Lawrence St Patrick's Day Parade Charities !

Boys and Girls Club of New York Elementary School
Lawrence Parents as Teachers **
GaDuGi Safe Center
LHS-Positive Support Team

Lawrence Journal-World Story/Sunflower Channel 6 News                KLWN/Lazer

St. Patrick’s Day Charity Selection Press Release—October 28, 2008

Now going on 22 years the Lawrence St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee has successfully turned a one day holiday into an opportunity for everyone to celebrate our community the year-round. While the St. Patrick’s Day Parade entertains young and old, hard work along with the generosity of our community has provided more than $479,000.00 to local charities benefiting the young people of our area.

The money raised comes from hosting special fundraising events such as our annual benefit auction, 5K fun run, and T-shirt sales, as well as the important charitable contributions by individuals and businesses toward our cause. Additional special events include a Trivia Night, Dart Tourney, and Motorcycle Run.

The Lawrence St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee is itself a 501 (c) 3 not-for-profit organization that attempts to demonstrate through fun, education, and hard work that we can each make a difference in our community and that community spirit and giving back is what this committee is about.

The St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee has developed a partnership approach for funding the organizations it chooses to support. By doing so it raises awareness for the organizations it serves at the same time that it raises funds. We have also discovered this approach builds long lasting friendships between our organizations.

As we kick-off our 2009 fundraising campaign we are renewing our commitment for the enrichment of our community. Our success and that of our beneficiaries depends the participation and cooperation of our community, our friends, and our neighbors.

The organizations that the Committee has selected to work alongside of this year provide us with a great opportunity to reach out and support our young people in a number of ways.

We have committed to provide the LHS Positive Support Team with a grant of $1000 this year to help with their incentives program for keeping students on the right track toward developmental growth and education.

An additional grant will be provided to the GaDuGi Safe Center to equip a new child friendly interview room at the Douglas County Law Enforcement Center in the amount of $5,500. GaDuGi is a Cherokee word meaning “working together in a community sense.” Their organization has been working in our community to provide advocacy and support for a number of years and we believe the new Safe Center is a valuable project.

The other proceeds of our 2009 fundraising campaign will be divided equally between two organizations. Lawrence Parents as Teachers which seeks to acquire needed playroom furnishings and testing equipment as they provide services for children, birth to age three. And, to the Boys and Girls Club of New York Elementary which serves children 5 to 15 by providing a safe and affordable environment in a before-and-after school program.

About one month ago we invited charitable groups to apply to the Committee for funding. Of the many worthy proposals received this year, the Committee elected to provide support for these four programs. These organizations not only motivated us with their need but also represent the spirit of outreach and the generosity for which our community is known. By providing support to these groups our intent is to give back to our community by a means that touches the lives of many families and children. We ask everyone in the community to join with us this year in helping these organizations provide the opportunities that our young people deserve.

Lawrence Parents as Teachers

GaDuGi Safe Center

Boys and Girls Club of New York Elementary School

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