Non-Profit

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Did you know that the first Friday of every month, the downtown Dover shops pretty much throw a big block party with refreshments, fun activities and live music for the whole family? Stop searching for inexpensive things to do with your family on a Friday night! Get outside, walk around and enjoy what downtown Dover has to offer. It is a much better way to spend your time (and money) than two hours at the movie theater or in front of the television on a beautiful summer night.

Check out everything there is to do for all groups of age or interest at First Friday Downtown Dover:

August Theme: Downtown Dover Beach Party! First Friday, August 1st: from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm

Frankfurt Bakery on S. Governors Ave – Arts in the Alley, face painting, cupcake decorating, and an origami demonstration for the kids! DJ & live performance from the Blecher Trio, a family of kids singing the Disney Hits.

Bayard Pharmacy on Loockerman St. – Free refreshments from Frankfurt Bakery & a free summer gift basket for the first 15 kids who stop in.

Bel Boutique on Loockerman St. – Throwback Party Vintage Style! Fun for all – stop by to check out the real, vintage hot rod in front of the shop and check out the Alex & Ani Vintage ’66 collection. If this were me – it would be a great way to get the fiancé to shop with me! I could check out the Alex & Ani bracelets for as long as I wanted! Clever setup here, ladies.

Dover Art League on W. Loockerman St. presents “Shades of Georgia O’ Keeffe”, talented local artists will be able to demonstrate their appreciation for the works of this famous, accomplished artist. The criteria for submitted artworks it that the art works be in a style inspired by the works of O’Keeffe. This could mean art works done in modernist style, vibrant color, similar subject matter, or any other way that may show Georgia O’Keeffe’s influence.There will be a reception from 5pm to 7pm.

33 West on Loockerman St. – Live music by Tim Jardon starting at 8:30 pm

Golden Fleece on Loockerman St. – Hors d’oeurves and live entertainment featuring Brian McDaniels followed by Stacks Entertainment

Beyond Dimensions on Governors Ave – Hosting singer/songwriter Rick Hudson & light refreshments

Blue Hen Auction Company on Loockerman St. – Free Antique Appraisals from 5 to 7 pm

Dover News Stand on Loockerman St. – Live music by J.D. Sage

Rouge: 50% all bikinis

Partners In Design: 20% off everything

Additional First Friday participants in downtown Dover: Suds Bar & Essentials, Forney’s & Forney’s Too, Cendel Foundation, Beehive Beauty Shop, Emmanuel’s Book Shop, Amore Bridal, Chereveux Salon, J La Salon, Maxine’s Fashions, Dover Public Library

First Friday Downtown Dover Give Back to the Delaware community The participating First Friday Downtown Dover merchants all donate a percentage of sales to a chosen charity of the month as part of “First Friday Gives Back”. The Downtown Dover Partnership merchants have decided to partner with the local Gals That Give charity which means that the proceeds from “First Friday” in the beginning of each month will go to the corresponding Gals That Give charity of that month. 

The August 1st, 2014 “First Friday” will benefit Foundation for a Better Tomorrow to correspond with the July 17th Girls Night benefit.

Downtown Dover First Friday Gives Back

Time to open up that smart phone calendar and invite your your friends, family or co-workers to stop by downtown Dover the first Friday of each month to enjoy a big party and give back to the community. Enjoy art, face painting, live music, food, community and fun for the whole family. Follow their happenings on Facebook.

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As you may know, Christina Lessard and I help lead a non-profit called Gals That Give along with three other women: Kim Willson of Ruggerio Willson & Associates, Stephanie Turner of George & Lynch and Erin Barrett of Outlook Events at The Duncan Center.

Gals That Give Kids 2014
Gals That Give ladies with local 4H Club

We’ve had a surge of new interest in the event lately so I thought I would create a post that would explain what we do, the concept and how those interested can join. The concept is pretty simple (and fun)! Once a month Gals That Give hosts a Girl’s Night Out dinner for charity. The event kicks off at 5:30 pm to end at 7:30 pm and includes a buffet dinner, cash bar, 50/50 and Chinese auction. All proceeds go to the featured charity which changes each month.

Gals On A Mission:
Gals That Give is giving back to the non-profit organizations in our local community. Our work is about building stronger communities and relationships and we believe that women are an important leverage point in that work. Gals that Gives’ mission is to cultivate local community non-profit organizations by connecting them with a larger network so they can continue to make an impact where we live and breathe every day.

It’s working!
Gals That Give kicked off in September 2013 and it is astounding to see 150 women pull together and raise thousands of dollars for a local charity in just two hours. To date, Gals That Give events have collectively raised a total of $29,771 for the local area.

Each charity has brought a new group of women to the table and it seems like our core group of ladies just keeps growing and growing! In a room of about 150 ladies, about sixty percent return from previous months and about forty percent are joining us for the first time.

No – you do not need to have a “date” with you to join us for the first time. If you are weary about being a first timer – just message us or let one of us know and we’ll introduce you to a few friendly faces. You might even recognize someone from one of the charities we’ve worked with in 2014.

Past Gals That Give events:
– Next Generation Delaware South, September 2013
– The Shepard Place, November 2013
– Communities In Schools Delaware, January 2014
– Cancer Support Community Delaware, February 2014
– Purrfect Haven Cat Rescue, March 2014
– Holler N Hooves 4H Club of Delaware, April 2014
– Girls on The Run Delaware, May 2014
– Operation: Dorm to Gourm, June 2014
– Foundation For A Better Tomorrow, July 2014

Upcoming Gals That Give events:
– Thursday, September 18th: Central Delaware Habitat for Humanity RSVP here
– Thursday, October 16th: Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition
– Thursday, November 20th, Gals (and Guys) That Give benefit for Dover F.O.P

Did that just say Gals AND Guys? Yes! It did – we’re so excited to celebrate our first birthday with a co-ed event and hope that you’ll join us with your gal and guy friends for a fun evening giving back to the Dover Fraternal Order of Police.

How much are tickets?
Tickets are $25 per person. You can pay online via Eventbrite or by cash or check made out to Gals That Give at the door the day of the event.

How to Participate:
We’ve had a lot of ladies ask what they can do to help or to become a member. All you have to do is join in on the fun at our events. If you’d like to participate by donating an auction item, you can do that as well.

What is the Gals That Give Auction?
The Gals That Give auction is 25 to 60 items donated by local people or organizations in the community. You have the option to purchase raffle tickets at the event and place them in the corresponding cup for the items that you’d like to win. At the end of the evening, we shake up the cups and pull a ticket – if it is your number, you are going home a winner! 100% of the ticket proceeds go towards the featured charity of the month.

To date, we’ve seen a variety of items including Alex & Ani bracelents, TOMS shoes, fashion accessories, art from local artists, cakes, gift certificates, wine baskets, food baskets, girls night out baskets, massage gift certificates, mulch, a beach house weekend, Phillies tickets, event tickets, hair cuts, hair treatments, kid birthday parties, gym memberships and much more.

How to donate an item to the Chinese Auction:
You can coordinate with one of the ladies from Gals That Give or a representative from that month’s featured charity. We do ask that we have the item a few days prior to the event so we can everything set up before the doors open at 5:30 pm. We can also give you an in kind donation form as well!

How Charities can apply:
Charities that have a 501©3 status can submit an application to us at a Gals That Give dinner for consideration. Contact us via email, at an event or on Facebook for the application.

How to contact Gals That Give and stay current on upcoming events:

Join Our Mailing List
Connect with us on Facebook:
Connect with us on Twitter: @GalsThatGive
Email Us: [email protected]
Go to our Eventbrite page for details on current, past & upcoming events.

Gals That Give Rock The World

We hope to hear from you! If you’ve been to a Gals That Give event, we’d love to hear what you think!

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Braeden Mannering Helps Delaware Community
Don’t forget The Big Picture! Thank you, Braeden!

It is so easy to get lost in the busyness of business with the to-do lists, emails, rush hour traffic and deadlines that we forget about “the big picture”. Meet Braeden Mannering, an inspiring ten year old Delawarean that sees the bigger picture, understands that there are people in Delaware that may not know when their next meal will be – and does something about it.  

“Anytime I see a person on the street with a sign saying they need help I hope I can give them one of my bags and I hope I can help them.” – Braeden Mannering

   Meet Braeden Mannering – An Inspiration!

Braeden Mannering at the White House
Braeden Mannering at the White House in 2013

Braeden Mannering was the Delaware winner for the national Healthy Lunchtime Challenge last year. In July 2013, he was invited to the Kids’ State Dinner at The White House where he met The President, First Lady and Senator Tom Carper. He was inspired by his visit and the thought provoking speech from Michelle Obama that asked the audience how they could “pay it forward”. Braeden Mannering took this request to heart and really thought about ways he’d like to give back to others. He realized how sad he felt by the number of homeless people asking for food with signs in Washington, D.C. and noticed how regularly he saw them in Delaware too. 3Bs: Braeden’s Brown Bags

Braeden Mannering Delivering Brown Bags to Homeless Community
Braeden Mannering Delivering 3B’s Brown Bags

Motivated to help those in need, he gave whatever he had with him to the next few homeless people he saw – bottled water, snacks and even an umbrella in the rain. He was thanked warmly for his kindness and realized that he could help others by having bags of water and healthy snacks readily available for those in need during his travels. He also took the time to research and compile a list of local places to go for additional help to include in each bag. One year later One year and over 1,300 brown bags later, Braeden Mannering was invited back to The White House for the 2014 Kids State Dinner as a guest speaker and to introduce The First Lady, Michelle Obama. He did such a great job – you’ll want to take a minute to watch his speech here: I have had the opportunity to hang out with Braeden on a few occasions and he’s a ten year old on a mission to help build a better world. He’s also a kid that enjoys Clash of Clans, video games, drawing, telling funny stories about his siblings and sharing cool ideas. I enjoy following his posts on social media, written from Braeden himself, they act as little cues to cut back on the busyness of business to take time to give back every day. Even if it is a few minutes of re-tweets or Facebook post shares to help spread awareness of doing good – every little bit counts. Thank you for being such an inspiration and a constant motivator, Braeden! Keep up the awesome work – you rock! Connect with Braeden Mannering: 3B’s Brown Bags on Facebook, Twitter  and read about his latest adventures on his blog. If interested in ways to help his cause, you can do that here.

Thank you for reading this post! Feel free to share your comments, favorite charities and ways you like to give back in the comments below.

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Gals That Give Charity is giving back to non-profit organizations through monthly “Girls Night Out” events. To date, the events have collectively raised over $16,298 for local charities in Kent County, Delaware. Newly launched non-profit, Gals That Give Charity invites women to their “Girls Night Out” event on Thursday May 15th, 2014 for dinner, drinks and philanthropy.

The event will be held in Dover, Delaware from 5:30 to 7:30 pm at the Outlook at the Duncan Center. Women interested in attending can RSVP online by May 12th. Gals That Give Charity DelawareGals That Give Charity was founded in late 2013 by woman professionals that have a profound interest in philanthropic work.

“The concept combines the typical professional networking event with an evening out with the girls. Every girl welcomes a chance to have a nice dinner out to catch up with old friends and meet new ones,” says founder Erin Barrett, Events Coordinator of The Outlook at The Duncan Center.

Held on the third Thursday of each month, the proceeds go directly to the designated charity for that month. The entry fee is $25 and includes a three course menu with an appetizer and dessert. Refreshments and a cash bar are also available. In addition to dinner and drinks, there is a chance to win items from a silent, “pick-a-prize” style auction and participate in a 50/50 raffle. Auction items are donated to the cause from local businesses and have included home décor, fashion accessories, professional services, artwork by local artists and gift certificates to local restaurants.

Each event has approximately 20 to 40 auction items and all funds raised by the auction and raffle go directly to the charity of the month. May will mark the seventh Gals That Give event. To date, Gals That Give has raised over $16,298. “We can attribute our success to the growing network of women that continue to support Gals That Give by bringing a friend, donating an auction item and spreading the word through our social channels like Facebook and Twitter,” says founder Kim Willson, partner of Ruggerio Willson & Associates. In addition to raising funds, the Gals That Give event is the ideal opportunity for the featured charity to educate others about their mission through presentations and guest speakers.

In February, there was not a dry eye in the room when and cancer survivor Ray Failing shared her personal experience and appreciation for Cancer Support Community’s work with the audience. “Gals That Give goes beyond the typical networking event. The ladies that join us each month are from all generations, professions and causes. It truly brings us together as a community,” says founder Christina Lessard of Lessard Builders.

According to their mission statement, community is a key factor behind the work of Gals That Give Charity. “We believe that women are a fundamental component to building stronger communities and relationships in our area,” says founder Stephanie Turner of George and Lynch. “By connecting local non-profit organizations with the Gals That Give community, we hope to make a substantial impact where we live and breathe every day.”

The next event on Thursday, May 15th will benefit Girls on the Run, Delaware. The event will be at The Outlook at The Duncan Center in Dover, Delaware from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm. Those interested in attending the event can register via the online invitation  

About Girls on the Run: Girls on the Run® is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to creating a world where every girl knows and activates her limitless potential and is free to boldly pursue her dreams. A life-changing, non-profit program for girls in the 3rd through 8th grade, their mission is to inspire girls to be joyful, healthy and confident using a fun, experience-based curriculum which creatively integrates running. Running is used to inspire and motivate girls, encourage lifelong health and fitness, and build confidence through accomplishment. At each season’s conclusion, the girls and their running buddies, complete a 5k running event. Completing a 5k gives the girls a tangible sense of achievement as well as a framework for setting and achieving life goals. The result—making the seemingly impossible, possible and teaching girls that they can. To learn more about Girls on The Run Delaware, you can visit their website or Facebook page.

About Gals That Give Charity Gals that Give was founded in late 2013 by Kim Willson, Stephanie Turner, Erin Barrett, Catrina Sharp and Christina Lessard. Gals That Give Charity recently earned their 501©3 status by teaming up with the the CenDel Foundation. Gals That Give Charity is giving back to the local non-profit organizations in the Kent County, Delaware community. Gals that Give Charity’s mission is to cultivate local community non-profit organizations by connecting them with a larger network so they can continue to make an impact where they live and breathe every day. Gals That GiveCharity is on Facebook, Twitter and can be reached via email GalsThatGiveCharity(at)gmail(dot)com.