The Daily Tell

Clean Out Your Office, a Massachusetts company that specializes in the disposal of electronic waste, is donating dozens of discarded computers to an after-school program based in Boston.

Through a partnership with Victory Generation, a faith-based nonprofit organization with a mission to build and sustain after-school services in low-income communities, the company delivered nearly 100 PCs to 11 schools and church centers. COYO plans to supply more computers to the after-school sites and has also made the goal of the partnership to give each of the 543 after-school students in the program a computer for their home by June 30, the Daily News Tribune of Waltham reported.

Janine Spinola Taylor, director of education for Victory Generation, called the charity donations from Clean Out Your Office a "win-win" situation that will surely be a benefit to society by giving less fortunate students a more equal playing field.

"It shows an after-school program meeting another business and collectively they serve the needs of children who do not have a computer," Janine Spinola Taylor, director of education for the partnership, told the news provider. "Without a computer, they are not able to compete in school and do the after-school work. The computer divide would have only increased."

If it were not for the company’s charity, the after-school program would have to pay from $200 to $300 for a refurbished computer, according to COYO’s cofounder.

COYO picks up its computers from small corporate customers – universities, law firms, and IT companies – that pay for the removal and recycling of monitors, copiers, printers and servers. COYO now waves $17.50 in recycling fees to customers who will donate their computers to Victory Generation.

For businesses and organizations in other areas who would like to donate, computerswithcauses.org offers to pick up computers and donate them to a school, veterans center, homeless shelter, or another cause affiliated with its global computer education program.

According to figures from the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation, about 1 million people across the U.S. struggle with the disease with another 60,000 diagnosed each year. But funding from the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research recently donated $3.5 million to research projects which hope to better understand the disease.

The foundation, started by actor Michael J. Fox in 2000, announced this month that it was awarding $3.5 million to nine research organizations who we are studying the LRRK2 gene – which is thought to be "the most common genetic contributor to the disease," according to the MJFF.

In addition to receiving funding, the nine research groups will share results of their testing and create a consortium to get a better understanding of LRRK2 with the hope of creating therapy for those suffering from the disease.

The MJFF has targeting LRRK2 as a high priority and has allocated almost $17 million to studies and initiatives focused on LRRK2.

Earlier this month the foundation awarded $1 million to seven other research projects developing research tools and technologies to help fight the disorder.

Michael J. Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1991 and made a public announcement of his ailment in 1998. To date, his organization has donated close to $175 million to organizations researching the disease.

It would appear that the fundraising done by the MJFF pales in comparison to the costs associated with Parkinson’s each year. According to the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation, the disorder costs nearly $25 billion each year in the U.S. alone – which includes direct and indirect costs associated with the disease.

For thousands of jobseekers in the nonprofit and volunteer sector, Idealist.org is the number one destination to find opportunities to make a world a better place. A project of the nonprofit group Action Without Borders, Idealist.org is a comprehensive website featuring job and volunteering listings, event announcements, and networking opportunities. Idealist.org gives nonprofits an opportunity to showcase their work and connect with similar-minded organizations and individuals. Idealist.org also hosts job fairs and networking conferences for the nonprofit sector.

A large percentage of Idealist.org’s budget comes from small fees the website charges organizations for job postings. Not surprisingly, the economic meltdown of 2008 has had a devastating effect on this portion of Idealist.org’s budget. Nonprofit groups went through extensive hiring freezes, and cut back on posting job listings. As a result, Idealist found its budget nearly cut in half, leaving them in the red for $100,000 a month. For sixteen long months, Idealist.org has managed to survive on a leaner budget, but they are now at a fiscal breaking point.

Idealist.org is now reaching out to the community that they have assisted for more than fifteen years. The organization is calling on anyone whom Idealist has helped find a job or volunteer opportunity, or has simply been inspired to make a difference in this troubled world. Idealist has set a fiscal goal of $500,000 to stabilize the website. The team at Idealist is seeking to diversify its revenue stream so it will never face this fiscal crisis again. But Idealist cannot achieve this goal without your help. To date, more than 6,100 Idealist supporters have stepped forward, raising an impressive $200,000.

$500,000 may seem to be a lofty goal. But Idealist.org is a complex, multi-purpose site that connects 70,000 people with 90,000 organizations around the world, with information in English, Spanish, and French. Idealist also holds dozens of events across North America, including nonprofit career fairs, graduate school fairs, and global volunteer fairs. To hold all these projects together, teams in New York, Portland, Oregon, and Buenos Aires work hard to maintain Idealist.org, Idealistas.org, and Idealiste.org, ensure the integrity of the organizations featured on the websites, reply to tens of thousands of emails, and write and publish resources for the benefit of nonprofit workers and volunteers.

By donating to Idealist.org, you can play a small but crucial part in the gradual recovery of our battered world economy, as Idealist.org continues to help thousands of people locate jobs and volunteer opportunities. By helping to put people to work in areas where the need is greatest, Idealist.org is a proven source of hope and economic opportunity. When you donate to Idealist.org, you’re not just donating to a single organization. You’re helping to sustain the entire network of nonprofit organizations.

Sergeant Erich Pfiefer of the Green Police has a very important message to share with sports fans this Super Bowl Sunday. In a commercial to be aired during the game (now available on YouTube), he reminds people they should use one napkin per sandwich. "One equals one," he deadpans in his short shorts as Switchfoot sings a cover of Cheap Trick’s “Dream Police” – with the simple switch of a lyric to “Green Police.”

The Green Police’s humorous delivery has a serious underlying message. "If everyone followed this rule, more than one billion pounds of napkins could be saved from landfills each year," Pfiefer says. Audi’s Green Police campaign is geared to remind Americans that even simple eco-friendly practices can make a big difference in the nation’s conservation efforts.

The campaign is also part of a plan for Audi to show that tree huggers and the auto industry don’t have to be at odds. The Audi A3 TDI was recently named the 2010 Green Car of the Year. The vehicle receives this honor because it boasts fuel efficiency and energy-saving LED running lights while still maintaining the luxuries of a sports car.

"We consider the Green Car of the Year title one of the most important industry accolades," said Johan de Nysschen president of Audi of America. In an effort to promote their green car and general green practices, Audi is sponsoring the Green Police ads to be run at this year’s Super Bowl.

But the Green Police are not merely Audi’s imagined environment patrols – the auto industry leaders may have drawn inspiration from some real-life squads. In New York, a green police squad operates under the State Department of Environmental Conservation. This green police is an eco-task team that surprises city-dwellers with impromptu environmentalist lectures and issues fines in favor of pro-sustainability.

Moreover, the real-life Green Police have a global reach. The Ministry of Environmental Protection in Israel considers the national Green Police to be the main arm of green enforcement and waste deterrence.

Similarly, the UK’s environmental agency set up a Green Police force – complete with bright green jackets – that has the right to demand access to company property, view power meters, and demand bills from business owners who may not know they’re being watched.

No matter where in the world football fans are, they can enjoy the Super Bowl and the hilarious Green Police Audi ads soon to debut. But be careful about grabbing an extra napkin for those Buffalo wings.

A simple shot – administered in a moment – can offer a lifetime of immunity to deadly diseases. The miracle of vaccines is something that most Americans take for granted. Most American children are offered protection against hepatitis, diphtheria, and other ailments by the time they turn two. Children in other countries are not so lucky.

World Vision International reports nearly 10 million children and mothers die each year from avoidable causes such as pneumonia, diarrhea and malaria because of a lack of global access to vaccines.

Bill and Melinda Gates hope to help change that statistic in 2010. Calling for a "new decade of vaccines," the Gates Foundation announced that it will spend $10 billion over the next 10 years for the development and delivery of vaccines to impoverished people worldwide.

"We’ve made vaccines our number one priority at the Gates foundation because we’ve seen firsthand their incredible impact on children’s lives," said Mrs. Gates.

Vaccines have long been one of the focuses of the Gates Foundation’s global initiatives. In the past decade, the Gates gave more than $4.5 billion to vaccination work. The Gates’ past vaccine grants have successfully assisted in the vaccination of more than 250 million children worldwide, preventing an estimated 5 million deaths.

Still, their current investment is the largest pledge ever made toward vaccination efforts, not to mention the largest pledge.

The money will be used to support a variety of projects including research on how to effectively get life-saving vaccines to people in remote parts of the world.

Mr. Gates said scientific innovations are needed to achieve the desired drop in child mortality rates.
"Vaccines already save and improve millions of lives in developing countries," he said. "Innovation will make it possible to save more children than ever before."

A simple shot – administered in a moment – can offer a lifetime of immunity to deadly diseases. The miracle of vaccines is something that most Americans take for granted. Most American children are offered protection against hepatitis, diphtheria, and other ailments by the time they turn two. Children in other countries are not so lucky.

World Vision International reports nearly 10 million children and mothers die each year from avoidable causes such as pneumonia, diarrhea and malaria because of a lack of global access to vaccines.

Bill and Melinda Gates hope to help change that statistic in 2010. Calling for a "new decade of vaccines," the Gates Foundation announced that it will spend $10 billion over the next 10 years for the development and delivery of vaccines to impoverished people worldwide.

"We’ve made vaccines our number one priority at the Gates foundation because we’ve seen firsthand their incredible impact on children’s lives," said Mrs. Gates.

Vaccines have long been one of the focuses of the Gates Foundation’s global initiatives. In the past decade, the Gates gave more than $4.5 billion to vaccination work. The Gates’ past vaccine grants have successfully assisted in the vaccination of more than 250 million children worldwide, preventing an estimated 5 million deaths.

Still, their current investment is the largest pledge ever made toward vaccination efforts, not to mention the largest pledge.

The money will be used to support a variety of projects including research on how to effectively get life-saving vaccines to people in remote parts of the world.

Mr. Gates said scientific innovations are needed to achieve the desired drop in child mortality rates.
"Vaccines already save and improve millions of lives in developing countries," he said. "Innovation will make it possible to save more children than ever before."

While water may not be what it typically delivers in cans, a delivery from Anheuser-Busch to the storm-ravaged residents of South Dakota is exactly what they would have ordered.

To help thousands of residents that have been without water and electricity – some for as long as a week – following freezing rain and snow storms, Anheuser-Busch is donating 1,764 cases – or more than 42,000 cans of drinking water – to the people of South Dakota, the company said.

A truck carrying the water will follow a 1,500-mile, three-day route from the company’s brewery in Fairfield, California to the local Anheuser-Busch wholesaler, Northwest Beverage, in Mobridge, South Dakota.

Northwest Beverage will then distribute the water to shelters in areas hardest hit by the storms such as, Eagle Butte, Faith, Cherry Creek and Lantry, according to the company.

"It’s important for communities to pull together and lend a helping hand, and Anheuser-Busch is proud to provide drinking water to these people in need," said Peter Kraemer, vice-president of supply for Anheuser-Busch. "Anheuser-Busch is in a unique position to provide water to those in need. Few corporations have the infrastructure to package beverages and distribute them quickly."

Lending a helping hand is nothing new to the company it said. In fact, company founder, Adolphus Busch, reportedly made a donation to victims of the San Francisco earthquake.

The company said that in addition to providing monetary support, it packages fresh drinking water and donates it to emergency relief organizations for distribution to those in need.

Since 1988, Anheuser-Busch said it has donated more than 68.5 million cans of drinking water following natural and other disasters, including 210,042 cases totaling more than 5 million cans, of packaged drinking water to victims of natural disasters in 2008 and 2009 alone.

Prior to the 2004 NFL season, Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback David Garrard began experiencing stomach pains, lost a considerable amount of weight and missed part of pre-season training. He was diagnosed soon after with Crohn’s Disease.

For the past two years, Garrard has scored for the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America through the In the Zone for Crohn’s program, which earned $180,000 this year from the on-the-field exploits of Garrard and support from Centocor Ortho Biotech.

As part of the program, $10,000 was donated to the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America for every touchdown Garrard scored during the 2009 football season. This season, Garrard accounted for 18 passing and rushing touchdowns, raising the $180,000 for the CCFA.

"Since being diagnosed with Crohn’s disease several years ago, it has been my goal to raise awareness of this debilitating disease and to help inspire other people who are living with Crohn’s disease," said Garrard. "I want people to know that if I can overcome this condition and still live a happy and healthy life, they can too."

The money raised by Garrard’s involvement in the In the Zone for Crohn’s program over the past two years hasallowed the CCFA to advance critical Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis research in order to make a profound difference in the present and future health of patients with these diseases, the foundation said.

"David has impacted a countless number of people through his inspiring story of overcoming Crohn’s disease and his continued efforts to shed light on this often misunderstood and under-reported condition," said Richard Geswell, president of the CCFA.

Garrard, one of the 1.4 million Americans with Crohn’s Disease and the related ulcerative colitis (UC), recently completed his third season as the Jaguars’ full-time starting quarterback.

Ohio University graduate Violet L. Patton has donated more than $13 million to the university to establish a new community arts and education center, university president Roderick J. McDavis, announced during a press conference.

"What an incredible gift Miss Patton has given to Ohio University and to the future of arts education here," President McDavis said. "Her gift will touch students, faculty and, in fact, each of us who benefit from the learning and creativity that arts education fosters."

The center will be named the Violet L. Patton Center for Arts Education, pending approval by the Ohio University Board of Trustees.

The 92-year-old 1938 graduate comes from a family of educators and reportedly transferred to Ohio University during her sophomore year to study education – and is considered an artist and educator by most, according to reports.

"Violet Patton has placed her remarkable legacy in Ohio University’s hands," McDavis said. "She has entrusted us to carry forward her commitment to education and to the arts through our stewardship of her remarkable gift. We are humbled by her generosity."

The Violet L. Patton Center for Arts Education will create a community and university partnership, according to the university. Ohio University students will participate in service learning, professional internships and teaching fellow positions.

Additionally, a current K-12 Arts Program will grow to include more local schools and allow for more involvement with College of Education outreach, it said.

According to a report in the Columbus Dispatch, school officials said that the money will not be available to them until Patton’s death, at which time they would move past the planning phase of the building.

Morgan and Helen Chu have continued their longtime support for City of Hope by establishing an endowed chair in the Beckman Research Institute with a $2.5 million gift.

Richard Jove, the institute’s director and professor in the Department of Molecular Medicine, will be the first holder of the Morgan and Helen Chu director’s chair, according to City of Hope.

Morgan Chu is a partner at the Los Angeles-based law firm of Irell & Manella, and the $2.5 million gift builds on recent contributions to City of Hope by the firm.

Among the other recent gifts from the law firm were $3 million to endow the Cancer Center director’s chair, a $5 million gift to City of Hope’s graduate school, and a $2 million gift to create a visiting professorship.

"Helen and I are pleased to support City of Hope and the innovative science of the Beckman Research Institute," Chu said. "Many of today’s most promising medical treatments – from synthetic human insulin to the technology used to create some of the most powerful cancer drugs – stem from the groundbreaking work of City of Hope scientists."

Founded in 1983, Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope engages in molecular and cellular biology investigations, exploring normal and abnormal biological processes as they relate to human disease.

Michael A. Friedman, president, chief executive officer and cancer center director, of City of Hope, lauded the Chus’ commitment to the institute and its research, saying it inspires its scientists research work in cancer, diabetes and other life-threatening diseases.

City of Hope scientists developed patented recombinant DNA technology, which is used to produce synthetic human insulin and led to the development of some of the most promising anticancer treatments based on monoclonal antibodies.