ABOVE: Serving on the Junior League board are (l-r) Krista Downey, Alexandra Chase, Emily Schachtel, Laura Wissa, Ann a, Pam Schanel, Sue Gibson, Felice Shearer, Julie Rudolph and Sarah Cohen.
BELOW: The management team includes (l-r) Aimee Shaughnessy, Jeana White, Natasha Rawding, Felice Shearer, Kathryn Sexton, Nadia Islam Spivak and Sarah Kudisch.
Photos provided by CAPEHART
The Junior League of the Palm Beaches has named its 2019-20 board of directors and management team.
Leading the cause is President Laura Wissa, who has been a member of the league since 2006 and served as vice president of fundraising as well as chairwoman of numerous committees.
“In my 13 years of being in JLPB, this organization has changed me,” Wissa said. “It has taught me how to become a community leader and a better person.”
Members of the board of directors are President-Elect Julie Rudolph, Executive Vice President Felice Shearer, Secretary Krista Downey, Treasurer Ann Breeden, Nominating Chairwoman Kristen Laraia and members Alexandra Chase, Sarah Cohen, Sue Gibson, Emily Schachtel and Pam Schanel.
The management team, which oversees the league’s day-to-day operations, includes Shearer, Executive Vice President-Elect Sarah Kudisch, Membership Vice President Jeana White, Community Vice President Kat McGinley, Communications Vice President Aimee Shaughnessy, Treasurer-Elect Nadia Islam Spivak, Fundraising Vice President Natasha Rawding and Fundraising Vice President-Elect Kathryn Sexton.
Community Foundation caps year of giving
The Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties’ year of charitable giving — focused on community revitalization — included grants totaling over $1.3 million to area nonprofits. The foundation also awarded more than $1 million in scholarships to 104 county high school students in amounts that ranged from $1,000 to $26,000, with Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts, Atlantic High School and Lake Worth High School earning the most scholarships.
Major legacy gift to benefit Boca Helping Hands clients
Boca Helping Hands has announced that the late Arthur Remillard Jr. left the organization $1 million as a legacy gift to its endowment fund.
“This is huge in our world,” said Gary Peters, Boca Helping Hands board president. “Arthur Remillard’s first major gift to Boca Helping Hands in 2006 enabled us to purchase the building we are in today, allowing our organization to expand from its beginnings as a small soup kitchen. His estate gift will help ensure that we can keep growing and serving those in need for decades to come.”
When Remillard initially contacted Peters, Boca Helping Hands was providing 36 meals per day. Now it is feeding nearly 200 poor and hungry a meal six days a week, serving 4,000 per month.
“As a longtime Boca Raton resident, our father was passionate about wanting to help establish a comprehensive resource center for the less-privileged citizens of this great town,” son Regan Remillard said. “Boca Helping Hands is the culmination of that passion, and our father’s legacy gift will help Boca Helping Hands continue its critical, compassionate mission of providing food, access to medical care, financial assistance and job training to Boca’s neediest residents.”
Glades seniors get college scholarships via Take Stock
Fifty seniors from Glades Central High School received $440,000 in Florida Prepaid scholarships as a result of their commitment to the Take Stock in Children Palm Beach & Johnson Scholars program.
The students joined the program in 2015 and have maintained their participation in the Glades Climate Change Initiative. The initiative paired the then-freshmen with volunteer mentors and set them on a course to academic success. The graduation rate nearly doubled in four years.
“Our students in the Glades are so deserving of this opportunity,” said Nancy Stellway, Take Stock in Children’s executive director. “Belle Glade is an area that can often be overlooked because of the economic disparity, but it is so encouraging to know that we are giving the students an opportunity to further their education and improve their future lives and the lives of their family members.”
Moran Foundation aids environmental education
Sandoway Discovery Center in Delray Beach has received a two-year grant totaling $90,000 from the Jim Moran Foundation.
The money will be used to support the center’s education and animal-care programs that allow students and visitors to learn about the environment through hands-on activities and live-animal encounters. The money also will enable a book to be sent home with every student from a Title I school participating in the Junior Naturalist Program.
“This is a tremendous opportunity to enhance and strengthen the student experience at Sandoway,” Executive Director Danica Sanborn said.
CROS Ministries event raises nearly $50,000
CROS Ministries welcomed 200 supporters to its “Raise Your Glass To End Hunger” event at Delray Beach’s Old School Square Fieldhouse.
The fundraiser included wine and beer tasting, as well as signature dishes from local restaurants and caterers. Guests bid on a variety of donated items in both the silent and live auctions.
The nearly $50,000 in proceeds will benefit the faith-based organization that brings together members of the community to help alleviate hunger.
Arts grant to fund Spady comic book project
The Spady Cultural Heritage Museum has been awarded a $20,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to create an exhibit and a series of community events exploring the origin and impact of multicultural comic book heroes.
The history of multicultural comic book characters extends far beyond Black Panther, Falcon and Storm — heroes made famous by recent movies — and the project, titled eroica: black, brown, red and yellow comic book narratives, focuses on the origins and representations of superpowers of color.
“eroica will be an opportunity to engage people in conversations and reflections that deal with pop culture, iconic imagery, cultural representation, civil rights, modernism and history — all through the depiction of heroism in comic books,” museum Director Charlene Farrington said.
Additionally, The NEA awarded an Art Works grant of $10,000 to Palm Beach Poetry Festival in support of the 2020 festival, which will be Jan. 20-25 in Old School Square, Delray Beach.
5K run/walk benefits four local charities
The 12th annual Rooney’s 5K Run/Walk held in April at Palm Beach Kennel Club raised $19,039.41 for Greyhound Support Transport, Palm Beach County Police Athletic League, Potentia Academy and Westgate/Belvedere Homes Community Redevelopment Agency, with the help of sponsorships and nearly 600 participants.
The fourth annual Rooney’s Spring Golf Tournament, at Abacoa Golf Club, raised $16,000 to benefit Awesome Greyhound Adoptions/Hounds & Heroes, Florida Atlantic University Honors College, Forgotten Soldiers Outreach and Wounded Veterans Relief Fund.
Office Depot employees assist at Boys & Girls Club
Boca Raton-based Office Depot recently had its second annual Depot Day of Service volunteer initiative. In South Florida, more than 300 volunteers helped to complete a revitalization project at the Naoma Donnelley Haggin Boys & Girls Club in Delray Beach.
Send news and notes to Amy Woods at flamywoods@bellsouth.net
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