Welcome to my journey

We have come a long way already. I hope you will join me for the rest of the ride.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Thursday, June 17th

After such a great and packed day today is was very dull.  I sent the ByLaws out and heard back from one office they will review them and get back to me. I received  an article that went out in the Sunday Capital back in May.  It was awesome!!


On my first visit to the Pepsi website, KIDZ had received enough votes to be eleventh among potential recipients of a $25,000 grant from the Pepsi Refresh project.  What a rush to find out Friday that KIDZ had risen to number four!  When I called KIDZ Manager Kim Donnelly for more information, I learned that her Kent Island community and its Mothers Of Pre-Schoolers (MOPS) group had generated enough enthusiasm to move her funding efforts seven steps forward.
You bet, I re-entered the site and cast a couple more votes.  Individuals are allowed to vote up to ten times a day.  So, Capital readers, go for it.  Help put Kent Island kids on the map and in a new, undamaged facility.  You can share the voting process with your friends on Facebook as well.  I’m hoping that the few friends and former students who visit my Facebook page will get the idea and cast their votes as well.
Kim told me that her Kent Island Discovery Zone, known as KIDZ, suffered structural damage from that February snow and ice storm.  While there was no inside damage, the awning in front of the building fell in, causing the entrance to be dangerous for the children and their parents who used the facility for social and educational activities.
Left without their gathering site, the Mothers of Pre-Schoolers invited one of it’s members‘ fathers -- a SCORE Counselor-- to speak about financing to the group.    Then friends from the Good Knights of Kent Island brought in four other projects to form an alliance that will work to sustain the indoor play place and enrichment center.  Votes from Capital readers between now and May 31 could push KIDZ over the mark and help them win $25,000 from the Pepsi Refresh project.
Pepsi is appealing to people, businesses and non-profits with ideas that will have a positive impact.  Pepsi accepts 1,000 ideas every month.  There are 1,341 ideas competing for funding in this current grant cycle which ends May 31.
“This was a total surprise to me.  I didn’t think my entry made the cutoff,” recalls Kim KIDZ Manager.  “I stayed up until midnight in order to be the first to file my application on April 1; but something went wrong with my computer and I could’t get the application through until 12.35.  By that time more than 1,000 applications had been submitted and the competition was closed.
“But, last month, I received a notice from Pepsi that our application would be in the May competition.”
Now, KIDZ has a chance to win the grant that will help them pay rent and build out expenses on new space, cover operations, and provide working capital for the first year.  Visit the link and help bring a new business into your area!
And, check into the KIDZ website:
Connie Sharpe has been a tax and marketing professional for 20 years, specializing in Small Business and Exempt Organization Development and Grant Administration.  She received an MA in Public Affairs and Journalism in 2000 from American University and was appointed to the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel in January 2009 and has been a SCORE Business Counselor for three years. 

 




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