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National Philanthropy Day

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National Philanthropy Day, presented by The Jewish Community Foundation, San Diego will take place on Thursday, November 7, at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront Hotel. Now in its 41st year, the event is organized by the Association of Fundraising Professionals, San Diego Chapter, and celebrates the importance of public and private partnership and collaboration in philanthropy, as well as the role of the development staff and volunteers in philanthropy.

New to this year’s event is a Special Memorial Tribute to Murray Galinson, a visionary leader of the Jewish community in San Diego and worldwide, a successful businessperson, and an influential force in national, state and local politics. He made time to mentor many young, up-and-coming leaders, and chaired the Jewish Community Foundation board from 2008-2010, as well as chaired the board of Jewish Funder’s Network and served on the boards of the Leichtag Foundation, Jewish Federation of San Diego County, the Galinson Family Foundation of the Jewish Community Foundation, the Weingart Foundation and AIPAC. (www.npd2013.org)


This year’s honorees include:

 

Outstanding Development Professional: Geoff C. Graham, CFRE

Geoff C. Graham, CFRE has been named the Outstanding Development Professional, and was nominated by Janie Anderson Consulting Services, for his attention to detail, professionalism, emphasis on putting donors first, and adhering to the highest ethical standards as a fundraising professional. Graham is an executive board member of the San Diego Planned Giving Partnership. His leadership helped shepherd the organization through a time of challenges and change. He has served several terms on the board and is currently the Vice President. Graham is currently a Planned Giving Officer at The Scripps Research Institute. Throughout his career, he often becomes the advocate for the donor and makes sure his organizations adhere to the terms of the donor’s wishes especially those related to trusts, estates and restricted gifts. Graham has also served several terms on the AFPSD board of directors, always going above and beyond job descriptions to perform the duties of each position and more in a thorough and professional manner. He is also willing to share his knowledge and experience through speaking, teaching and responding to every request for information and assistance from work and AFP colleagues. Graham is a resident of the Hillcrest neighborhood in San Diego.

 

Outstanding Fundraising Volunteer: Joyce Glazer

Joyce Glazer has been named Outstanding Fundraising Volunteer and was nominated by the American Cancer Society, San Diego chapter, for her leadership and ability to raise millions of dollars for non-profits in San Diego. Glazer is the consummate community fundraising volunteer for the American Cancer Society and has embraced each fundraiser position she has taken on for the last eight years. She is also known for her work with the Salvation Army where she served on the national board. Locally, Glazer was chair of the board when Joan Kroc gave her first $40 million gift for the Salvation Army’s Kroc Center that later grew to nearly $2 billion in gifts. In addition to her work with these two outstanding organizations, Glazer has served as a key advisor or chairwoman of various fundraising events such as Rady’s Centennial Gala, Mingei Museum’s 25th Anniversary, and the San Diego History Center’s Costume Council Fashion Show. Glazer also acts as a mentor to many individuals from all walks of life, from a new fundraising professional to a barista at Starbucks, she is on hand to help and guide them to success. Glazer is a resident of Downtown San Diego.

 

Outstanding Organizational Volunteer: Susan E. Atkins

Susan E. Atkins has been named Outstanding Organizational Volunteer, and was nominated by Oliver Welty, a donor and volunteer of the Victory Fund and San Diego Library Foundation. Atkins has worked in numerous volunteer leadership roles locally and nationally for more than 20 years to ensure every individual, particularly those in underserved and underrepresented communities, has equal access and their voice is heard. Atkins was also a member of the San Diego Board of Library Commissioners and was appointed by the Honorable Jerry Sanders.

 

Her most recent accomplishment is leading the LGBT fundraising campaign for the new San Diego Main Library. Under her stewardship, the goal is currently at 66 percent, and aims to provide homeless youth who identify as LGBT a safe haven in a dedicated area to be near the LGBT literary collection. She has also been dedicated to various other LGBT and women-focused organizations serving as board president for Diversionary Theatre and is an active board member for the National Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, the Clearity Foundation, the Lambda Literary Foundation, and the Athena Entrepreneurs Steering Committee. Atkins is also the founder of Run Women Run.

 

Atkins’ nomination was endorsed by the following individuals and organizations: Robert H. Gleason, Christine Kehoe, Kevin Tilden, the San Diego LGBT Community Center, the Lambda Literary Foundation, the San Diego Public Library Foundation, and the Clearity Foundation. Atkins is a resident of La Jolla.

 

Outstanding Philanthropic Corporation: Mission Federal Credit Union

Mission Federal Credit Union (Mission Fed) is recognized as Outstanding Philanthropic Corporation nominated by Junior Achievement of San Diego County (JA). Mission Fed’s volunteer commitment, financial support, media awareness and board leadership has resulted in significant growth for JA in the number of students served and programs established.

 

Mission Fed is the only not-for-profit credit union in JA BizTown, a mini-San Diego where 14,000 students each year run businesses, open up checking and savings accounts, become philanthropists and pay taxes. Mission Fed has contributed $25,000 each year to JA BizTown and their employees have also volunteered their time at JA BizTown to facilitate JA’s financial education programs and to support other annual fundraising events. Mission Fed’s award-winning “I’m Thankful For My Teacher” promotion gives students an opportunity to thank the teachers in their lives for their hard work, dedication, enthusiasm and willingness to go the extra mile for students. The program has resulted in an increase of media awareness as well as essential financial resources for JA. The program also awarded 100 prizes to schools, classrooms and teachers, including JA’s financial education programs for the top classrooms.

 

More than 23 of Mission Fed’s local branches have also a made a strategic organizational commitment to be a community partner of choice by positively impacting hundreds of local nonprofits. Mission Fed provides local organizations with more than $1,000,000 in monetary and media support each year through award-winning cause partnerships and educational scholarships. Each year, Mission Fed employees participate in 550 local community events to support at-risk, underserved children and families. Through Mission Fed’s “Mission 2 $ave” program, 900 local students at 34 schools have saved nearly $500,000 for their future. Mission Fed’s “Mission 4 R Schools” program has donated nearly $35,000 to local schools for student programs. Both programs have won prestigious national awards for best community programs.

Mission Fed also has executive level support on a variety of nonprofit boards and participates as speakers and panelists throughout the year, working with organizations such as Nonprofit Management Solutions, the San Diego Foundation, the American Marketing Association’s San Diego Cause Conference, UCSD and the Monarch School. Mission Fed was endorsed for this award by the following organizations: Boys & Girls Club of Greater San Diego, San Diego Mighty 1090 AM, The Walrus 105.7 FM, ArtWalk and ArtReach.

 

Outstanding Philanthropic Organization: The California Endowment

The California Endowment is recognized as Outstanding Philanthropic Organization nominated by Asociacion De Liderazgo Comunitario and the City Heights Community Development Corporation. The California Endowment has embarked on a multi-year commitment to City Heights in collaboration with Asociacion De Liderazgo Comunitario to provide leadership development among neighborhood residents. One program is the Built Environment Team, where community residents are trained on issues related to local planning and transportation initiatives so they may provide more informed opinions in the future of their neighborhood.

 

The California Endowment also launched the Building Healthy Communities Program in 2010, a 10-year, $1 billion program that helps 14 underserved communities across the state to participate, which includes the community of City Heights. The California Endowment has also made a financial commitment of more than $10 million to 50 non-profit groups and organizations with projects aimed to make the community healthier in City Heights by improving employment opportunities, education, housing, neighborhood safety, unhealthy environmental conditions, and access to healthy foods.

 

Outstanding Celebrity Volunteer: Whitney Southwick, NBC San Diego

Whitney Southwick, meteorologist for NBC San Diego (KNSD-TV), is recognized as Outstanding Celebrity Volunteer nominated by the San Diego office of the American Lung Association in California. Southwick began his broadcasting career at NBC’s San Diego affiliate in 1976 as a writer and producer, and then took the anchor chair in 1977. Today, he is one of the most well known TV personalities in San Diego, and works extensively in the community participating in more than two dozen events each year.

 

Southwick’s job as a broadcaster and his own personal connection with lung disease and lung cancer led him to the American Lung Association. He has supported the organization’s “Fight for Air” Walk for the past five years, motivating others to participate and enthusiastically promoting the event on-air to viewers at home. Southwick was recently awarded the Combined Health Agencies Volunteer of the Year Award, for dedicating his time and passion to various causes in San Diego such as the local chapters of the American Diabetes Association and the Arthritis Foundation.

 

Southwick also works with the local Salvation Army on “Bikes for Kids,” a special program now in its 20th year where he presents a deserving child in a local school a brand new bicycle on a TV weekly segment. Southwick is a resident of the Scripps Ranch community in San Diego.

 

Outstanding Philanthropist: Pamela S. Wygod

Pamela S. Wygod is recognized as Outstanding Philanthropist, nominated by the UCSD Student-Run Free Clinic, as a great example of philanthropic leadership, engendering trust and respect, modeling compassion and commitment, and inspiring others to give.  Wygod funded the Fellowship in Underserved Health Care for the UCSD Student-Run Free Clinic, which is the first clinic in the country for clinicians who wish to devote their careers to the underserved. Her strategic leadership helped increase financial donations for the project from major supporters such as WebMD as well as leverage millions of dollars of in-kind and volunteer services to sustain it’s future.

 

Wygod is an innovative, collaborative grant maker who cares passionately about the underserved. She has more than twenty years of philanthropic experience focusing on health, education and child welfare. She is responsible for founding a private corporate foundation, a private family foundation and a giving circle: WebMD Health Foundation, The Rose Foundation and Anonymous Giving Circle of Women. Wygod has been responsible for grants of more $32 million to more than 150 organizations throughout the United States. Often leveraging grants with other foundations, Wygod is a collaborative grant maker who cares passionately about the underserved.  

 

Wygod’s nomination was endorsed by the following individuals and organizations: Rady Children’s Hospital Foundation, Anna Claire, Sharon M. Lawrence, Gail Vetter Levin, Lotts Creek Community School, CancerCare, Sanford Health Foundation, A Reason to Survive (ARTS), KPBS, The California Endowment, and the Ronald McDonald House Charities of San Diego. Wygod is a resident of Rancho Santa Fe.

 

Outstanding Youth/Student Volunteer: Keri Jucha

Keri Jucha has been named Outstanding Youth and Student Volunteer and was nominated by Temple Solel, San Dieguito High School Academy and Rady Children’s Hospital Foundation. At age 17, she is a role model for her peers and community — living proof that one person can make a difference.

 

At age 10, Jucha had a brain abscess caused by a sinus infection, which required brain surgery at Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego. Fully recovered, she became an advocate and fundraiser for the hospital. Jucha has organized many auctions and fundraising projects, including three auctions and fundraisers that raised more than $20,000, plus a jewelry fundraiser featuring her creations, which raised $8,000. In honor of her Bat Mitzvah in May 2009, Jucha organized another fundraiser raising an additional $7,700 to purchase laptop computers for patients of the hospital to use—as an avenue to play games, browse the Internet and interact with family and friends during their stay. Jucha also volunteers at blood drives, assemblies and dances and is a leadership student at her school, the San Dieguito High School Academy. At Temple Solel, she participated in the Jewish Family Services’ program, “Girls Give Back” as well as “Tikkun,” Temple Solel’s social-action oriented teen youth group. A resident of Carlsbad, Jucha attends San Dieguito High School Academy and is a member of the American Hebrew Academy Honor Society.

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