Utah Philanthropy Day Announces 2016 Award Honorees
Salt Lake City, UT – The Utah Philanthropy Day Planning Committee, chaired by Marsha Gilford of Smith’s Food& Drug with Honorary Chair Jeramy Lund, Managing Director of the University Venture Fund, is excited to announce the 2016 Utah Philanthropy Day Awards. Philanthropy Day is hosted collaboratively by the Utah Nonprofits Association, Association for Professional Fundraisers Utah Chapter and UServeUtah.
Each year, over 700 people gather to celebrate the seven prestigious Utah Philanthropy Day Awards honoring people who support and serve Utah’s nonprofit community. This recognition event takes place through a partnership between Utah’s nonprofit, business and government organizations. This year’s luncheon event will be held November 17, 2016 at the Grand America in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The 2016 Honorees are:
Norma Matheson Outstanding Volunteer Award- Joell Brown: Nominated by Kim Paulding, Volunteers of America, Utah
Governors Career Humanitarian Leadership Award- Lloyd Pendelton: Nominated by Matt Minkevitch, The Road Home
Lieutenant Governors Public Service Award- Mayor Ben McAdams: Nominated by Afton January, Utah Community Action
Philanthropic Leadership Award- James E. Hogle, Jr.: Nominated by Lori T. Piscopo, Utah’s Hogle Zoo
Foundation Spirit of Giving Award- Michel Foundation: Nominated by Justin Powell, Youthlinc
Corporate Spirit of Giving Award- Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc.: Nominated by Casey Schow, Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc
Outstanding Young Volunteer Award-Elizabeth Gamarra: Nominated by Sonia Parker, Manos Amigas at SLCC
The giving spirit of the awardees serves as an inspiration to other individuals and organizations throughout the state. Utah Philanthropy Day also provides Utah community organizations the opportunity of honoring an individual or couple with a Heart & Hands Award. This award acknowledges those people who make significant contributions through volunteer or philanthropic service. Each Heart & Hands Award honoree will receive a pin, a certificate, and will be specially recognized during the Utah Philanthropy Day luncheon. Nominations for Heart & Hands Awards will close Oct 15, 2016.
2016 Steering Committee:
Chair: Marsha Gilford, VP Public Affairs, Smith’s MarketPlace
Honorary Chair: Jeramy Lund, Managing Director, University Venture Fund
Chair Elect: Lorena Riffo-Jensen, Arches Health Plan
Immediate Past Co-chair: Matt Minkevitch, The Road Home
Kate Rubalcava, CEO, Utah Nonprofits Association (UNA),
LaDawn Stoddard, Director, Utah Commission on Service & Volunteerism (UServeUtah)
Melissa Mathews, Board President, Association of Fundraising Professionals, Utah Chapter
Doug Elliot, Daniels Fund
Mike Washburn, Thanksgiving Point
Robyn Payne, Rowland Hall, Board Member, Association of Fundraising Professionals, Utah Chapter
Joseph Dane, HawkWatch International, Board Member, Association of Fundraising Professionals, Utah Chapter
Brooke Dimond, UNA Professional Development Coordinator
Katie Barlow, UServeUtah Strategic Initiatives Coordinator
Jennifer Schreiter, Benjen Associates LLC, Utah Philanthropy Day Administrative Coordinator
For information about attending the Utah Philanthropy Day Awards event or nominating Hearts and Hands recipients, visit www.utahphilanthropyday.org.
About UNA
The Utah Nonprofits Association (UNA) works to unify, strengthen and elevate Utah’s nonprofit community through networking, professional development, public policy, and providing technical assistance. www.utahnonprofits.org
About Association of Fundraising Professionals Utah Chapter
Since 1985, the Association of Fundraising Professionals Utah Chapter (AFP), formerly the Utah Society of Fund Raisers (USFR) has promoted high standards of ethics and professionalism among fund raisers, while providing outstanding continuing education, networking opportunities, and more. For more information: www.afputah.org
About UServeUtah, The Lieutenant Governor’s Commission on Service and Volunteerism
UServeUtah is the state’s central coordinating body for service and volunteerism. The Commission is responsible for developing, implementing, and sustaining a vision and culture of civic engagement and national and community service within the state. www.userve.utah.gov.
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BloomSky Takes Weather Hyper-Local with Next Gen SKY2 Weather Station
Weather enthusiasts can join the expansive global community that shares accurate, hyper-local weather information and images from places all over the world
SAN FRANCISCO — August 17, 2016 — Weather technology company BloomSky announced the release of its Next Generation Wireless Camera Weather Station — featuring the SKY2 camera and the STORM — an integral component of its broader vision to build a next generation, crowd-sourcing community that shares accurate, hyper-local weather information and images from places all over the world.
BloomSky’s growing weather community (now more than 100,000 worldwide) is designed to bring people closer, and reinvent the way people share and consume weather information. Ordinary people can become hyper-local weather reporters with the BloomSky Weather Station, sharing and viewing real-time images and hyperlocal data with people around the world — from travelers and skiers to professors and farmers. Device owners can broadcast current weather trends or changes, send notifications in friendly greetings or weather reports to followers so they can stay as informed as the locals.
The new combo (SKY2 and STORM) succeeds the original BloomSky device, known as SKY1, which made a big splash in 2014 and changed the way people see the weather. Developed to solve the problem of inaccurate weather forecasts, the SKY1 was warmly embraced by outdoor enthusiasts, travelers and weather enthusiasts.
The next-gen SKY2 — a 5-in-1 weather camera station that accurately measures temperature, humidity, barometric pressure and precipitation — was enhanced with Bluetooth BLE for easier setup, but retained most of the core competencies of the original SKY1:
BloomSky will also roll out the STORM, a high-precision, 4-in-1 wireless weather device that measures rainfall, and wind speed, wind direction and UV exposure. Its wireless radio frequency ensures consistent and reliable transmission with better range. The STORM was designed to work with either the SKY2 or SKY1 and is app-enabled (iOS or Android).
Key features of the STORM include:
Several options are planned for weather enthusiasts. The SKYPRO Kit includes the SKY2, STORM, two solar panels, one tripod (for STORM) and one mount (for the SKY2) for $299 MSRP. The SKYLITE Kit includes the SKY2, solar panel and mount for $249 MSRP. BloomSky will also release the STORM as a separate add-on for original SKY1 owners for $139 MSRP. Note: STORM only works with SKY1 and SKY2 devices.
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Melbourne, FL - August 15, 2016 - The nonprofit To Write Love on Her Arms just announced its 5th annual campaign to honor National Suicide Prevention Week (September 5 - September 11) and World Suicide Prevention Day (September 10) today. This year's campaign theme is "And so I kept living."
"And so I kept living" comes from Matt Haig's book "Reasons to Stay Alive." After considering suicide, he wrote:
"I think life always provides reasons to not die, if we listen hard enough. Those reasons can stem from the past - the people who raised us, maybe, or friends or lovers - or from the future - the possibilities we would be switching off.
And so I kept living."
Earlier this year, The New York Times reported that suicide rates in the United States are at a 30-year high. In 2014 alone, 42,773 people died by suicide in America. But this isn't just a problem in our country. The World Health Organization estimates that 800,000 people around the world die by suicide each year. This year, TWLOHA hopes its campaign will invite people to challenge the stigma surrounding these issues, to fight the darkness, and to keep living.
In a blog post announcing the campaign, TWLOHA founder Jamie Tworkowski wrote, "At the heart of all of this is an ask, that you will keep going. That you will stay and fight. And not just fight but rest, and let others fight as you recover. We should win and lose together, for that's the way it's meant to be. That's a life best lived."
People can participate in this year's campaign by buying the organization's World Suicide Prevention Day pack, joining the conversation by using #IKeptLiving on Instagram and Twitter, and donating to the Classy fundraising page. TWLOHA will directly invest every dollar from the "And so I kept living" campaign into treatment and recovery.
To Write Love on Her Arms is a nonprofit dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury, and suicide. TWLOHA exists to encourage, inform, inspire, and also to invest directly into treatment and recovery. Since its start in 2006, TWLOHA has donated over $1.6 million directly into treatment and recovery and answered over 180,000 emails from over 100 countries.
For more information on To Write Love on Her Arms, please visit: www.twloha.com
To get involved, please visit: twloha.com/blog/world-suicide-prevention-day-and-so-i-kept-living
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Second of three-part summer enrichment series with focus on high-need students
BOSTON - The second of a three-part Pioneer Institute series of studies on summer enrichment programs with a particular focus on opportunities for disadvantaged students highlights best practices in the field by profiling a range of summer programs.
“Learning loss during the summer is a serious issue, especially for low-income students,” said Pioneer Executive Director Jim Stergios. “Summer enrichment programs can reverse that trend, and this paper highlights some of the best.”
“Expanding Educational Opportunities: Best Practices in U.S. Summer Enrichment Programs” highlights a range of these programs. Some are at independent schools like Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire and Connecticut’s Choate Rosemary Hall. Others, like Boston’s Steppingstone Academy and programs sponsored by Connecticut-based Horizons National are run by non-profits.
Several don’t offer academic credit. Phillips Exeter Summer School Director Elena Gosalves-Blanco says “Summer enrichment is for the love of learning.” The Clarence T.C. Ching Partnerships in Unlimited Educational Opportunities (PUEO) program at the Punahou School in Honolulu is among those that do grant credit.
Students at the Malcolm Coates Prep@Pingree program at the Pingree School in South Hamilton, MA, PUEO, Boston’s Steppingstone Academy and programs sponsored by Horizons National pay little or nothing to attend. Costs for boarding students at Phillips Exeter, Choate Rosemary Hall and the Northfield Mt. Hermon School in Western Massachusetts can reach upwards of $8,000 for a five-week program, but all offer financial aid.
Horizons National conducts pre- and post-program testing to measure academic growth. The goal is six weeks of growth, but Chief Operating Officer Jose Oromi says actual growth has been in the 8-to-10-week range.
Most programs ask students to commit to one summer at a time, but Horizon National’s program goes from the summer before kindergarten through the summer before senior year in high school. PUEO stretches from the summer before sixth grade until the summer before senior year, and Steppingstone Academy covers the summers before students enter fifth and sixth grades.
Authors William Donovan and Lauren Corvese include several findings. They urge summer enrichment programs to partner with entities that help place disadvantaged children in educational programs to help the schools and non-profits recruit students.
They also recommend that programs run by schools use academic-year faculty. Pingree summer courses are taught by Pingree and public school teachers, as well as “Prep@Pingree” alumni. About three-quarters of the Choate Rosemary Hall program is taught by school faculty, and most summer classes at California’s Flintridge Preparatory School are taught by Flintridge faculty.
Donovan and Corvese also urge summer enrichment programs to extend relationships and support students during the academic year. Prep@Pingree, PUEO and Steppingstone Academy currently do so.
Finally, the authors point out that a diverse community is one of the most impactful benefits of summer enrichment programs. Phillips Exeter’s summer school attracts students from 40 states and 50 countries, while 60 percent of summer students at Northfield Mount Hermon are international.
William Donovan is a former staff writer at the Providence Journal and has taught business journalism at the graduate programs at Boston University and Northeastern University. Lauren Corvese is Pioneer’s research assistant and development coordinator. She is a summa cum laude Northeastern graduate.
About Pioneer
Pioneer Institute is an independent, non-partisan, privately funded research organization that seeks to improve the quality of life in Massachusetts through civic discourse and intellectually rigorous, data-driven public policy solutions based on free market principles, individual liberty and responsibility, and the ideal of effective, limited and accountable government.
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