GM plant bricks selling like hot cakes while aiding a good cause
In a fund-raising effort for its Delaware Kids Fund nonprofit, Harvey, Hanna & Associates has sold 500 bricks from the former General Motors Boxwood plant near Newport in a two-week period.
Early demand has exceeded expectations, according to Ryan Kennedy, vice president of marketing for Harvey, Hanna, which plans to build a logistics center at the automaker’s site.
Proceeds are going to a food pantry the Kids Fund opened last year at Richey Elementary School in Newport. The school has a high percentage of students living below the poverty line.
Kennedy said the brick campaign sales to date have raised nearly enough money to pay for the $5,000 a year it takes to stock the pantry.
As onlne word got out on the effort sales have been coming from well outside Delaware.
The Kids Fund has created a way for people that have expressed interest in getting bricks. Kennedy says orders have come in from Germany, England, Florida, Canada, Washington State, California, Detroit, Indianapolis, Colorado, and Missouri. Shipping is extra.
Those in driving distance can pick up the bricks that come plain or with an attached plaque that commemorates the nearly nine million cars assembled at Boxwood during its six decades on Boxwood Road.
Click here to order.
Bricks will be available for your office or curio cabinet in the spring.
Gala benefitting Odyssey Charter School raises $110,000
More than 200 guests attended the Odyssey Charter School’s “Boundless Journey Gala,” held earlier this month at the Wilmington Country Club.
The event was sponsored as a Regional Banquet by the Supreme Headquarters of the Order of AHEPA, under the auspices of Wilmington Chapter #95, the founding organization of the school.
Over $110,000 was raised that evening and many more donations are expected to be given to the campaign. Most importantly, AHEPA has pledged to raise the $2 million needed to build the school’s 22,000 square foot gymnasium.
The gala was the brainchild of AHEPA Past Supreme President Carl Hollister and Supreme Treasurer George Horiates, both of whom secured the funds to underwrite the entire cost of the gala.
The keynote speaker, professor Pericles Mitkas, Chancellor of Aristotle University in Thessaloniki, Greece, announced a partnership between Odyssey and Aristotle University.
The initiative would create a Center of Aristotle’s School of Philosophy at Odyssey for the purpose of providing foreign language teachers training and certifications. Aristotle University is the largest University in Greece
Guests included University of Delaware President Dr. Dennis Assanis.
The Order of AHEPA (American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association) was founded in 1922 in Atlanta Wilmington Chapter #95, established on February 14, 1926, is the driving force behind the creation of the Odyssey Charter School.
Capano Family Foundation donates $100,000 to Best Buddies
The Louis Capano Family Foundation (LCFF) has donated $100,000 to Best Buddies Delaware (BBDE), a nonprofit that offers One-to-One Friendship and Leadership Development programs, which positively impact nearly 9,700 individuals with and without disabilities in Delaware.
BBDE was selected as the 2018 beneficiary for the annual Louis Capano Family Foundation Golf Outing held last year.
“We’re supporting BBDE this year because we were deeply moved by the organization’s mission of inclusion, friendship and acceptance for all, and impressed by its proven track record of making a difference in the community,” said foundation president and Capano Management CEO Louis J. Capano III. “With our donation, we’re supporting the many programs BBDE provides and the mentoring connections that can help change lives.”
Delaware has 17 chapters and 979 ‘buddy’ participants across the state involved in various programs:
“The Capano Family Foundation investment not only means more with regard to expanding our programs to schools and communities across the state, but more opportunities to hold community and leadership events for adults with disabilities by expanding our Community Citizens program to businesses. And more toward our goal of having a supported employment program in the next few years where we match skilled and qualified individuals with IDD with businesses seeking enthusiastic and dedicated employees,” said Tom Waite, director of programs and operations at Best Buddies.
The Louis Capano Family Foundation was established as a public charitable organization in 2006 by Louis J. Capano Jr. and Louis J. Capano III to raise essential funding and awareness for the nonprofits of Delaware with a specific focus on children and families in need. The Foundation’s signature fundraising event is the annual Golf Outing. To date, the tournament has donated over $1 million to local charities.
Water is Life Kenya reports success with Livestock-as-a-business program
Water is Life Kenya, a Delaware-based nonprofit, announced the annual “Livestock-as-a-Business” microloan recipients.
The Water is Life Kenya “Livestock as a Business” training and loan program was born during a devastating drought of 2009 where ranchers suffered livestock losses of up to 85 percent.
Participants in the program are taught the skills needed to increase drought resilience, improve incomes, sustain their water supply, and have a better life. Managing livestock herds is the main source of income and food for the Maasai communities in southern Kenya.
The program includes exposure to important resources including government of Kenya Ministry of Livestock extension officers and the opportunity to interact, develop friendships and share best practices with neighboring farmers.
The microloan component of the program has helped hundreds of families learn financial literacy and responsibility. In the eight years that the program has been in existence, over 99 percent of the loans have been repaid with interest. Repaid loans are used to fund the next year’s programs.
Joyce Tannian, founder of Water is Life Kenya, noted that the organization’s year-round presence on the ground and strong bonds of trust with the communities served differentiates the non-profit from other organizations working in the region and assures program continuity and quality.
