Nonprofit Organization
Nonprofit Fuel Cincinnati Wants Your Help Selecting Grantees
Fuel Cincinnati, founded in 2009 as one of the main programs of nonprofit Give Back Cincinnati, has awarded over $30,000 in grants across more than 30 projects. It is all done through annual events where attendees vote for their favorite projects.
And, coming up on May 28, Greater Cincinnati residents can once again let their voices be heard at the third annual Fuel the Fire event. It begins at 6:30 p.m. at Rhinegeist Brewery (1910 Elm Street; Cincinnati, OH 45202).
How does it work?
Each guest will give a donation ($20 pre-sale, $30 at the door) for which they will receive appetizers by the bite, one drink ticket and a vote. Guests spend the evening learning about each applicant and their project idea. They then will cast a vote for their favorite project, and, at the end of the evening, the project or projects that gather the most votes are awarded a grant comprised of the evening’s ticket sale proceeds. Over a hundred and sixty people attended Fuel the Fire in 2013, awarding a winning grant of $2000 and a second place grant of $500.
More about Fuel Cincinnati
Fuel Cincinnati is an all-volunteer committee of young professionals who provide microgrants of $250 to $2,000 to support non-profit projects. Fuel Cincinnati was founded in 2009, and is one of the main programs of Give Back Cincinnati , the region’s largest young professional volunteer organization. Fuel Cincinnati is also supported by generous grants from The Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile US Bank Foundation (http://www.haileusb.org) and from The Mayerson Family Foundations (http://mayersonfoundation.org).
If you would to purchase tickets for Fuel the Fire or would like more information about Fuel Cincinnati, please visit our link at: htttp://fuelcincinnati.org/fuelthefire
Cincinnati Students Pay-It-Forward To Sick Children
Children helping children. I think that is such a beautiful message, and a beautiful cause. And it is the driving force of a nonprofit that has engaged youth in 30 states to pay-it-forward, inspired more than 250,000 hospitalized children and their families.
That nonprofit is Soaringwords, Inc., and recently it collaborated with 60 students from Cincinnati Roger Bacon High School and St. Francis Seraph Elementary School to decorate 100 SoaringQuilts® and SoaringPillows®. Each one with inspirational messages and artwork based on superhero themes about “Never giving up!”
Representatives from Soaringwords delivered 25 SoaringQuilts® and 25 SoaringPillows® for the patients of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and did a short program at the medical center’s Seacrest Studios. Then the Soaringwords delegation headed to Shriners Hospitals for Children, Cincinnati where they led a Soaringwords + Zumba® dance experience to celebrate wellness and fitness for patients and families. This experience was made possible through a grant from The Manuel D. and Rhoda Mayerson Foundation.
Soaringwords’ mission is to lessen the negative impact of serious illness by embracing hospitalized children, families and staff, encouraging positive health and healing. Soaringwords provides fun, creative and educational activities both in person and online based on positive psychology concepts that enhance well-being. Lisa Honig Buksbaum, Soaringwords CEO & Founder started the non-profit organization thirteen years ago after three experiences with death and illness in her family occurred in a 10-month period.
For the students of Roger Bacon, that day was the culmination of a school year where they internalized the values of service by mentoring their Bacon Buddies from St. Francis Seraph Elementary School to do something positive for children who are sick. “Today changed the lives of our students as they used their character strengths of kindness, love and creativity,” said Alicia Ausere, director, community outreach, Roger Bacon High School
Cincinnati Repair Affair Is This Weekend
It’s that time of year again. Hundreds of eager volunteers transform into handy-men and women across our Greater Cincinnati region to help homeowners who don’t have the income to pay contractors for necessary and wanted repairs.
The event is called Repair Affair. It is Cincinnati nonprofit People Working Cooperatively’s annual spring volunteer event, providing home repairs and modifications that enable seniors and those with disabilities to remain safely in their homes. Individuals, businesses and community groups can volunteer for a day (in some cases, more than one day) to help a client with various home repair needs, ranging from the simple – fixing handrails and installing grab bars; to the more extensive – home modifications for the disabled, ramps, drywall, etc.
Repair Affair was developed by People Working Cooperatively in 1983 as a free outreach program to help very low-income elderly and disabled homeowners with the home repairs they need to keep their homes safe and habitable. Low-income, elderly and disabled homeowners are often the most vulnerable residents in a community. When they physically or financially lose the ability to care for their homes, their quality of life can diminish.
What kinds of repairs are performed during Repair Affair?
Repairs range in complexity from one home to the next, but may include the following:
- Plumbing: vanities, faucets, laundry tubs, drain traps, fluid masters, toilets
- Carpentry: ramps, handrails, grab bars
- Safety Repairs: smoke detectors, locks
- Structural Work: gutter replacement, drywall, concrete
- Electrical Work
- Miscellaneous Household Chores: cleaning gutters, washing windows, yard work
You can still register to volunteer. Go to www.pwchomerepairs.org or call Aaron Grant at 513-351-7921 to learn more.
Chris Pike Raises Money For Canine Cancer Research
Chris Pike remembers that moment like it was yesterday. He and his wife were in town to celebrate Chris’ birthday with his family. Their longing to share a home with double the joyous, childlike antics of a golden retriever took them to a farm that was ironically in the neighborhood of our region’s hub for adventure – Kings Island.
And there he was. A 10 week old, cream colored teddy bear who bounced as he ran straight into the arms of the couple 
whose home and hearts were to be one with his for the rest of his life. Skyler had a way with women. Truth be told, he had a way with everyone. It was his beautiful, magical gift that he was brought into this world to share.
Kiara too filled her world with love. Every day was an adventure, a new opportunity to explore and new people to meet.
Sadly those gift was brought to an end by a disease that takes the lives of one out of three dogs. Canine cancer, Chris learned, was actually fairly common especially in golden retrievers. In fact, cancer took the life of not just one but two bundles of sheer happiness from the Pike’s household.
Today, the legacy of Skyler and Kiara is in the hard fought battle of Chris to wage a war against that deadly enemy.
Chris is the vice president of marketing and promotions for the National Canine Cancer Foundation, a national nonprofit organization that provides grants to researchers working to save lives, find cures, improve treatments, and develop more accurate and cost effective diagnostic methods in dealing with canine cancer.
The Foundation continues to grow. In fact, over the past four years, it has surpassed each year prior in terms of funds raised and they just reached over $200,000 that will be ready to fund 2014 grants.
You can help them on their quest to eradicate cancer.
Please click here to read about this weekend’s Pup Crawl in Oakley Square to raise funds for the National Canine Cancer Foundation. It’s going to be a ton of fun for a great cause!
Cincinnati Rotary Club Inspires With Jefferson Award
Attending an awards event is truly an inspirational experience. And the Cincinnati Rotary Club’s 2014 Jefferson Award luncheon was no exception. The Awards program honors ‘ordinary people doing extraordinary things,’ although the truth is I wouldn’t classify any of those whose names were recognized as ‘ordinary’.
They are amazing people who have a passion and a drive to get things done. They have a genuine heart for others. They are leaders. And they are people whose voices cause people to take notice.
While one person was awarded the Jefferson Award, the finalists are absolutely deserving of recognition too. So I 
wanted to include the videos of each of them and I encourage you, if you want to be inspired, to listen to each one.
Congratulations to Wendy Steele, 2014 Jefferson Award Recipient!
The year was 2001 when Wendy Steele, a former bank vice president and stay-at-home mother to three, had an idea. And out of that idea sprouted an organization and a movement that has infused millions of dollars into the hands of dedicated individuals and teams making a difference in their communities.
Impact 100 is Wendy’s brainchild. It is a nonprofit that has given out more than $2,500,000 to 22 different nonprofits in the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky area since its inception. Its concept is simple and powerful. Impact 100 members each donate $1000 and annually pool their resources; research nonprofit applicants; vote for the organization that could have the largest IMPACT; award a grant (of at least $100,000); and follow-up to hold the agency accountable.
By 2013, the local Impact 100 had grown to include over 300 members, some of whom now split the $1,000 membership fee and a single member’s vote.
And the giving doesn’t stop there. Today Impact 100 is in 18 communities across the United States and several communities in Australia. Nationally, over 5000 women have contributed more than $25 million to charities.
(video credit: Local12 Creative Services Dept)
Dr. Ira Abrahamson, founder of the Abrahamson Pediatric Eye Institute in 1996 with a mission of wiping out preventable blindness in children by developing a vision screening program. His program has expanded to 29 elementary schools and several community centers throughout Greater Cincinnati.
(video credit: Local12 Creative Services dept)
Brooke and Keith Desserich founded The Cure Starts Now Foundation in 2007 in honor of their daughter Elena, who lost her battle to cancer at the young age of 6. Today The Cure Starts Now has surpassed $2 million in research funded at some of the top prestigious research facilities around the globe, including our Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.
(video credit: Local12 Creative Services Dept)
Created in 1972 by then-Cincinnati resident U.S. Sen. Robert Taft and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, the Jefferson Award is presented annually to recipients in more than 90 U.S. cities. It’s organized by the Institute of Public Service and supported locally by the Rotary Club of Cincinnati, one of the area’s oldest business organizations with 300 members. This year’s Jefferson Award winner will go to a gathering of all U.S. honorees in June. Over the years, numerous Cincinnati winners have been recognized there with national honors for public service.
