violence. Halle Foundation president Diane Halle explains that this institution is essential as more often than people realize legal aid is a matter of life and death.

The NextCare Urgent Care clinic will continue NextCare‘s tradition of fighting domestic violence. The care provider offers shelters for victims of family crimes, and now it is honored to be involved in a holistic approach to helping families through a partnership with the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. "I am confident that this partnership will help us better provide for the full continuum of needs of these victims," said NextCare CEO John Shufeldt.

Together, these two new organizations will engage law students about child abuse, spousal abuse, family law, juvenile law, protective orders and more. It is hoped that the programs will not only benefit victims but also educate future generations of lawyers about the importance of serving family clients.

O’Connor appreciates these generous donations and believes the resulting organizations might help safeguard families. She said, "solutions for domestic violence require a comprehensive approach to connect the wealth of resources that are needed to tackle this issue – from legal to social welfare to health services," she said.

The Avon Foundation for Women, the charity wing of the cosmetics brand, gave a $500,000 grant to the Fund for Global Women’s Leadership, an effort by the U.S. State Department to stop violence against women.

The philanthropy made the donation at an international awards ceremony for courageous women, hosted by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The state department says it will distribute the grant to international NGOs offering programs to assist victims of violence and to discourage violence against women.

Actress Reese Witherspoon was on-hand for the event, supporting the foundation’s global mission.

"Investments like the one announced today by the Avon Foundation and the U.S. Department of State are essential to the development and implementation of programs to end this global crisis," says Witherspoon, who acts as an Avon global ambassador. "Although we face many challenges around the world, nothing is more important than ensuring the safety of women and girls everywhere."

The Avon Foundation says that one-third of all women across the globe, or approximately one billion, will be victims of violence during their life. According to the foundation, more needs to be done to protect women as some countries do not have laws in place to protect women, as well as the lack of victims services.

Since its inception in 1955, the foundation has spent more than $16 billion from funds raised by sales representatives and through charity walk events.

The urgency of the struggle to protect women from abuse is underscored by a recent report released by the National Network to End Domestic Violence.

The nonprofit conducted a 24-hour survey that shows that although domestic violence experts answered more than 23,000 emergency calls in the day, 9,280 requests for help were not met by hotline operators because of a lack of resources.