Porter-leath and Bridges will split Children’s Fund
CA sales generating $10,000 a month for charitable causes
Two local nonprofits with nationally recognized programs for children and teens have been selected as dual recipients of The Commercial Appeal Children’s Fund for July and August.
Bridges and PorterLeath are the latest beneficiaries of the program, which was launched by Commercial Appeal publisher George Cogswell in March.
The two organizations will split the proceeds, which are determined by collecting 5 percent of the $1 purchase price of Monday through Saturday editions of newspapers that are sold in racks and at retailers.
Every two months the total collected is donated to designated local nonprofit agencies.
Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital was the inaugural beneficiary of the fund and received donations from March and April singlecopy newspaper sales. The Exchange Club Family Center was the recipient for May and June.
“We’ve helped some very worthy organizations so far and more than 100 have been nominated for our program,” Cogswell said. “We want these donations to be significant, and because of our readers, so far they have been.”
To date, the Children’s Fund has generated more than $10,000 per month in donations, Cogswell said. Organizations are selected through a nomination process and recipients are intended to be nonprofits involved with children’s and women’s issues.
Bridges traces its origin to 1922, when it was founded to help ‘‘wayward and delinquent women and girls over 16 who found themselves in difficulty.” Through the years the organization expanded to include programs for boys and today focuses on offering leadership training programs for youth. The organization serves nearly 5,000 young people each year.
“Bridges brings together diverse groups of young people and exposes them to each other while encouraging them to work together to create a better community,” Cogswell said. “They plant seeds of leadership that will benefit us for generations to come.”
Added Melissa Wolowicz, vice president of development at Bridges, “We are thrilled that The Commercial Appeal recognizes the value of the Bridge Builders program, which helps diverse young people become confident and courageous leaders. We are thankful to have The Commercial Appeal as a community partner and funder because our funding is dependent upon individuals, corporations and foundations.”
Porter-Leath, founded in 1850, works to prevent infant mortality and offers several preschool programs such as Headstart while serving more than 8,000 children and 7,000 families every year.
“Porter-Leath was one of the first places in Memphis that I visited when I became publisher last year, and I was particularly impressed with their work with children and young people,” Cogswell said.
“Their preschool offerings are preparing children for kindergarten and first grade, and their program to help place teenagers with foster parents is amazing and needs to be supported.”
Rob Hughes, development manager for PorterLeath, said the money from the Children’s Fund will help augment the organization’s funding from state and federal sources, individual and corporate donors.
“Our Spoonfuls program offers healthy weekday meals to children and our other programs such as CareerPlace offer training for parents so that they can better provide for their families,” Hughes said.
“We’re delighted to be part of The Commercial Appeal’s program that will help us help more children and families.”
Nominations are being accepted for future recipients of the Children’s Fund. To learn more, visit commercialappeal.com/ childrensfund. Residents take advantage of the indoor pool at the Nineteenth Century Club in an undated photo. Founded in 1890, it is the oldest women’s club in Memphis. The building, at 1433 Union, was built around 1906 and in Colonial Revival architecture.