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From Business Publications Corporation Inc., 100 4th Street, Des Moines, Iowa 50309. Copyright © BPC Inc. 2012.
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Written by Brianne Sanchez
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Chris Coleman
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Heroes for the Homeless
Central Iowa Shelter & Services (CISS) will host the "Heroes for Homeless" awards dinner April 24 to honor Principal Financial Group Inc., Des Moines City Councilman Chris Coleman and community volunteer Steve Smith. They'll be recognized for their contributions to secure funding and construct CISS' new 42,000-square-foot shelter, which opened last September. The new shelter includes an on-site health clinic, a food pantry, a clothing closet and a classroom along with an expanded emergency shelter, transitional housing for veterans, and efficiency apartments.
"I'm just awed at what the community has pulled together to raise the funds and construct a facility like that," says Smith, a construction engineer who helped CISS Executive Director Tony Timm and his team navigate building processes. Smith first learned of the project after volunteering to serve meals through Lutheran Church of Hope.
Coleman says one of the reasons he sought re-election to the City Council was to address homelessness, especially as early efforts to find a suitable location for the new shelter kept hitting roadblocks. He says he wanted to use his position "to change the community for people who were vulnerable." To that end, he started the Homelessness Coordinating Council.
Coleman says the council, which includes City Council members, Polk County Board of Supervisors members, and human services leaders and funders, is still active. The group is now working to address gaps in service for homeless people and bring together resources that can help people move toward transitional housing and private low-income housing. The expansion of CISS living options puts that goal on track. "It gives hope to all residents that they can get to a better place," Coleman says.
Principal Financial Group Inc. will be recognized for providing financial support for CISS' new facility as well as for case management services.
The "Heroes for Homeless" dinner will be 6 p.m. at The Temple for Performing Arts. Tickets are $150, or $100 for people under age 40, with discounts for tables, and can be purchased through centraliowashelter.org.
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Ways to Engage
Nominate an individual and/or a nonprofit organization for the Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines' Better Together Award. The award recognizes people and organizations in the community that are building "social capital," defined as "connections among diverse people or groups, based on trust, that enhance cooperation for mutual benefit." Nominations are due April 5. Award recipients will be announced at the Community Foundation's 2013 Celebration Luncheon and Report to the Community May 13 at the Downtown Des Moines Marriott. Complete an online application by clicking here.
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Amy Dickman
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Blank Park Zoo continues its 2013 conservation series with two speakers focused on African wildlife. Big cats expert Amy Dickman will deliver a talk on March 28 and Bill Konstant will lecture on rhinoceroses April 25. Light appetizers will be served starting at 6 p.m. with the speakers beginning at 7 p.m. Cost is $15 per session for zoo members, $20 for nonmembers. Find additional details, tickets and links to videos of past speakers at blankparkzoo.com.
Celebrate the volunteers, companies and organizations working to strengthen the community at the United Way of Central Iowa Live United Luncheon, 11:15 a.m.-1 p.m. April 2 at The Meadows Events & Conference Center. Tickets for the luncheon are $20 per person and are available online through March 26.
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Jim Willer and Soozie McBroom as "Tweedledee" and "Tweedledum" at last year's Bubble Ball.
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The ever "pop"-ular ChildServe Bubble Ball will be 7 p.m. April 6. This year's event will be held at Capital Square, 400 Locust St., and will once again feature local designers' creative bubble wrap costumes. Tickets are $125 per person through childserve.org/bubbleball.
Registration is now open for the May 4 C.A.R.E. 5K & 10K Run and Walk for organ, eye and tissue donation awareness, hosted by My Angel Foundation. The event, which helps promote registration on the Iowa Donor Registry, will take place at Centennial Park in Waukee. Register at myangelfoundation.org or milesofcare.com.
Round up teammates for the spring Whiff-It tournament, a wiffle ball competition to benefit the Kiwanis Miracle League and Children's Cancer Connection. Cost is $200 per team for the May 4 event. Sign up by April 17 through whiffitdsm.com.
 Forgo the elevator and hustle up the stairs at the American Lung Association Fight for Air Climb April 7. The climb is held in three downtown Des Moines buildings: EMC Insurance Companies, Hub Tower and the Des Moines Marriott Downtown. Find details and registration information at lung.org.
Project Healthy Iowa Men, the HIV intervention program at Primary Health Care (formerly The AIDS Project of Central Iowa), will honor collaborators, volunteers and community sponsors at a reception 6 p.m. March 29 at Sticks, 3631 S.W. 61st St. Visit projecthim.org to  learn more. Everybody Wins! Iowa is hosting its second annual Read to Lead Gala 7-10 p.m. April 13 at Salisbury House & Gardens. Meet local authors, enjoy beverages and appetizers, listen to music from local musicians and explore the Salisbury House library. Tickets are $25 through everybodywinsiowa.org. Hawthorn Hill is seeking artworks and volunteers for its annual Art & More for Shelter event. The art auction will be 5:30-8:30 p.m. April 18 at Lotus Moments Event Center, 2134 E. Grand Ave. The deadline to submit original art (paintings, prints, sculptures, etc.) for auction is April 12. Learn more at hawthorn-hill.org. |
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 | | Melissa Clarke-Wharff with her son, Jack, the inspiration for Courage League Sports. |
Faces of Philanthropy
Melissa Clarke-Wharff has founded Courage League Sports, a new nonprofit that will offer athletic programs for children with disabilities in Greater Des Moines. Courage League Sports will launch programming this spring at the Waukee Family YMCA, with plans to move into its own a recreational adaptive sports facility later this year. For more information, visit courageleaguesports.org.
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Jason Lee
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Jason Lee has joined Lutheran Services in Iowa (LSI) as an advancement officer to develop financial support for LSI's human services programs. Lee most recently served as executive director of the ALS Association's Iowa chapter.
Megan Thibodeau has joined Central Iowa Shelter & Services (CISS) as programs manager, and Carla Tolson has joined the organization as case manager for the community resource and referral center. Also, Lisa Mehle of Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield has joined CISS' board of directors.
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Good to Know
Americana Restaurant & Lounge has relaunched its Saturday brunch program that benefits nonprofit organizations and is expanding the program to Sunday night dinners. Participating organizations work with Americana to promote the brunch or dinner for their cause, with 10 percent of sales from any diner who mentions the charity benefiting that organization. The program previously raised funds for more than 30 different nonprofit groups over a six-month period. To set up a brunch or dinner benefiting your group, contact Mike Utley at
, the fundraising program designed to give donors an opportunity to contribute to local organizations based on the number of birdies made by Champions Tour players during The Principal Charity Classic, kicked off its pledge period last month. This year, the tournament moves to Wakonda Club, a historic "finesse" course that organizers say might result in fewer birdies. Therefore, minimum pledges were raised to 5 cents a birdie. Birdies for Charity will continue accepting applications from Central Iowa nonprofit organizations that serve youths through March 29. Pledges can be made through June 2. Sammons Financial Group sponsors Birdies' Bonus Bucks program, which allows organizations to earn additional funds. Learn more: principalcharityclassic.com/birdies-for-charity.
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Success Stories
Several "soup-er" structures were on display earlier this month at the Science Center of Iowa. Eleven teams of architects, engineers, students and others constructed giant sculptures made out of canned food during the 17th annual Canstruction Design and Build Competition. The building materials, which contained about 16,700 pounds of food, were then donated to the Food Bank of Iowa.
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Strategic America employees prepare brown bag lunches for Bethel Mission.
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The client services team at Strategic America, a West Des Moines integrated marketing firm, recently assembled 200 brown bag lunches for Hope Ministries' Bethel Mission. The event kicked off the firm's 2013 "CommUnity Activism" project, which organizes monthly events to benefit charitable organizations.
The Alzheimer's Association, Greater Iowa chapter was awarded the 2012 Walk to End Alzheimer's Board Challenge Champion Cup for 100 percent board participation and the nation's highest fundraising total per board member. The board's 15 members each raised an average of $9,480 across 11 Iowa walks.
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Ramsey Subaru awarded $12,000 to local charities last month.
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Ramsey Subaru awarded a total of $12,000 to six Central Iowa charities last month:
Special Olympics Iowa, Youth Emergency Services and Shelter (YESS), Pet Project Midwest, Greater Des Moines Habitat for Humanity, WesleyLife Meals on Wheels and Make-A-Wish Foundation Iowa. The dealership donated $200 for every car that was purchased or leased over the holidays and donated 117 meals to WesleyLife Meals on Wheels-one for every test drive during that period.
In the Bag Corporate Cuisine selected Anawim Housing as its January featured nonprofit, donating a portion of that month's gratuities and providing information about Anawim's programs and services to more than 3,000 people in the metro area.
Kidfest, held earlier this month, raised $155,000 for Children and Families of Iowa. More than 13,000 people attended the event.
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Grants
Prairie Meadows Racetrack and Casino awarded 262 Community Betterment Grants and 10 Legacy Grants totaling $5.2 million at its Impact Luncheon March 4. The YMCA of Greater Des Moines received the largest award--$1 million toward its new downtown facility. Find the complete list of grantees online.
Children & Families of Iowa (CFI) recently received $25,000 from the W.T. and Edna M. Dahl Trust toward its "Building Futures" capital campaign for facility renovations.
The Wellmark Foundation recently granted nearly $20,000 to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Foundation in collaboration with the Iowa Department of Education to expand the "Meet the Challenge! Improving School Wellness Policies Throughout Iowa" program by 10 additional schools.
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Who's Hiring
Science Center of Iowa is staffing up for summer camps. View a variety of positions at sciowa.org.
Kum & Go is hiring a manager of philanthropy, a position that interacts with the marketing department and communities to ensure that the Kum & Go and Krause family philanthropic mission is continued and promoted. Details: kumandgo.com.
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Don't Forget!
Want party pictures from your organization's event in dsm's rsvp section? The details on how to do that, including deadlines, are on our website, dsmMagazine.com. Follow the instructions there and we'll do the rest.
Email us at dsmeditor@bpcdm.com with innovative ideas you've implemented, board and staff appointments, capital campaigns, events and other news (plus photos and links to your videos!). The deadline for the next issue is April 5.
Get the word out about your upcoming event by listing it on our community calendar. Go to dsmMagazine.com, click on "calendar" and then "add event" and follow the instructions.
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Brianne Sanchez is a freelance writer and is pursuing a Master of Public Administration at Drake University. A former journalist for The Des Moines Register, she's also the project manager at the Des Moines "I Have a Dream" Foundation. In her free time, she serves on the TEDxDesMoines planning team.
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