Meet the Nonprofit/Community Organization Finalists for the 2013 Governor’s Points of Light Awards!
Each year, Nevada Volunteers is overwhelmed by the amount of nominations and the inspiring stories submitted for the Governor’s Points of Light Awards. Our distinguished panel of judges selected the following three finalists for this year. These three individuals will be honored at the awards luncheon on January 18, 2013, and the recipient of the category will be announced. Congratulations to the finalists and thank you for your service to our communities!
2013 Governor’s Points of Light Awards
Nonprofit/Community Organizations Finalists
CASA Foundation (Las Vegas)
The CASA Foundation, established in 1983, supports the mission of the CASA Program, which recruits, screens, trains and supports volunteers who serve as Court Appointed Special Advocates for abused and neglected children in foster care. The CASA Foundation provides financial assistance to meet a myriad of unmet needs of foster children, such as funding school trips, extra-curricular activities, supplies, clothing for special events, tutoring, eye glasses, braces, sports, camp, music, etc. Each year, $1500 scholarships are provided to a former foster youth enrolled in a college and/or vocational trade school. Additionally, one $5000 scholarship is provided each year to a foster child who, despite the challenges of foster care, has excelled academically and plans to enroll in college. The CASA Foundation also sponsors an annual Recognition Gala to recognize and show appreciation to the incredible heroes, the CASA volunteers, as well as, other community child advocates. The CASA Foundation continues to meet the needs of thousands of children.
Goodie Two Shoes Foundation (Las Vegas)
The Goodie Two Shoes Foundation provides disadvantaged children and children in crisis with new shoes and socks, as well as other items deemed essential for good health and positive development. Since 2003, Goodie Two Shoes has provided more than 30,000 Southern Nevada children in need with properly fitting shoes and socks, and often more. They have expanded their programming from a single day event in 2003, which outfitted just 225 children, to year-round programming with the goal of reaching 10,000 Southern Nevada children in need annually. Our innovative 48 foot “shoe-store-on-wheels” mobile programming unit allows us to take our shoe distribution programs directly to children in need at their schools or referring organizations. Children are paired one-on-one with a community volunteer who walks them through the process of selecting any pair of shoes they want from a large traveling inventory of high-quality athletic shoes, just like the ones their friends at school might be wearing. Last year, 896 amazing volunteers donated more than 6200 hours to GTSF distributions. The short-term effectiveness of the program is measured simply by the number of children who receive new shoes and socks. In addition, Goodie Two Shoes hopes the children remember the feelings of empowerment which come with making an unrestrained, positive choice and draw on that experience when making decisions in the future.
R&R Partners Foundation (Las Vegas)
The R&R Partners Foundation is dedicated to transforming lives and strengthening communities through great ideas. In 2010, a tragic trend was taking shape nationwide. Bullying has always been a painful part of growing up but as a society, we had reached a perfect storm of intolerance. R&R Partners Foundation pledged to reverse this trend in Nevada and from this grew their statewide anti-bullying campaign “Flip the Script.” The Flip the Script anti-bullying campaign was created and implemented by a dedicated team of volunteers through the R&R Partners Foundation. The marketing team spent numerous volunteer hours, including nights and weekends, bringing the Flip the Script message to back-to-school fairs, concerts, expos, wherever young people gather statewide. R&R Partners Foundation also knew that in order for Flip the Script to thrive and grow as a movement, there had to obtain buy-in from the student population. Toward this end, “Student Ambassadors” were recruited from schools across the state with the sole purpose of increasing and solidifying the commitment to volunteerism. A partnership with the Nevada Association of Student Councils was formed and created enormous grassroots volunteerism. To date, there are over 1,100 Flip the Script “Student Ambassadors” who volunteer at numerous events (in fact, 20 events in this school year alone). In these settings, the ambassadors generate interest and enthusiasm among the general public to recruit additional volunteers to continue to expand the stand against bullying. The ambassadors also participate in public relations outreach across the state through media interviews and testimonials in social media. The Flip the Script Challenge 2012 garnered over 65 additional volunteer projects. Each volunteer group has submitted their solution to bullying and how they plan to engage their peers in the cause. Each entry for this challenge/contest represents an average of 20 volunteer hours, solely dedicated to solving the epidemic of bullying.
Interested in finding out who becomes the recipient of the Governor’s Points of Light Award in the Rural Nevada Individual category? Click here for more information!
