Congratulations to the May 2014 Recipients of $500 worth in FREE Promotional Products!

The home should be a safe haven where guidance, support, and love are plentiful. Most children are fortunate to experience safe, comfortable home environments, but occasionally situations arise where the childs well-being is at risk.

Thats when the Family & Community Resource Center (FCRC) comes in. As an advocate for quality life for all individuals, they work with at-risk families to provide education about existing laws, court procedures, and case resolution procedures. For families experiencing separation, FCRC believes that children should be placed in safe, turbulent-free environments during this difficult period. Additionally, they work to facilitate a smooth transition when children are returned to their homes.

FCRC partners with other experienced service providers acting as a liaison between their Family Support Specialists and families in need of assistance. They believe that by building quality relationships between their clients and participating support networks, an ideal home life can indeed prevail - ultimately encouraging a safe, strong, and productive community.

Family & Community Resource Center will use their $500 award to purchase items in support of Domestic Violence Awareness Month activities. Please join us in congratulating the Family & Community Resource Center.

For more information about Family & Community Resource Center, visit their website at http://www.thefcrc.org/

Newton Mentoring, Inc. has been chosen as a May MARCO Difference Maker. Newton Mentoring, Inc. is a grass roots organization that was developed in 2008 to provide much needed individual support for at risk children in the Newton County School System, grades K-12. All schools, regular, charter and alternative are eligible to participate in the program. Their mission is to build and strengthen the character and competence of children and youth, which will help build their leadership abilities, thus, their ability to succeed during their school years and beyond. NMIs vision is to change the world, one child at a time. Research shows that an evidence based mentoring program is a primary tool to give youth the skills necessary for school and life success.

Newton Mentoring recruits, trains and places adult mentors during each school year. The mentors will learn strategies that will help them address the needs of their mentees in personal as well as academic areas. The mentees will learn good character traits and values by having a one-on-one relationship with a non-academic, non-parental, adult who is interested in their development. The mentors are volunteer, non-paid adults caring, advocating, listening and sometimes tutoring students who are referred to the program.

The programs focus is on youth with poor academic achievement, low self-esteem or an inadequate support system. Mentors form relationships with the mentees, offering guidance, support and encouragement. The mentor's time and effort will have a positive impact on the critical developmental needs of their mentees.

NMI will use the $500 award to purchase backpacks that they can fill with essentials to provide to the mentees for the summer break and use for the following school year. Please join us in congratulating Newton Mentoring , Inc. To learn more about Newton Mentoring, Inc, please visit their website at http://www.newtonmentoring.org/.

Giving Hope...Making Miracles is Children's Organ Transplant Association's (COTA) guiding vision. Since 1986, COTA has become the premier organization providing fundraising assistance to families facing a life-saving transplant. For more than 25 years, families from throughout the nation, representing every ethnic, economic, religious and social background, have worked with COTA.

COTA's story actually began in July 1985 when COTA's first patient, a toddler from Bloomington, Indiana, needed assistance. The child's parents were told their son needed a liver transplant to survive. Adding to their pain was the fact that they faced exclusion from the organ waiting list due to their lack of funds as their insurance carrier did not cover transplant costs. Caring for two small children, they could not pay for such a costly surgery.

When their family, friends and community members learned of their dire situation, hundreds responded enthusiastically. School children gave their allowances and went door-to-door collecting change. Friends took coin canisters to the local county fair and asked for donations. Local political leaders interceded with insurance companies on their behalf. Within weeks, the community raised $100,000, enabling this child to be placed on the liver transplant waiting list.

What started as a drive to save the life of one child in central Indiana evolved into the Children's Organ Transplant Association.

Today, COTA exists to assist patients who require a life-saving organ, bone marrow, cord blood or stem cell transplant. COTA works with any patient who needs a transplant due to a genetic disease such as Cystic Fibrosis or Sickle Cell Anemia, and all patients 21 and under for any disease complication. COTA guides the family and their volunteers through every necessary fundraising step, including organizing and training the campaign committee; planning successful events and activities; working with the media; and finding multiple sources of funding. For more information about COTA, please visit their website.
www.cota.org

Founded in 1985, the Academy of Hope has helped 600 adults in the Washington, DC area obtain high school credentials and more than 6000 adults improve basic skills, and to advance to post-secondary education or better jobs. Academy of Hope offers tailored educational services for adults who, due to low-literacy and insufficient basic skills, are not able to find or retain living-wage employment and are often trapped in a cycle of poverty. They believe education is transformative and the first crucial step in breaking the cycle of poverty.

As one of the most comprehensive and effective providers of adult education services in Washington, DC, Academy of Hope has helped adults advance to college or further training, given them the education to earn a living wage and helped parents become more involved in their children's education. This summer they will reach a milestone by becoming an adult public charter school!

Academy of Hope plans to use the promotional products they receive from MARCO to celebrate their achievement of becoming an adult public charter school and thank their volunteers and donors for their support. You can learn more about this wonderful organization by visiting their website.
www.aohdc.org