Blog
March 9, 2010
The Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce Nonprofit Business Committee Award Task Force, is pleased to inform you that PanZOu Project, Inc. has been selected as one of three finalists for the 2010 NOVO Awards in the under $2 million category. The NOVO Awards are presented for innovative excellence in the delivery of services in our community.
The winner of the award will be announced at the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce Trustees Luncheon on Wednesday, April 7, 2010 at Jungle Island, 1111 Parrot Trail. As a finalist, we invite you and one additional person from your organization to attend as our guests. Additional tickets can be purchased at $55.00 per person. The winners will be announced at the luncheon.
Again congratulations to PanZOu Project, Inc. on being a finalist for our 9th Annual NOVO Awards. Please contact Jennifer Sanchez, 305-577-5451 or jsanchez@miamichamber.com with the names of the two individuals who will be representing your organization.
Trudy Novicki
NOVO Awards Task Force Chair
Dear friends,
As you know, PanZOu created Hearts for Haiti shirts to help raise money. Our board has chosen QIFD,Quisqueya International Organization for Freedom & Development, a nonprofit organization that works on the grassroots level to advance political, economic and social rights and support development initiatives. We met the Executive Director while we were in Haiti in 2007 for a Symposium of Gang Violence. They do amazing work all over Haiti. Below is an email I received following the earthquake on Jan 15th:
Laura,
It is with a heavy heart that I type this email. I am so completely and utterly devastated. Our office in Port au Prince is gone and many of our staff are still missing. Eric,my partner of 10 years is missing, I can't find him. Our office is gone and have only accouted for 1 staff.My god daughter and her family did not make it as their house crushed them. Words can not do justice on how I feel, but I have to fight on for the people of Haiti. There is no time for mourning....yet.
If you can pass the word along to your friends, colleagues, family to go to our website www.qifd.org and click on the yellow donate button. No amount is too small. 100% of funds raised witll go towards the relief effort. Let them consider investing in the long term recovery of Haiti by giving to an organization such as QIFD that have been serving Haiti long before the earthquake and will be here long after other aid organizations have gone home.
I know so many Haitians and friends of Haiti are going through the same nightmare and anguish as me. Please pray for everyone’s loved ones that are missing, injured or have not survived and pray for my missing staff and friends. Will keep you updated as I can.
QIFD website: www.qifd.org
Show your support today by donating $20 and wearing your Heart for Haiti shirt proudly. Please send us a photo!
Web Site Releases First Ever List of Top-Rated Nonprofits That Help People Get Jobs
Menlo Park, Calif. — February 4, 2010 — GreatNonprofits announced today a list of Top-Rated nonprofits that provide job training or placement based on user-reviews (http://greatnonprofits.org/reviews/issues/jobs/_). This first-ever list show the breadth of nonprofits stepping up to address the growing need for jobs in this economy. Government and individual funders looking to support organizations that are effectively helping people get jobs can browse the list by ratings and location, and read reviews of nonprofits that are truly having an impact – or those that are not.
The ratings were posted during the 2010 Job Training and Placement Awards, hosted by GreatNonprofits, Goodwill Industries International, the International Association of Jewish Vocational Services, and Guidestar. Ratings were submitted by members of the public who have volunteered, donated, or been served by the nonprofits. There are over 40 top nonprofits on the final list, available at http://greatnonprofits.org/reviews/issues/jobs/_.
“…I may have been a late blossomer, but because Goodwill® believed in ME when I couldn't believe in myself and took out the time to teach me how to be a responsible person and that life could actually be GOOD, we now thrive as a family,” wrote one reviewer about Goodwill Industries of Colorado Springs, “we even own our own home, and how can you thank someone enough for saving your life and the life of your children, to not repeat the lifestyle that you yourself went thru, thinking there were no other options?...”
Sandee Kastrul, the President and co-Founder of Inner-City Computer Stars in Chicago, IL, one of the top-rated charities, says, “Since we have participated in the campaign, we have been delighted by the responses of our alums, our participants, our employers and volunteers. What a wonderful way to give and receive feedback in order to strengthen our program and increase our impact.”
"Our rankings have been top-rated, “said Jim Gibbons, president and CEO of Goodwill Industries International, “This verification is one that gives people first-hand knowledge of their local, reputable and trustworthy organizations that are worthy of their time, service, financial donations, or donated goods."
The entire list of top-rated nonprofits is at http://greatnonprofits.org/reviews/issues/jobs/_. Use this list to find great nonprofits to support with your giving and volunteering.
About the 2010 Job Training and Placement Awards The awards were hosted by GreatNonprofits, the leading provider of user-generated ratings and reviews of nonprofits, Goodwill Industries International, the International Association of Jewish Vocational Services, and Guidestar. Over the course of the Job Training and Placement Awards, more than 116,000 people visited the GreatNonprofits Web site, and close to 1000 reviews were posted about more than 100 nonprofits providing job training or placement in their communities.
Reviews appear on GreatNonprofits.org as well as GuideStar.org, the premiere source for donor research on nonprofits. Nonprofits with 10 or more positive reviews are included on the GreatNonprofits Top-Rated Job Training and Placement Nonprofits list. Reviews submissions took place from January 1st to January 31st, 2010.
Media Contact: Shari Ilsen Shari [dot] Ilsen [at] greatnonprofits.org 650.234.4766 (office) 978.621.3396 (cell)
Rise Haiti Rise!
by Frank de Jesus Acosta Ashe
Rise Haiti rise! Loving hearts can hear you calling
A child’s cries rise from the rubble to shake us from our slumber
It is not a strangers’ flesh and bones crushed amid the ruins, it is mine; ours; us
Your pain, like the life blood in your veins, flows from the tribes of the 4 corners
Diaspora seeds give you roots in the womb of Africa; as we share the heartbeat of the drum
Sister Haiti rise! You have fallen before, but the spirit within will not let you perish
The boot of tyranny and strangle hold of greed brought the plagues of poverty
Even as a wounded mother earth convulses, your song of faith will not be muted, nor spirit broken
Ubuntu, inherent inter-connectedness of humanity, makes your destiny our own
Creator, hear our prayers for healing, move us to act in love for the Haitian within us all.
Brother Haiti rise! Resurrect once again, grasping the genuine hand of humanity
Gather your clans and re-build around the Sacred Tree of life
The Sacred Tree preserves the roots of your ancestors, connecting the branches of your generations
The fruits of the tree are love and culture, bestowing dignity, identity and a higher purpose
Its fruits beget the tenets of family, community, empathy, ingenuity, industry, and faith
So rise Haiti rise!
Ascend from the loss and devastation and unite your wounded hearts
As your spirit song finds its rhythm with communal tears, wails, and supplications
Drink the milk of compassion, you called, we came, a love manifest as the hand of God
Rise Haiti rise! Be restored to resume your place among the sacred circle of tribes
Frank de Jesus Acosta Ashe!
THANK YOU JENNY JONES FOR $25K OF EQUIPMENT TO START OUR SILK SCREEN & EMBROIDERY BUSINESS!
