hilanthropy Day Announces 2018 Award Honorees

SALT LAKE CITY - The Utah Philanthropy Day Steering Committee, chaired by Heather Kahlert of the Kahlert Foundation with honorary chair Geralyn Dreyfous, is excited to announce the 2018 Utah Philanthropy Day honorees. Utah Philanthropy Day is hosted collaboratively by the Utah Nonprofits Association, Association for Fundraising Professionals Utah Chapter, and UServeUtah.

Utah Philanthropy Day merges two audiences that go hand-in-hand: philanthropy and volunteerism. Each year, over 800 people gather to celebrate the seven prestigious Utah Philanthropy Day Awards honoring people who support and serve Utah’s nonprofit community. This collaborative recognition event takes place through a partnership between Utah’s nonprofit, business, and government organizations. This year’s luncheon event will be held on November 15, 2018 at the Salt Palace Ballroom in Salt Lake City, Utah.

2018 Honorees

Philanthropic Leadership Honorees: Alan & Jeanne Hall, nominated by Kathleen Bideaux of Boys & Girls Clubs of Weber-Davis

Corporate Spirit of Giving Honoree: Mark Miller Subaru, nominated by Cathleen Sparrow of Volunteers of America, Utah

Foundation Spirit of Giving Honoree: Semnani Family Foundation, nominated by Jeanie Ashby of Maliheh Free Clinic

Outstanding Young Volunteer Honoree: Lucas Horns, nominated by Adam Sklute of Ballet West

Outstanding Volunteer Honoree: Lynnie Zimmerli, nominated by Carrie Romano of Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Intermountain Area

Governor’s Career Humanitarian Leadership Honoree: David James, nominated by Brent Severe of Granite Education Foundation

Lt. Governor’s Public Service Honoree: Mayor Cherie Wood, nominated by Lindsey Edwards of United Way

The giving spirit of the honorees serves as an inspiration to other individuals and organizations throughout the state. Utah Philanthropy Day also provides Utah community organizations the opportunity to honor 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 be specially recognized during the Utah Philanthropy Day luncheon.

For information about attending the Utah Philanthropy Day event or nominating Hearts & Hands Award recipients, visit www.utahphilanthropyday.org. Nominations for Hearts & Hands Awards will close on October 15, 2018.

2018 Steering Committee

Committee Members:

Chair: Heather Kahlert, The Kahlert Foundation

Honorary Chair: Geralyn Dreyfous

Chairs Elect: James & Andrea Clarke, Clarke Capital Partners

Immediate Past Chair: Mike Washburn, Thanksgiving Point

Dhiraj Chand, University of Utah

Jennifer Schreiter, Utah Philanthropy Day Event Coordinator

Doug Fabrizio, Master of Ceremonies

Utah Nonprofits Association (UNA) Representatives:

Kate Rubalcava, CEO, UNA

Laura Hadley, Board Member, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation

Jill Bennett, Professional Development and Communications Director, UNA

UServeUtah Representatives:

LaDawn Stoddard, Executive Director

Sara Dorsey, Outreach Coordinator

AFP Utah Representatives:

Wendy Loyning, President, Red Butte Garden

Jessica Strike, Partnerships Chair, Natural History Museum of Utah

 =====================

Breaking Down the Big Differences Between Debt Management, Debt Settlement

Nonprofit credit counseling agency Take Charge America explains the financial impact of two popular debt repayment strategies

PHOENIX – (Aug. 22, 2018) –  Excessive credit card debt can be overwhelming, and the repayment process is often difficult to navigate. There are numerous routes, each with very different short- and long-term repercussions. 

Two of the most popular strategies are debt management and debt settlement. While they sound similar, these programs take different approaches to eliminate debt.

• With a debt management plan, a credit counselor from a nonprofit agency works on the borrower’s behalf to obtain more favorable terms with each creditor, such as reduced interest rates and finances changes, and waived late and over-limit fees. Once agreed upon, the borrower makes a single monthly payment to the credit counseling agency. The agency then disburses payments to all creditors, taking the guesswork out of which card or loan should be paid off in what manner.
• Debt settlement is performed by for-profit companies, which direct clients to halt payments as a tactic to get creditors to accept a lesser amount in a lump-sum payment. Instead, the client sets up a separate savings account where they can deposit money to ultimately settle the debts. Once the lump sum payments are accepted, accounts are considered satisfied.

“With any repayment plan, it’s imperative to conduct research so you understand the fees and risks,” said Michael Sullivan, a personal finance consultant with Take Charge America, a national non-profit credit counseling agency. “Comparing the services side by side will help you identify the right path to financial freedom.”

Sullivan breaks down nine key differences between debt management and debt settlement:

1. Objective Advice – Nonprofit credit counseling agencies must abide by strict regulations to ensure they have clients’ best interest at heart. Debt settlement agencies are for-profit entities that don’t necessarily offer objective advice.
2. Education – Debt management includes a robust educational component. You’ll leave the program with a better understanding of money management. Debt settlement doesn’t focus on education.
3. Monthly Payments – With debt settlement, you’ll redirect all payments for up to 36 months into a separate savings account until your debts are settled. This can negatively impact your credit score, force your debts into collections or even lead to a lawsuit. Further, all the missed or delinquent payments will stay on your credit report for seven years. Debt management takes a different approach – you make one monthly payment toward your debt, based on your budget, which is distributed to your creditors.
4. Total Repayment – If it works, debt settlement can clear 50 percent of your debt or more. Depending on your life situation, this benefit might outweigh the negative consequences. However, there is no telling if/when it will work. With debt management, plans are typically paid in five years or less without the negative credit impact.
5. Interest Rates & Fees – In debt management, certified credit counselors work with your creditors to secure lower interest rates and fees. With settlement, late fees and other penalties are added onto your balance.
6. Credit Score – Debt settlement negatively impacts your score because payments are missed and accounts aren’t paid in full. Debt management doesn’t impact your score in the same manner because payments are submitted to creditors throughout the program.
7.  Fees – You’ll pay for both programs, but debt management has a smaller impact on your wallet, requiring a nominal monthly fee based on your state of residence. By law, debt settlement companies can’t charge upfront fees. But, they will charge a percentage of the amount of enrolled debt, generally 18 to 25 percent.
8. Collection Calls – Debt settlement programs typically don’t stop pesky collections calls. Debt management programs do.
9. Tax Charges – While debt management programs don’t incur additional taxes, you may have to pay additional taxes with a debt settlement program. The IRS considers forgiven amounts over $600 as income, for which you may owe taxes.  

Learn more about these debt repayment options:

• Detailed overview of debt settlement
• Side-by-side comparison of debt settlement and debt management

About Take Charge America, Inc.

Founded in 1987, Take Charge America, Inc. is a nonprofit agency offering financial education and counseling services including credit counseling, debt management, student loan counseling, housing counseling and bankruptcy counseling. It has helped more than 1.6 million consumers nationwide manage their personal finances and debts. To learn more, visit www.takechargeamerica.org or call (888) 822-9193.

=-==============

• Snowy simulations

          What do the avalanches in Disney’s “Frozen” and real life avalanches have in common? They both can be modeled with the computer graphics that Chenfanfu Jiang of the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science helped create for the entertainment industry. His simulations of snow, sand and water are now leveraged to capture and predict the complexity of a slab of snow’s behavior as cracks propagate through it. Snow-slab avalanches are particularly dangerous to hikers and skiers, and having the tools of computer graphics applied to real situations could potentially save lives. (EDITORS: additional information)

• Protecting breast feeding

          How many large American cities protect the rights of breast-feeding mothers employed outside the home? Two out of 151, according to researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. A year of research concluded that only Philadelphia and New York City, 1.3 percent of the sample cities, had some version of local safeguards for nursing mothers returning to work outside the home. The researchers said the findings are a call to action for local legislators to reduce the burden on nursing mothers. (EDITORS: additional information)

• Cancer-cell 'drones'

          A hallmark of cancer is its ability to evade the immune system. One of the ways it does so, according to University of Pennsylvania researchers, is by releasing biological “drones,” small vesicles called exosomes that cause T cells to tire before they have a chance to reach the tumor and do battle. Immunotherapies, as a result, are life-saving for many patients. But 70 percent do not respond to such therapies, which is why researchers have also been searching for a means to predict and track the effectiveness of certain drugs on an individualized basis. (EDITORS: additional information)

• Special transplants

          Patients facing long kidney-transplant wait times may soon have to wait no more. In 2016, the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine launched a clinical trial to test the effect of transplanting kidneys from donors with hepatitis C into uninfected patients who would opt in to receive otherwise unused organs. Recipients were then treated with an antiviral therapy in an effort to cure the virus after transplantation. To date, 20 patients have been cured of the hepatitis C virus following life-saving transplants from deceased donors. (EDITORS: additional information)

 ==========================

New supernatural thriller takes readers to a world of ritual and magic

Joe Fasbinder announces the release of ‘Seerstone’

COSTA MESA, Calif. – Joe Fasbinder returns to the publishing scene with the release of “Seerstone” (published by Xlibris), a supernatural thriller weaved with magic set in 19th-century America.

The novel introduces readers to a tale of magic and dark arts as it affects a simple family who struggles to exist in western New York in the early 1800s. A traveling magician promises comfort and wealth and tries to draw Dayer Preston and his wife into a world they cannot begin to understand. Who could Walters be?

“Seerstone” was inspired by Fasbinder’s fascination with ritual and family magic. He also emphasizes that all of the rituals included in the book are authentic.

Through the book, the author aims to share to readers a sense of wonder. “Supernatural wonder is universal,” he adds.

“Seerstone”

By Joe Fasbinder

Hardcover | 6 x 9in | 136 pages | ISBN 9781984530240

Softcover | 6 x 9in | 136 pages | ISBN 9781984530233

E-Book | 136 pages | ISBN 9781984530226

Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

About the Author

Joe Fasbinder has long been a student of family and ritual magic, as it existed in the early years of the colonization of America. He was a writer, reporter, editor and finally a columnist (on computer issues) at United Press International for 25 years, followed by additional experience at the Los Angeles Times Syndicate, the Los Angeles Daily Journal and in more than a dozen other freelance and part-time positions. He is currently a regular contributor to the Brentwood News on the Westside of Los Angeles. Readers can follow Fasbinder at www.joefasbinder.com.

Xlibris Publishing, an Author Solutions, LLC imprint, is a self-publishing services provider created in 1997 by authors, for authors. By focusing on the needs of creative writers and artists and adopting the latest print-on-demand publishing technology and strategies, we provide expert publishing services with direct and personal access to quality publication in hardcover, trade paperback, custom leather-bound and full-color formats. To date, Xlibris has helped to publish more than 60,000 titles. For more information, visit xlibris.com or call 1-888-795-4274 to receive a free publishing guide. Follow us @XlibrisPub on Twitter for the latest news.