Bank of America awarded $402,500 in economic mobility grants to 41 nonprofit organizations working to increase basic needs, education and workforce development opportunities in Southern Nevada. Organizations receiving grants include: After-School All-Stars Las Vegas; Boys & Girls Club of Southern Nevada; Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Foundation of Nevada; Clark County Public Education Foundation; Communities in Schools of Nevada; Discovery Children’s Museum; Dress for Success Southern Nevada; Father Flanagan’s Boys’ Home; First Nevada; Foundation for an Independent Tomorrow; Fulfillment Fund; Future Smiles; Global Charity Foundation; Goodie Two Shoes Foundation; Goodwill of Southern Nevada; HELP of Southern Nevada; Junior Achievement of Southern Nevada; Las Vegas Rescue Mission; Lutheran Social Services; Make-A-Wish; Miracle Flights; Nevada Business Opportunity Fund; Nevada Homeless Alliance; NV Paralyzed Veterans of America; Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth; Nevada Public Radio; Operation Homefront; Opportunity Village; Safe Nest; Service Corps of Retired Executives; Southern Nevada Public Television; Spread the Word Nevada; St. Rose Dominican Health Foundation; St. Jude’s Ranch for Children; Summer Business Institute; Teach for America; Tech Impact; the Ogden Foundation; The Shade Tree; Three Square Food Bank; and YMCA of Southern Nevada.
The Las Vegas office of CBRE, in conjunction with CBRE Cares, donated $20,441 to After-School All-Stars Las Vegas.
Nevada State Bank honored the following for their volunteer efforts to teach financial concepts to students and groups such as Junior Achievement of Southern Nevada, The Shade Tree, Habitual Offender Prevention and Education Court, Youth Offender Court and the Girl Scouts of Southern Nevada: Christopher Berry, Business Opportunity and Workforce Development; Patricia Graves, Clark High School Academy of Finance; Talissa Tillman, Girl Scouts; Jacquelyn Trevena, Junior Achievement of Southern Nevada; Lonnie Noble, The Shade Tree; Charla Jones, Teach Children to Save; Norene Rajsich, Youth Offender Court; and Donna Haberman, coordination of Junior Achievement volunteers.
United Way of Southern Nevada’s Women’s Leadership Council invested $543,114 in the following programs:
• UNLV Foundation: Back on Track Program
• Tech Impact: ITWorks and CXWorks Las Vegas Workforce Development Programs for Young Adults
• Junior Achievement of Southern Nevada: Preparing for Life Success: JA’s “High School Graduation+”
• Foundation for an Independent Tomorrow: Breaking the Cycle of Poverty
• Goodwill of Southern Nevada: The Career Connections Program
• Spread the Word Nevada: Taylor Elementary School: Leaders for Literacy
• Chicanos Por La Causa: College Access Program
• Communities in Schools: Academy Class
• Emerging Leadership Award for Women Scholarship (administered through the Public Education Foundation)
The Superhero 5K with Chet Buchanan raised more than $200,000 for the Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Foundation.
Andson Inc.’s “Sharpen Your Senses” raised more than $30,000 for Andson’s financial literacy classes, homework help, tutoring and hands-on banking lessons provided to more than 15,000 local at-risk students.
Plaza employees distributed boxes of food items, such as canned fruits and vegetables, rice, spaghetti, carrots, apples and sweet potato crackers, to more than 150 families at Monaco Middle School.
Merideth Spriggs, president and chief kindness officer at Caridad, was selected by People magazine and the American Heroes Channel as one of three finalists for the Red Bandanna Hero Award for her dedication and innovative approach to humanizing the homeless by providing customer service-based street outreach.
The Ronald McDonald House Charities Empowered by Love Gala raised $340,000. Presented by the Greater Las Vegas McDonald’s Operator Association, the event honored NV Energy and Roger Jones of VegasTickets.com.
Ellis Island’s Sing for Strength charity karaoke benefit raised $100,000 for the Las Vegas Victims’ Fund. Ellis Island and UFC President Dana White donated $1,000 for each celebrity performer who sang. Celebrity participants included the Righteous Brothers, Clint Holmes, Chris Phillips and Nieve Malandra of Zowie Bowie, Frankie Scinta, the cast of “The Rat Pack is Back,’ Kathleen Dunbar, Rudy Ruettiger, Lannie Counts and Kelly Clinton-Holmes.
411 Locals donated $5,260 to the Las Vegas Victims’ Fund after its “#VegasStrong Chalk Art Contest.”
Cricket Wireless donated 10 smartphones with six months of service to the Rape Crisis Center.
More than 100 volunteers with Rebuilding Together Southern Nevada made repairs to four homes in honor of Make A Difference Day.
The Nevada Broadcasters Association received $75,000 from the Nevada Department of Public Safety Office of Traffic Safety to participate in traffic safety message campaigns through the NVBA’s Public Education Partnership program.
United Way of Southern Nevada’s Women’s Leadership Council collected more than 10,000 items, including clothing jewelry, shoes, belts, scarves and handbags, to assist women in need. Donations will help women get back to work by working with organizations such as Catholic Charities, Goodwill Career Connections, SAFE House, SafeNest, The Shade Tree, Southern Nevada Regional Housing Authority ROSS Program, Women’s Development Center, Work Opportunities Readiness Center of HELP of Southern Nevada.
The Southern Highlands Charitable Foundation donated $15,500 to Nellis and Creech Air Force Base’s Operation Warm Heart, a private, nonprofit organization that provides financial assistance to local airmen and their families.
Affinity Gaming donated $58,000 to the Alzheimer’s Association at the Walk to End Alzheimer’s.