December 2008

dove of peaceAMPLIFIERS MAKING A DIFFERENCE

In the spirit of the holidays Amplify’s December newsletter is focused on the volunteer community work that APA staff is doing and the inspirational organizations that are changing the world one person at a time. We hope that you enjoy a happy and healthy holiday season.

Amplify Participates in the 7th Annual Thanksgiving Day Trot

Raquel OrtizOn Thanksgiving morning Amplify’s Director of Public Relations, Raquel Ortiz, participated in the 7th Annual Thanksgiving Day Trot for Hunger hosted by SOME (So Others Might Eat). The 5K fun run and family walk benefits SOME’s programs for the homeless, and helps SOME serve more than 800 meals to hungry and homeless children, women and men in Washington, DC every day of the year. Mayor Adrian Fenty helped kick off the trot and thousands of eager participants braved the chilly weather to support the cause.

According to SOME, nearly 1 out of 5 (19.1%) DC residents live at or below the poverty line, making D.C. the jurisdiction with the 3rd highest poverty rate in the nation. Additionally, D.C. has the highest child poverty rate in the US, with more than 3 out of 10 children (32%) living in poverty. If you would like to learn more about SOME or how you can help, please visit www.some.org.

Save a Child's Heart Provides Necessary Care for Children

Sylvia RosenthalSylvia Rosenthal, Amplify’s Senior Vice President, has proudly served on the Save a Child's Heart (SACH) Board of Directors for five years. SACH is one of the largest undertakings in the world providing urgently needed pediatric heart surgery and follow-up care for children from third world and developing countries, including China, Congo, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Ghana, Iraq, Jordan, Moldova, Nigeria, the Palestinian Authority, Russia, Srilanka, Ukraine, Vietnam, and the Island of Zanzibar (part of the Federation of Tanzania).

Patients range in age from infants to teenagers and all children, regardless of race, religion, sex, color, or financial consideration, receive the best possible care that modern medicine has to offer. The entire surgical, intensive care, and nursing staff substantially volunteer their services and donate their time in cooperation with the Wolfson Medical Center in Holon, a southern suburb of Tel Aviv, Israel's largest city.

Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund Finding a Cure for Type 1 Diabetes

Juvenile Diabetes Research FundAmplify’s President & CEO, Robin Strongin, currently serves on the Board of Directors of the JDRF Capitol Chapter. Team Amplify recently helped raise money for diabetes by participating in Washington DC’s Spin to Win. Please Save the Date for the upcoming Walk to Cure Diabetes—which will be held on Sunday, May 31, 2009 at the Nationals Stadium in Washington DC and Sunday, June 7, 2009 at the National Conference Center in Lansdowne, Virginia. Stay tuned: more information will follow early next year.

The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) is the leading charitable funder and advocate of Type 1 (juvenile) diabetes research worldwide. The mission of JDRF is to find a cure for diabetes and its complications through the support of research. Type 1 diabetes is a disease which strikes children suddenly and requires multiple injections of insulin daily or a continuous infusion of insulin through a pump. Insulin, however, is not a cure for diabetes, nor does it prevent its eventual and devastating complications which may include kidney failure, blindness, heart disease, stroke, and amputation.

DISRUPTIVE WOMEN IN HEALTH CARE BLOG

Disruptive Women in Health Care Causing a Commotion

Disruptive Women BlogAmplify's blog, Disruptive Women in Health Care, was created to serve as a platform for provocative ideas, thoughts, and solutions in the health sphere. We have had many thought-provoking posts to date—including guest posts from a wide variety of accomplished women who know a thing or two about health care. Every month, we will highlight a post and welcome everyone—men and women—to comment.

This month’s featured post is "Ovarian Cancer: Actress Kathy Bates Shares Her Story". 

APA IN THE ARTS

Amplify Shows Presence in Amadeus

AAN adJose Guzman, Amplify’s Office Manager, continues to make the acting rounds within the DC community theatre scene. Jose’s upcoming project will be playing Wolfgang Mozart in Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus produced by St. Mark’s Player’s. Performances begin January 9th and will run weekends through January 24th. To find out more about upcoming performances, visit http://www.stmarksplayers.org/.

BLACKOUT Arts Collective Empowers Communities

Niamba EdwardsThe BLACKOUT Arts Collective (BAC) is a nonprofit organization working to empower communities of color through the arts, education and activism. BAC brings together artists and activists to utilize the arts as a tool to address social, political and economic issues, and to develop solutions for critical concerns facing communities of color. Their work educates, inspires and brings to the forefront topics such as the expanding prison industrial complex, police brutality, domestic violence, lack of arts programs in public schools, and voter registration. Amplify's Internet Strategist, Niambi Edwards, has been a member of BAC since 2003, when she joined the Boston chapter of the organization. As a visual artist and activist, she has facilitated art workshops for DC teens and pre-teens, judged online poetry competitions, and performed at several venues in the DC area.

Upcoming local events include the final stop for the Hurricane Season Tour; a multi-media show and 50-city tour that obliterates the boundaries between performance and activism. It will feature on December 14th at the Unification Church Dr. King Peace Center 1610 Columbia Road, Washington DC. HURRICANE SEASON: The Hidden Messages in Water interweaves spoken word poetry, sound collage, shadow art, dance, film and animation to explore critical issues facing humanity through the kaleidoscope of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. Click here for more information.

Amplify Provides Professional Skills and Team Support

Jennifer BerkInternet Strategist Jennifer Berk volunteers through the Taproot Foundation which gathers teams of professionals to help local nonprofits by donating their professional skills. She is also currently project manager for a website redesign for Carpenter’s Shelter in Alexandria. Carpenter’s says “we are more than just a roof to our clients,” and Jennifer’s team is providing them with a modern, user-friendly website to match their innovative Center of Learning focus.

DECEMBER CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS

  • December 2-5, National Association of Attorney Generals (NAAG), Winter Meeting, Fort Lauderdale, FL
  • December 3, eHealth Initiative, Awards Dinner, Washington, DC
  • December 4-5, eHealth Initiative, Annual Conference, Washington, DC
  • December 4-7, Council of State Governments (CSG), Annual Meeting, Omaha, NE
  • December 10-14, 100 Black Men of American, Inc., Leadership Summit, Miami, FL
  • December 10-14, National Black Caucus of State Legislators (NBCSL), Annual Conference, Washington, DC
  • December 12, Rainbow PUSH Coalition, Media & Telecom Symposium, Gallaudet University, Washington, DC