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| June Newsletter |
Vol. 17 2011 |
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Find and Follow Impact
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One Year Closes, Another Opens
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We closed the 2011 grant year last evening with five extraordinary grantees. Now we prepare for another year of grant-making. Join us
in 2012! As of last night, Impact has 15 members for the next grant cycle.
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Did You Know?
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* Impact is now on Twitter, as well as Facebook. Follow us on Twitter at Impact100philly.
* Congratulations to New Jersey Tree Foundation (our 2010 grantee), for winning a 2011 Excellence in Urban Forest Leadership Award for revitalizing communities by planting trees. Read details here (scroll down in story). * In case you missed the news last month, 13 Impact groups across the country have donated more than $15 million in grants in 10 years, a feat worth celebrating.
* Consider joining iGive, an online shopping community that donates a percentage of the cost of purchases to the cause of your choice. So far, iGive has earned $63 for Impact operating expenses. The iGive
website explains how to register.
* Many of this year's grant applicants have provided wish lists of items and volunteers their organizations need. For details, please visit our website.
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WePAC Awarded $100,000 to Bolster Public School Libraries!
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WePAC director David Florig with sixth grader from Lewis C. Cassidy Elementary
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The West Philadelphia Alliance for Children, whose goal is to re-open public school libraries and open a world of books to kids, received Impact's $100,000 project grant Monday evening at the third Annual Meeting.
WePAC Executive Director David Florig asked the audience to imagine a world without books or libraries: "That's not the world we dreamed of for our children and it's not what we want for West Philadelphia children."
With the 2011 project grant, WePAC's Open Books Open Minds project will open new school libraries and increase the hours of those recently opened, to serve close to 5,000 kids over the next 15 months. The goal of WePAC, founded in 2004, is to improve childhood literacy with volunteers who tutor students in the classroom, work in school libraries and offer after-school enrichment. The organization has targeted West Philadelphia schools where children overwhelmingly live in poverty and where without WePAC's help, 8,000 students in 23 elementary schools would have no, or very limited, access to libraries.
"I love the library because I love reading," Lady-Eugenia Goll, 6th grader at Lewis C. Cassidy Elementary School, told the crowd. "When I start to read, sometimes I can never put the book down."
At a public school library recently re-opened by WePAC, a third grader told Florig that she borrows library books so she can read at bedtime to her baby brother. "That's the kind of change we're talking about," he said after the award announcement. "We won't let you down....Together, we're going to do great things."
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All Finalists Take Home Grants Two awarded $20,000; Two awarded $12,000
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Grants Chair Anita Lockhart (left) with representatives from Urban Tree Connection and Northwest Philadelphia Interfaith Hospitality Network
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The Urban Tree Connection's (UTC)
Neighborhood Foods project and the Northwest Philadelphia Interfaith Hospitality Network's (NPIHN) expansion into the Lower Northeast each received $20,000 in unrestricted operating grants last evening. The two organizations were the second and third place finalists during last night's voting.
UTC has worked in the Haddington area of West Philadelphia for 10 years transforming vacant lots into gardens and play spaces, and most recently harvesting fresh produce from an acre parcel. The NPIHN works with congregations to shelter homeless families and locate affordable housing for clients. It also offers career counseling, parent education and other support.
Two unrestricted operating grants for $12,000 went to the Community Arts Center (CAC) in Delaware County and to Concern for Health Options: Information, Care and Education (CHOICE) in Philadelphia. CAC's Pieces of Peace proposal focused on community-building murals in the city of Chester, to be used as a tool to promote non-violence and the legacy of Martin Luther King in the city. CHOICE's What U Need 2 Know proposed two-way text messaging to answer young adults' difficult questions about reproductive health and relationships, and to offer counseling referrals when necessary.
Grantees pictured above (from left) Soledad Alfaro, UTC board member; Skip Weiner, UTC founder and executive director; Lisa Brown, NPIHN family member; and Rachel Falkove, NPIHN executive director.
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Members and Guests Crowd Philly's World Cafe Live
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Members, guests applaud grant recipients
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More than 140 women attended last evening's Annual Meeting, awarding $164,000 to five Philadelphia area nonprofits. That grant total is nearly 20 percent higher than the $139,000 awarded last year.
"It truly has been another amazing year for all of us," said co-president Beth Dahle. "By the end of tonight, all five finalists will have received a grant award."
The evening included a buffet dinner and cash bar followed by presentations by the grant finalists from each focus area committee: Arts & Culture, Education, Environment, Family, and Health & Wellness. The 2011 grants awarded bring to $414,000 the amount Impact100 Philadelphia has donated to local nonprofits since being founded in mid-2008. In three years, the organization has awarded three project grants and five operating grants.
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Annual Meeting Chairs (from left) Deb Correll and Kim Tarquinio, with volunteer photographer Colleen Philbin
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See additional photos from last evening below, and find more on our blog.
To read press release from last night, click here. To join us in the upcoming year, please click here.
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Members and guests at World Cafe Live Monday evening
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Member Carrie Brodsky flanked by daughters - and future Impact leaders? - Emily (left) and Sarah (right)
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 How is Impact doing? Tell us in Member Survey
Has your time as an Impact member been rewarding? How could the organization improve? What might Impact do differently to engage more women or work more effectively in the nonprofit community? What might you change - or not?
Each June, members have the opportunity in a brief survey to evaluate their experience. The survey will be emailed to members this week on Thursday, June 9. Please take 10 minutes to offer your feedback and comments. Impact will be stronger for it. Thank you!
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New Leaders Appointed to Board of Directors
The Board of Directors voted in May to appoint three new members to the board, and to welcome back four current board members in new positions during the 2012 grant year. Impact's new secretary is Holly Harrity; educational programs chair is Deborah Correll; and public relations chair is Anne Sudduth.
Ellan Bernstein, whose two-year term as secretary ends this month, will serve a two-year term as co-president with Charlotte Schutzman. Mary Broach, who most recently served as interim membership chair and immediate past president, will serve a two-year term as communications chair. Wendy Peck will become membership chair and Beth Dahle, whose term as co-president ends this month, will serve a one-year term as immediate past president.
Additionally, Anita Lockhart will continue as grants chair and Barbara Renninger as treasurer. Impact thanks retiring board members Stephanie Corp Maguire, Jacquie Kelly and Beth Burrell for their years of service and leadership.
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Many thanks to everyone for their participation in another exciting year of giving at Impact. This year, it was especially thrilling to donate money to all five grant finalists. Join us again in 2012, and spread the word about Impact100 Philadelphia to friends and colleagues. A fourth year of grant-making depends on it!
Have a great summer,
Beth Burrell
Communications Chair
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