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WE HAVE RESTROOMS Right to Play owes a huge thank you to Shelly Ragle, director of SPAR. We now have two handicapped accessible restrooms, complete with a wash station. These restrooms will serve all of A. C. Steere Park. Thank you Shelly, SPAR and the City of Shreveport!! NEW CONTACT INFORMATION January 2008 Please disregard our contact information listed on the contact page. We are in the process of updating our website and due to technical difficulties, we can only do it one page at a time! Board Members and Contact Information Karen G. Gordon, DVM President (project director and media spokesperson) kggordon@comcast.net Kolby Nix Vice-President (site coordinator) kolby@jamesayoung.com D. Lee Harville, Attorney Secretary/Treasurer (media spokesperson) dlharville@aol.com Lucinda “Cindy” Murray, MHS, LOTR (media spokesperson) LMURRA@lsuhsc.edu David Langston, Manager of Customer Services and Marketing for AEP/SWEPCO’s LA and TX distribution area (media spokesperson) dwlangston@aep.com David J. Bellew, DDS (media spokesperson) djbellew@bluebirdwireless.com Joseph “Joey” Scarpinatto, Craft Services and Catering for the local movie industry scarpinatto@yahoo.com Blue Cross and Blue Shield of LA Honor Our Founder with a 2006 Angel Award Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana honored our founder and president, Karen Gordon, DVM with a 2006 Angel Award. She was one of eight statewide recipients of this prestigious award, given to honor volunteers that have improved the quality of life for Louisiana’s children. This award came with a $20,000 donation to Right to Play to help Dr. Gordon continue her mission of providing a playground for children of all abilities. Right to Play congratulates Dr. Gordon and the other recipients. A huge thank you to Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana for bestowing this honor. 2007 --- What a Year!! Right to Play knew 2006 would be hard to beat. We were honored with a 2006 Light of Hope Award and our founder, Karen Gordon is a true Angel. That is, she received a 2006 Angel Award from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of LA. The Angel Award recognizes individuals that have performed outstanding volunteer work on behalf of children in our state. Dr. Gordon says the award was honor enough, however, she is very thankful for the $20,000 donation Blue Cross and Blue Shield made to Right to Play to further her work. Right to Play has a lot to be thankful for as 2007 nears to an end. We want to thank all those that have supported our cause by making donations of money, material and their time. The donor wall is complete and the engraved bricks have been laid. We have raised over $68,600 this year!! Our administration costs continue to be negligible: less than $3,200 in 2007. That means that less than 5% of what we raise goes towards insurance, postage, fundraising, etc. Over 95% of our funds goes directly into our Leaps and Bounds Playground Project. Watch for the groundbreaking of our Garden-Music Area. It will delight children and adults of all ages. The Charles T. Beaird Foundation came to our aid again this year with a $10,000 grant. This brings their total donations to $25,000. 2007 --- What a Year!! Right to Play received $35,000 from the Ludwick Family Foundation of Glendale, California. This remarkable grant was made to us by a family foundation that has no personal ties to our community. They believe in what we are doing. They were impressed that our organization is run by volunteers, without any paid staff or directors. With administration costs less than $3,200 for 2007, the Ludwick Family Foundation knew that their grant would be used to directly benefit children. The grants from the Charles T. Beaird Foundation and the Ludwick Family Foundation will be used to purchase and install swing sets for Leaps and Bounds. Additional funds will go towards completing Phase II, our final building phase. We still want to purchase and install a toddler play structure with a toddler swing set, a sand play area, spring toys and amenities such as benches and a water fountain. Not all news was happy. We lost a dear friend, Juliette Levy Art in 2006. Throughout the years, she was a loyal supporter. Her love of children, especially those with special needs, was apparent when Right to Play received $10,000 from her estate in January 2007. We want to especially thank the Kappa Sigma Fraternity of LSU-S and the South Shreveport Rotary Club for adopting Right to Play. Not only have these organizations raised money on our behalf, but they have volunteered their time. The Kappa Sigs help keep the playground clean and the South Shreveport Rotary Club has labored to build flowerbeds (with help from Dennis Murray, husband of board member Cindy Murray and board member Joey Scarpinatto. Thanks to all of you who have helped the children in our community by supporting Right to Play in our efforts to provide a very special playground where all children have the ability to play. |
