The Mayor’s Fund Gets a New Leader

19 Feb by

NonprofitBill de Blasio, the current mayor of New York City, recently appointed Chirlane McCray, his wife, chairwoman of the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City, a nonprofit that raises money to support a variety of city causes.  De Blasio said he needed someone who understands New York City, its struggles, and is driven and dedicated to creating positive change within city communities to lead the nonprofit.  He believed his wife was the perfect candidate in that respect.

Defining the couple’s relationship during her husband’s campaign process and the road ahead McCray said, “If there is one thing I know from all our years together, it is that you and I are happiest when we are united behind a common cause.  That’s our marriage, and that’s our partnership, and I thank you.”  De Blasio emphasized that fact that the city’s Conflict of Interest Board had cleared the appointment of McCray to chairwoman of the city nonprofit and that she would be unpaid.  “By agreeing to do this for free, she’s giving a great gift to the people of New York City, and I think people will receive it as such,” de Blasio added.

Under Michael Bloomberg, the previous mayor of New York City, the nonprofit organization supported various environmental causes, anti-poverty goals, and public health and youth initiatives.  McCray said that she would add helping immigrant communities, children and families to the nonprofit’s agenda.

Gabrielle Fialkoff, the chairwoman of de Blasio’s inauguration committee, was given the role of senior adviser to the mayor in addition to being named the director of the Office of Strategic Partnerships.  The Office of Strategic Partnerships oversees the Mayor’s Fund and other similar organizations like the Fund for Public Schools and the Fund for Public Health.

For more information about McCray becoming chairwoman of the Mayor’s Fund please visit http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/07/nyregion/de-blasio-appoints-chirlane-mccray-his-wife-to-lead-nonprofit-group.html?_r=0.

Nonprofit to build children’s home in Andover

17 Jan by

Jonathan OfftAccording to an article, back in January 2012, Suzi Thien, an executive director of Sunlight Children’s Advocacy Center, began fundraising to construct a children’s home in the city of Andover specifically in the Butler County.

In order to start the project, Thien set out over three years to raise $2.5 million. It turns out it only took her two years so she couldn’t be more excited. “I can’t even put into words how thrilled we are that we were able to raise the money so quickly,” Thien said.

The Sunlight Children’s Advocacy Center has served over 800 children since it began back in March of 2007. The mission of the center is “to provide resources and facilities that support and protect abused and neglected children and their families.” With the new children’s home ready to break ground this year, Suzi Thien is excited to be able to serve even more children.

Instead of generous donations from a few big donors, Suzi said the donations came from many people across the board. The center has only $79,375 left in order to meet their $2.5 million goal. Suzi is excited to finally reach that mark in less time than anticipated.

It’s great to see a new children’s home being built in Butler County. These kind of projects could never happen without the great leadership of someone like Suzi Thien. They also wouldn’t be possible without the generous donations of so many people who care about young kids of America. Suzi understands that young children are the future of America and this world. It is important to give them the opportunity necessary to reach their goals and to lead a healthy life.

 

Looking for a holiday gift? Why not donate to a nonprofit organization.

12 Dec by

Have you ever not known what to get someone special for the holidays? Have you ever felt that you didn’t need any gifts because you have everything you could possibly want?

According to a recent article, a donation to a nonprofit organization is a great gesture that will have resounding effects.

We all enjoy receiving gifts for the holidays and for birthdays, but sometimes you might feel like doing something a bit extra. If you truly feel like you don’t necessarily need anything and you want to give to others, then consider donating to a charitable organization. Why not tell your friend or loved one who you know will be giving you a gift to donate to a specific charity instead.

The holidays are an important time as family and friends get together to celebrate. Purposeful giving is a great way to help others less fortunate. Giving a gift can be one way to show your support to nonprofits or local charities. You can also donate your time to help organizations as well. Nonprofits are constantly looking for volunteers to help out, especially during the holidays.

If you find it in your heart, consider helping others this holiday season.

Nonprofit serving it up efficiently

18 Nov by

Jonathan OfftAccording to an article by the Christian Science Monitor, the Akshaya Patra Foundation, a nonprofit in India, serves 1.5 million lunches to school children each day. Over the course of the year, the organization gives out over 330 million hot lunches.

In just 12 years, the Akshaya Patra Foundation has become one of the world’s largest and effective non-government organizations.

The foundation made a point when it first began to make their operation scalable. They didn’t want to just take food from places to then put it in a couple of schools. They wanted to cast a wide net to provide for many people. They actually cook all of their own food in factories that can provide for an upwards of 200,000 kids. They have their own trucks that deliver the meals to the schools as well. They have basically created the whole operation, from production all the way to distribution – everything is in house. This helps cut down on costs as they don’t need to outsource for any materials along the process. That is the reason per kid a meal only costs .08 cents and the for the year $28. Remarkable numbers.

According to the article, the Akshaya Patra Foundation “constantly innovates – including using data analytics, cooking using clean energies, and constantly improving ingredients to have healthier food – while keeping the cost the same. It hires the best talent available – experts from India’s best schools and companies, and pays them a comfortable wage. And it maintains strong corporate governance with boards, auditors and others joining in.”

Central and state governments are also on board with the foundation and their vision and well as a growing middle class. With all the support and the ability to scale and make meals affordable, everyone will continue to benefit and the foundation should only continue to grow.

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