Darryl Whalen, humble owner of Healthy Painting and DJ Event service - DJ Buddy Love, shares he’s seen the painting industry change for the good since he entered the trade back in 1978. “I’ve always been one to share industry insight with my clients and they really appreciate it.” “Conversation often goes to what matters most to my clients and myself.…which is often the care of one who is sick, or a family without a financial safety net.” Darryl has made a point of supporting those in need from the early days of his career to today and although he shares his top 15 non-profits with us he’s always looking to be introduced to others. Here are his top 15:Freehold Theatre, Boys & Girls Club-Kirkland, A-HOPE Foundation, Bright Water School, Pike Place Market Foundation, Outdoors for All Foundation, The Samarya Center, Washington Lawyers for the Arts, Young Life, Rotary Club of West Seattle Fundraising, Three Tree Montessori School, Highline Medical Center Foundation, Glendale Lutheran School, Puget Sound Community School, Seattle Christian School.

We encourage you to learn more about Darryl and hire him to support your cause! Here are his Giving Corps Business Profiles: Healthy Painting, DJ Buddy Love Entertainment

Please join us in welcoming Ray and Carole Fitzgibbon, the Owners of Synergy Homecare Seattle. They are eager to support your cause and very happy to be involved. Here is an introduction …

Hello and welcome. We are Ray and Carole Fitzgibbon; owners of Synergy Home Care in Seattle. From our location, just south of downtown Seattle in the SODO district, we are able to serve you and your family in Seattle, West Seattle, Vashon Island, and Burien, Washington.

“The path to deep happiness is through helping folks in need.”
— Ray Fitzgibbon
Owner, Synergy HomeCare in Seattle

Our Community

The Seattle metropolitan community is one that we have been part of for many years. Our family is highly involved in local politics and community activities, which not only affect the direct environment, but also implement changes to ease your daily lifestyle. We work closely with the South King County and Vashon Island Chambers of Commerce to represent your desires and to promote better living in our area.

A Company Committed to the Highest Standards of Home Care

We at Synergy Home Care understand the struggle to recognize the necessity of additional care for your parent, grandparent, uncle, aunt, or other loved one. Many people find it difficult to accept that those they love and admire might be diminishing in health, mobility, or mental acuity. We understand and empathize with your concerns and are here to help you.

Your loved ones with increasing needs require optimum care. When their limited abilities exceed the amount of care you are able to give, you should be able to place your full confidence in a home care company committed to their well being. Synergy Home Care adheres to the high standards you advocate when choosing the prime method of care for your relatives in need.

High-Caliber Customer Service

Our managing staff has background experience in operations and quality assurance and has given us valuable experience in high-caliber customer care. Our entire professional career has been dedicated to those who seek aid. Synergy Home Care provides the best tools and methods for delivering superior support to you and your family. No service is complete without a commitment to excellence and continuous improvement. We strive to alleviate the fear and anxiety attached to all stages of life, and specialize in soothing the stressors of the aging process on your whole family.

Synergy Home Care selects only the best to join our team. Caregivers and office staff alike are ready to help you. We screen our employees through national criminal background checks.

Life is an active experience. Our caregivers are specially trained to maximize your freedoms while still being attentive to the requirements of you and your family. Caregivers encourage any opportunity for you to contribute to the pursuits you value. We are constantly expanding our services to suit your particular needs. Vashon Island will soon have resident caregiver support. If you live on the island, this option is beneficial to you. We understand that, despite your love and concern, you cannot reach your loved ones at all times. We will also assist you in coordinating private, quality hospice care.

Solutions to Your Needs

The path to deep happiness is through helping folks in need. We encourage you to contact us with any questions or concerns you may have about your own needs, or the needs of a loved one. We promise to give you honest, educated, and personalized answers. We hope you find Synergy Home Care the ideal home care solution for your family’s growing needs.

You can contact us at 206-420-4934 or email us at info@seattlesynergy.com.

Peace and Blessings,

Ray and Carole Fitzgibbon
Owners
Synergy Home Care
info@seattlesynergy.com

Leaf It To Me owner Brent Jones says Giving Corps strikes right to the “core” of what’s important to him. You see, 5% of Leaf It To Me’s landscaping proceeds go to building parks and playgrounds around the world. Brent says, “I like to think of it as every landscape dollar adds laughter to the world.” So far the Leaf It To Me team has built three parks – the last one in Las Animas, Mexico has outdoor kitchens, edible landscaping and toys for the kids.

Leaf It To Me wants to tackle any need you have in your yard…and be giving back in every transaction. They truly specialize in giving people what they want – now! And then some…offering pruning and clean up, hedging and tree work, cliff maintenance and landscaping. Brent and the Leaf It To Me team can create useable space in your yard with rock tables, grass, flowers and pots.

Customer’s love them – scoring a coveted Premium rank via Angie’s List™. They have been in business for 15 years and work from West Seattle to Redondo and everywhere in between. They also offer easy financing terms for large projects.

So, if you need your gutter cleaned, your lawn restored, your weeding done or you want a whole new look for your yard – give Leaf It To Me a call at 206-786-2375. And remember, “Every landscape dollar spent with Leaf It To Me adds laughter to the world.” J

Experts cite cautious donors, tightened spending.

The nonprofit sector is preparing for this year to be harder than 2009 as the delayed effects of the worst U.S. recession hits philanthropic budgets, experts said during a panel discussion on “The New Nonprofit Reality.”

“States are looking for any opportunity for tax revenue this year and nonprofits are increasingly a very big target,” said Stacy Palmer, editor of The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

“Foundation leaders are very worried that this economy is not doing so well and it’s time for caution, so the groups that they’re supporting are the tried and true groups — the universities, the hospitals.”

Hawaii has proposed a 1 percent tax on charities, Kansas is considering making nonprofits pay sales taxes and Pennsylvania is thinking about removing a property tax break for charities, The New York Times reported.

In a closely watched court battle, an Illinois hospital lost its property tax break last week as nonprofit hospitals come under pressure to justify the breaks they get.

“The nonprofit sector is like the caboose … of the economy, so we often go over the cliff last and then we stay over the cliff even after the economy starts going up the other way,” said Ken Berger, president and chief executive of Charity Navigator, which evaluates the nation’s big charities.

“The teeny-weeny, little local community-based, grassroots charities are hitting a brick wall.”

Lost gems
There were 1.9 million nonprofit groups in the United States in 2006 accounting for 5 percent of gross domestic product, according to figures from Independent Sector. All are exempt from federal income tax.

The most prominent include the Red Cross and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, but such organizations range from soup kitchens to religious congregations and cultural groups as well as the National Rifle Association.

U.S. donations to charities reached an estimated $307.65 billion in 2008, according to the Giving USA Foundation. It said 75 percent of that money came from individuals, 7 percent from charitable bequests, 5 percent from corporations and 13 percent from foundation grants.

Berger said just 6 percent of U.S. charities received 94 percent of donations and funding and almost half the country’s charities had received less than $25,000 a year.

“The silver lining is that maybe there are too many super small organizations,” he said. “But I also think some really wonderful groups could be closing their doors.”

Audrey H. Ross of Esslinger Wooten Maxwell serving Greater Miami, Coral Gables, Key Biscayne, Fisher Island & Miami Beach, Florida loves Canine Assistants!

Canine Assistants, founded in 1991, trains and provides service dogs for children and adults with physical disabilities or other special needs. In addition to physically assisting those with disabilities, Canine Assistants service dogs are instrumental in removing many of the barriers faced by the disabled in today’s society. Most Canine Assistants service dogs are born, raised, and trained at our facility in Alpharetta, Georgia, while some are occasionally adopted from local organizations or breeders. The majority of our service dogs are retrievers, including both goldens and labradors.

You can support Canine Assistants, or any other charity near and dear to you, when you have any real estate needs in Dade County Florida by clicking here!

Reid Guthrie, Owner of The Home Detective, has been exceeding client expectations around the Puget Sound for over 15 years…and has committed to giving back to support those in need unlike anything before! The Home Detective has over 4217 satisfied clients because they focus on educating their clients, not scaring them. Their motto is “We Enlighten, not Frighten”. They also stand behind their work with their “200% Money Back Guarantee”.  With The Home Detective, home buyers get a thorough education about what’s going on in the home, so they have the info they need to make the fully informed decision that’s best for them. Reid makes sure that every inspection performed by The Home Detective is done as if his Mother was the buyer. Roofs to roots, and everything in between, is going to get a good look.

When you choose The Home Detective, you’re not hiring an inspector, you’re getting your own Personal Building Consultant For Life. What does that mean? Well, if you ever have any questions about your home – how to maintain it, improvements you’re considering, anything – just give them a call. If they can’t help, they will help you find someone who can…who is also committed to supporting your cause! Contact Reid directly at 206-786-8649 or visit www.TheHomeDetective.net to discuss his intentions to support those in need from proceeds of new transactions. Way to go Reid!!

Charity and housing - sectors affecting us all.  The housing market needs a kick start and charities are not seeing the generosity of donors from year’s past.  So how can we breathe life in to these two critical enterprises?  Forgive me, but I believe the answer is givingcorps.com.

We are about providing business leads which every sector in the global economy are sorely lacking. Equally important, each recipient has committed to helping the client’s favorite charity by donating a portion of each transaction to a specific charity.

It is service any professional can join, providing they have demonstrated commitment to supporting community.

GivingCorps.com aims to revolutionize the way services are sought and we can’t think of a better way to help get the real estate industry back in swing than by helping those in need.

Pencil Me In For Kids is an ALL VOLUNTEER organization that began at West Seattle based Illusions Hair Design in 1995 with a simple mission: Raise money to purchase basic back-to-school supplies for local grade school kids who couldn’t afford them. Since then, they have been able to raise enough funds to supply over $80,000 worth of supplies due to generous donations from local businesses!

They accept new supply donations, as well as provide different fundraising opportunities throughout the year. They host benefit dinners at The West Seattle Eagles & hold both a Car Wash and a funding event by selling “Paper Pencils” at the Illusions location (along with other West Seattle Businesses) during the month of July.

They currently work with up to 11 grade schools (West Seattle to South Park). They get lists from Family Support Workers of the supplies needed for the kids who qualify for this program. They have receive donated supplies, and purchase a majority at discounted bulk cost through local businesses, including “Staples” at Westwood TowneCenter.

100% of all monies raised from donations go to support the program. By teaming up with Rotary Club of West Seattle & other local businesses, they are able to make our mission possible.

They accept cash & new school supply donations. Checks can be made payable to “Rotary Club of West Seattle” (a 501C non-profit), please note “Pencil me in for Kids” in the memo line.

Please visit www.pencilmeinforkids.org and www.illusionshairdesign.com to learn more about how to support this great cause.

Excerpt from their site: www.seattle7writers.org

Seattle7Writers began in 2006, when two Northwest authors, Jennie Shortridge and Garth Stein, got together for coffee one afternoon to talk shop.  Over the next year, they met for coffee every last Friday of the month, each time inviting a few more local authors.  Stephanie Kallos, Kit Bakke, Randy Sue Co

goal is to collect and deliver 1,500 books by the end of 2010.

burn, Heather Barbieri, Mary Guterson were soon to join the group.  The seven writer friends immediately recognized the benefit of sharing ideas about marketing and publicizing their work.  As they continued to meet, they added to their ranks:  Erica Bauermeister, Carol Cassella, and Maria Semple rounded them off to an even ten.

They realized that their collective energies could be used, not only to promote their own books, but to energize their reading communities, and in the spring of 2009, they pledged to undertake several community outreach initiatives, including:  panel discussions and writing workshops with all or partial proceeds benefiting literacy programs in the

Northwest; the development of community “pocket” libraries in unconventional places; and book club events to encourage community support of local libraries and independent booksellers.

Through these initiatives, Seattle7Writers also encourages and promotes Northwest literature with the rallying cry of “Read Local.” The Pacific Northwest produces a bounty of talented authors and fine books. At Seattle7Writers events, readers can discover new favorites or keep abreast of old favorites. Many well-known Northwest authors will be included as guests at various events to ensure a broad diversity of ideas and a great appeal to readers of all kinds. With camaraderie and enthusiasm, Seattle7Writers encourages you to support your local writer, and to support your local independent bookseller and library system.

Via CNN– Flood-inducing downpours have wreaked havoc on Nashville, Tennessee, and some of the big names in Nashville’s music scene are pulling together ways to help.

Nashville native and resident Ke$ha will host a flood benefit concert at Nashville’s Limelight on June 16th, with all proceeds going to the families and animals affected by the flood. Tickets start at $30, and fans who want to meet the pop star can buy a VIP package for $100.

The CMA Music Festival is also making a contribution with 50 percent of the net proceeds going to flood relief. This is in addition to the already established annual donation of the same amount to music education in Nashville public schools. The festival runs June 10 – 13, and stars like Lady Antebellum, Alan Jackson, Carrie Underwood and Tim McGraw are scheduled to perform.

And last but not least, Nashville resident turned superstar Taylor Swift has donated $500,000 to flood relief.

“Being at home during the storm, I honestly could not believe what was happening to the city and the people I love so dearly,” Swift said in an e-mail to the Associated Press. “Nashville is my home, and the reason why I get to do what I love. I have always been proud to be a Nashvillian, but especially now, seeing the love that runs through this city when there are people in crisis.”

The gift was announced Thursday night during a local telethon, “Flood Relief with Vince Gill and Friends.”

Vince Gill and friends collected nearly 1.8 MILLION dollars in 4 hours!!!

Other ways to help!!

Graceworks Ministries: Graceworks is working with the Red Cross to collect donations for flood victims. They are in need of financial gifts, non-perishable food items (soup, crackers, pasta), bottled water, toilet paper, cleaning products, toothbrushes, shampoo, household items, furniture, baby items and gently used clothing (please separate by gender and age). Drop off donations at 104 Southeast Parkway, Franklin TN.

Salvation

Army: The Salvation Army suffered losses just like the rest of us. They are in need of clean-up kit items (mops, brooms, heavy duty work gloves, masks, sponges, squeegees, scrub brushes, plastic gloves, bleach, all-purpose cleaner concentrate, trash bags, paper towels and cases of bottled water), Hygiene & personal care kit items (socks, underwear, t-shirts, shampoo conditioner, soap, deodorant, toothbrushes, toothpaste, etc), paper products and diapers. Drop off at 425 Neelys Bend Rd, Madison (10am-7pm), 611 Stockell St (9am-6:30pm) or 631 Dickerson Pike (8am-6pm).

Trevecca Nazarine University: Group is taking food, water, first aid and toiletries to flooded neighbors around the university. If you’re in the area and want to help distribute, call Dan at 941-518-6740. Drop off donations at the Boone Business Building.

Golden Skin Care: Golden Skin Care is collecting donations of sunscreen for flood relief volunteers. Drop off donations at 2000 Richard Jones Rd. in Green Hills. Christ Church: Christ Church (15354 Old Hickory Blvd) is collecting and distributing bottled water, new clothes and cleaning supplies.

Flavour Clothing: Drop site for toilet paper, toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant, box fans, cleaning supplies, diapers and nonperishable staple food items. 1522 Demonbreun Street.

CREMA: Taking donations for Tent City survivors. Drop off items in the parking lot behind CREMA (15 Hermitage Ave), need tents, stoves, sleeping bags, tarps and clothing.

GracePointe: Drop site for Graceworks, collecting soup, crackers and underwear specifically. 1213 Country Road, Franklin.

On The Go: Needs donations of bottled water (cases), goggles with no vent holes, gloves, N-95 respirators, trash bags, cleaning supplies, RVs and trailers to house short term team members, interns and volunteers through August.

The Anchor Fellowship: Drop site for socks, toiletries, underclothing, summer clothes all sizes, bedding, fungal cream, water, feminine products (7am-7am, 629 3rd Ave S.). They are distributing items to the community as fast as they get them.

If what you have to contribute is your time to help others in this perilious time of need, there are certainly more than enough places that can use as many volunteers as they can find to get supplies, food, and clothing out to the victims of the flooding.  Here are any number of places looking for you to help:

Samaritan’s Purse has deployed an emergency unit to Nashville and is working on assessing the damage and connecting with local churches. Sign up HERE (select “Nashville TN Flood Relief”) to volunteer with them.

All Metro Nashville relief efforts are running through Hands On Nashville. Sign up to be notified of official city volunteer opportunities HERE, and expect the opportunities to increase in volume as the waters recede and the city is able to assess the damage.

To help with Second Harvest Food bank Contact volunteer@secondharvestmidtn.o rg to help prepare and transport meals for the Salvation Army and Red Cross.

Contact cdublin@graceworksministries.n et for volunteer opportunities with Graceworks Ministries. They will need help sorting & processing donations for the Red Cross.

Donate here.

ArtHouse Gardens: Teams are being organized to help neighbors who need furniture moved, debris bagged up or removed, help getting things out of water’s way or cleaning up once it’s gone. To help or receive help from 9-3 every day, call Catherine at ArtHouse Gardens at 828-9223.

linda.trotter@oasischurch.tv and give your name, address, phone number, email address, specific skills, resources and materials you can provide, and your time availability.

Convoy of Hope has hit the ground running in Nashville, with four mobile trailers arriving in town today. To apply to volunteer with them (you will help distribute goods to communities in need), click HERE and fill out the Disaster Relief Volunteer Application.

On the go - is taking teams of volunteers to help distribute, clean, assist, pack, deliver, and provide services for needy in the area. To join up with On The Go, call or email at 615-299-0222 and IWantToHelp@onthego.org

All of the links and information about them come courtesy of http://nashvillest.com/2010/05 /03/so-nashville-is-flooded-ho w-can-i-help/ and Morgan Levy.