The unique civic and community service project is a joint venture of the nonprofit Sandy Springs Garden Club Inc. and the Spalding Garden Club and the first plantings will begin this fall.
The project is the brainchild of local gardening and community service activist Marsh Webb, who inspired members of local garden clubs to bring blooming beauty along the new route and raise funds to support local cancer treatment hospitals. For an entire mile, brilliant golden blossoms will offer a wintertime gift to the surrounding neighborhoods and to urban road-weary travelers, creating a beautiful new landmark for the city of Sandy Springs.
“We are well on our way, but we need ongoing community support to create the new annual blooming landmark project,” project chair Maidee Spencer said. “Daffodils embody grace, resilience and renewal, so sponsoring bulbs offers a perfect way for everyone to honor our courageous loved ones who have fought or are fighting cancer. We want to reach out to the whole Sandy Springs, Northside and Cobb County communities to participate. The golden mile will cheerfully greet road-weary commuters for many winters to come.”
Aug. 11, garden club volunteers from both cooperating organizations will be at the Sandy Springs Farmers Market on Sandy Springs Circle with a Daffodil Mile information booth to accept donations and explain the new memorial garden and how it will serve as a source of financial assistance for cancer patients and their families. Net proceeds will be donated to the foundations at three Sandy Springs hospitals that are waging the fight against cancer: Northside, St. Joseph’s and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite.
Participation can include sponsoring the purchase of daffodil bulbs, cash donations and donating goods or services for maintenance and planting.
Information: (404) 483-7956 or visit www.daffodilmile.org.
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If you are a woman looking for a job/career, the end of summer can’t be all last-minute vacation. JumpSTART Your Career is keeping its year-round workshops open to help women of all ages achieve their goals with an Aug. 22 through Sept. 19 series at the Community Assistance Center in Sandy Springs.
Initiated in 2006 as a nonprofit in memory of young Atlanta businesswoman Alexandra Surdyk Jones, JumpSTART has helped more than 800 women with 40 free workshops and online classes of self-discovery and leadership as a legacy of Jones, daughter of Atlanta interior designer Suze Surdyk Jones.
Focusing on job-readiness for unemployed women struggling with training and job searching, facilitators cover such topics as leadership, communications skills, improving teamwork, networking and changing technology as they take creative approaches to helping women build a career. Six weeks of two-hour evening sessions are presented in classrooms at easy-to-access locations in metro Atlanta. As demand has grown, online classes have been added.
At the conclusion of the workshop, each student will have completed three future-focused goals and objectives including an updated resume that has been reviewed and critiqued, a list of networking contacts with an introductory speech and a written plan of action with a future-focused goals and deadlines to achieve employment.
The 2012 summer session is honoring Northsider Elizabeth McCaleb Allen in appreciation for her generous support. Rebecca Smith serves as executive director.
Registration and information: (770) 883-6856 or visit www.jumpstartyourcareer.org.
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Ignite! 2012 will celebrate 20 years of service and dedication of the Maynard Jackson Youth Foundation Aug. 24 at the Woodruff Arts Center in Midtown.
Community leaders are convening to pay the first public tribute to the legacy of former Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson since his death in 2003 and to salute his nonprofit’s work in guiding and coaching young people from metro Atlanta to become ethical leaders.
Honorary co-chairs are Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, former Mayors Shirley Franklin and Andrew Young and former U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexis Herman.
The Ignite evening will start with a cocktail reception and awards ceremony in the Rich Theatre to recognize Atlanta-area scholars and other individuals who have demonstrated leadership, vision and commitment to their communities. Awardees will include Franklin, who serves as chair of the Purpose Built Communities; Charles Brewer, founder and managing partner of Las Catalinas; Rosa Arnold, founder and CEO of the Albert T. Mills Center; and Joey Reiman, founder and CEO of BrightHouse global consultancy.
Following the ceremony, guests will move to the High Museum of Art’s Taylor Lobby for a memorable food and beverage bazaar showcasing the diversity of Atlanta’s cuisine scene. Renowned international American rapper, singer-songwriter and record producer Bobby Ray Simmons Jr., aka “B.o.B.,” will headline the entertainment segment with the help of DJ Mars, founder of the Superfriends Crew.
Founded in 1992 by the late Atlanta mayor, the foundation is known as a “foundation for the future,” and has helped train hundreds of young people across the metro area with its Leadership Academy program. Focused on teaching high school students the skills and principles of leadership, critical thinking, entrepreneurship and community service, the program helps young people prepare for continued education and careers while participating in the nonprofit academy studies.
“One hundred percent of the Leadership Academy alumni have the opportunity to attend college. The current class is in session with 32 high school juniors from nine metro Atlanta, south Fulton, and Clayton County schools — our largest class to date. We also have 25 high school seniors from 2011 that we are helping prepare for college. Our goal is to continue expanding the boundaries,” said event co-chair Brooke Jackson Edmond, also the foundation’s CEO.
Valerie Richardson Jackson, Jackson’s widow, is the foundation’s board chair and serving as co-chair of the 2012 event.
All proceeds from Ignite will be used to ensure that promising young people have the tools they need to prepare for future leadership.
Tickets and information: (404) 681-3211 or visit www.mjyf.org/ignite.
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