Jarden donates $184,000 to charities during first quarter

FROM STAFF REPORTS

Consumer Solutions has announced that its employee-funded JCS Community Fund donated more than $184,000 in the first quarter of 2008 as part of its ongoing efforts to give back to the communities in which the company’s employees live and work.

“Through the grants it provides to non-profit agencies, the Jarden Consumer Solutions Community Fund helps improve the quality of life in the communities where we operate,” said Rocki Rockingham, JCS’ vice president, community relations and communications.

The South Florida organizations and amounts for which the JCS Community Fund approved grants during the first quarter of 2008 are:

Children, Hope & Horses, a Boca Raton-based agency that provides an interactive child-and-horse (equine therapy) program for abused, neglected and abandoned children, received a $15,000 grant to support its programs aimed at children with attachment disorder.

Daily Bread Food Bank received a $25,000 grant to continue Jarden Consumer Solutions’ sponsorship of the agency’s “Extra Helpings” program in which perishable food donations from restaurants and caterers are distributed to area feeding programs.

Delray Beach Public Library received a $12,565 grant to fully fund its summer literacy program for at-risk youth at Carver Middle School and the Boys & Girls Club.

Gilda’s Club of South Florida, a Fort Lauderdale-based agency that provides social and emotional support to those touched by cancer, received a $15,000 grant to support its “Ask the Expert” lecture series.

Junior League of Greater Fort Lauderdale received a $2,750 to support transitional living programs for youth graduating out of the foster care system.

The Miracle League of Delray Beach received a $10,000 grant to support both its spring and fall baseball leagues for children with disabilities.

Oasis Compassion Agency, a Greenacres-based organization that helps improve the lives of at-risk families, received an $8,200 grant to fully fund English classes for its Spanish-speaking clients.

Take Stock in Children, a long-term mentoring program for at-risk children, received a $12,000 grant to support the mentoring and college education of one child for ten years.

Twin Palm Center For The Disabled, a Boca Raton-based agency that provides educational and social day program for mentally disabled adults, received a $15,000 grant to provide tuition support to the agency’s at-risk clients.

YMCA of Broward County received a $15,000 grant to provide more than 100 need-based scholarships to low-income children so that they can afford to attend summer camp.

YMCA of South Palm Beach County received a $15,000 grant to supply need-based scholarships for children participating in the Exceptional Child Program Teen Summer Camp serving children with disabilities.

In addition to the grants issued in Florida, the JCS Community also provided donations to a number of charitable organizations in Mississippi ($15,000), Missouri ($13,500) and Tennessee ($10,000).