NCFAN Mail
June/July 1998 Articles
NCFANDANGO
Director's Column
NCFAN Designated 'Safe Place'
Need for "Necessities for Living"
Continues
New Fall fundraiser and Membership Campaign
Education News
New Evening Phone Line Coordinator
Fairwell to Mary Jo Delahunty
Thanks to Our Volunteers!
If you
love to:
Create a great
meal
Entertain
friends
Savor fine
dinners
Meet new
friends
Then you must do the
NCFANDANGO!
Our new fall fund-raiser
combines all of the ingredients for a wonderful evening.
During August 15 to September 15, we need hosts to serve
as party-givers for invitation-only dinner socials. You
plan the party and invite the guests of your choice.
The only thing your
guests must consider is a generous donation to NCFAN as
they enjoy their evening. At the conclusion of the
month-long round of parties, NCFAN will hold a dessert
reception to thank all participants.
So come trip the light
NCFANDANGO with us! Call us at 372-4370 for all the
details. And remember, there are rules, no restrictions
on the theme or number of parties. It's your choice!
. . .From the
Director
This issue addresses two
very important opportunities for you to actively
participate in NCFAN. Our annual membership campaign, Friends
of NCFAN, begins this month and we have tried to make
it easier for you to become a Friend.
Included with hardcopy
version of NCFANMail is a membership campaign form
that explains the various levels of participation. Please
join at your most comfortable level. To receive a
hardcopy of NCFANMail or to request more information
about the membership campaign, please email
NCFAN.
The Friends of NCFAN campaign
is essential to our financial well-being, and I encourage
you to support our mission of quality client services and
prevention education. All of your donations and
contributions to NCFAN are tax deductible.
An exciting new event is
underway during the months of August and September called
NCFANDANGO. This is our local spin-off of a very popular
nationwide fund-raiser where private individuals hold
invitation-only dinners parties in their homes. Each host
or hostess personally decides who and how many guests to
invite to their party. As "admission," guests
will be requested to leave a donation for NCFAN.
After the dinners have
been held, NCFAN will have a "thank you"
reception for all participants. Details are currently
being worked out as we go to print, so if you are
interested in being a host or a participant, give me a
call at the office. We know that many great evenings of
fun will be had by all, and hope that this will become a
very popular event for NCFAN.
With regret, we said a
very fond adieu to case manager Mary Jo Delahunty, who
took a position with University Medical Center in
Jacksonville. We wish her the best of luck in her new
endeavor. Joining NCFAN this month is Maria Lepore, our
new case manager. Maria comes to us from New Haven,
Connecticut, where she had been employed as a social
worker with the state. Also joining our NCFAN family this
month is Naima Smith, who becomes our first Child-Parent
Educator, a position which is funded through the United
Way of Alachua County.
Welcome to NCFAN, Maria
and Naima!
- Joseph F.
Antonelli, Executive Director, NCFAN
NCFAN
Designated 'Safe Place' for Troubled Youth
Project Safe Place has
designated NCFAN as an official "Safe Place"
site where youths in trouble may seek help.
Project Safe Place is a
network of businesses who donate their facilities as
access points to the Interface Youth Service Center.
In Gainesville, the
Interface Youth Service Center is administered by the
Corner Drug Store.
When a youth in trouble
comes to a Safe Place, he or she can be assured that they
will be removed from harm's way, and picked up by a staff
person from the Interface shelter as soon as possible. If
immediate help is needed, Safe Place personnel are
advised to call 911.
Interface may be reached
24 hours a day at 334-3833 or 334-3834.
Need
for "Necessities for Living" Supplies Continues
Year Round
The month-long focus on
NCFANs Necessities for Living program has
concluded, but the urgency for supplies continues.
Although the annual July
supply drive heightens community awareness about the
basic necessities program, NCFANs shelves must be
stocked every month to fulfill the needs of clients
living on a limited income.
Last month, with
Gainesville Fire Rescues seven city fire stations
as drop off sites, NCFAN received community donations
that partially filled its store room with the much needed
supplies.
A major portion of the
July donations came from the students of UFs
"Exceptional People" class, under the direction
of Dr. Stuart Schwartz.
Donations are needed
every month to assure that no client goes without what
most of us take for granted.
Household products,
laundry detergents and personal care items may be brought
to NCFAN headquarters Monday through Friday between the
hours of 9 a.m. and 6 p.m.
New
Fall Fund-Raiser Introduced; Membership Campaign Begins
With the lazy days of
summer drawing to a close, NCFAN opens another fall
season by introducing a new fund-raising social,
NCFANDANGO.
This time of year also
signals the beginning of the annual membership campaign.
Both occasions are necessary to assure the continuation
of NCFAN's services and programs.
NCFANDANGO premieres this
month with a series of privately hosted dinner parties
specifically held to raise funds for NCFAN. Hosts may be
as creative as they wish with dinner party themes, and
they may invite whomever they choose as guests. There is
only one caveat: Each guest must make a donation to
NCFAN.
When all the dinner
parties have been held, NCFAN will host a reception (date
and place to be announced) to thank hosts and guests.
If you are interested in
being a host, please call NCFAN at 372-4370 for more
details.
Membership is also
another important fund-raising event.
This year membership
levels have been redesigned to accommodate everyone who
would wish to contribute to NCFAN. A convenient
membership form has been included with the current issue
of NCFANMail.
Education
News
We welcome Naima Smith to
NCFAN, our new Child-Parent Educator.
Education also thanks our
volunteers for June and July. Sharing their time with us
were Paul Steele, Mark Lasam, Daniel Gillis, Ronald
Riggins, Lynda Owens, Ricky Ezzell, Richard Babb, Mark
Stuart, Steven Womeldurf, Sophia, and Denise.
Jennifer
Wiley, Prevention Outreach Coordinator, has taken a new
job with the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, and
we wish her well - well miss you, Jen, and best of
luck!
New
Evening Phone Line Coordinator
Patrice Parker is our new Evening Phone
Line Coordinator. If you would like to volunteer for
evening phones, please call her at 372-4370.
NCFAN
bids farewell to Mary Jo Delahunty
The North Central Florida
AIDS Network reluctantly said good bye to one of its
Project AIDS Care case managers this month.
After more than three
years at NCFAN, Mary Jo Delahunty accepted a position as
a clinical social worker in the Department of Pediatrics
at University Medical Center in Jacksonville.
Leaving NCFAN is not
easy, Mary Jo said.
"My time at NCFAN
truly has been the most rewarding and challenging of my
life," she said. "The clients and the workers
in this field of HIV/AIDS have enriched my life
immeasurably. I will miss everyone."
But she is excited about
the opportunity to work at University Medical Center.
"I am very
interested in expanding my knowledge in a medical
environment," Mary Jo said. "I am also looking
forward to working in pediatrics."
A native of New
Brunswick, New Jersey, Mary Jo received her undergraduate
degree in psychology from Rutgers University, graduating
magna cum laude.
In 1989, she took a
position at a long term care facility in Stuart, Florida,
before returning to school for her graduate degree.
In Gainesville, Mary Jo
enrolled in the Florida State University graduate social
work program. Classes for the program are held at the
University of Florida.
While pursuing her
studies, Mary Jo handled a full case load at NCFAN and
served as the liaison for the client support group and
the buddy support group.
In March, Mary Jo was
named Student Social Worker of the Year by the
Gainesville Chapter of the National Association of Social
Workers, and later received her MSW degree.
NCFAN co-workers
expressed sorrow with Mary Jos departure, but were
not surprised that others recognized her talents and
skills.
"It's difficult to
lose such a talented and valuable employee," Mike
Day, Client Services supervisor, said. "But this is
a positive move for Mary Jo. We will miss her very much,
and wish her well in her new job."
Kim McGahee-Caton, PAC
case manager, not only saw Mary Jo as an exceptional
co-worker, but also as a good friend.
"Mary Jo is da
bomb," Kim said, laughing. "Mary Jo's
interaction with clients was so well-respected that we
nicknamed her da bomb - which means the
best.
"She was a great
help to me when I started working at NCFAN," Kim
continued. "She was always available whenever I
needed to consult about a case. Mary Jo is just the best
there is, and we will truly miss her."
Thanks
to Our Volunteers!
On June 28, 1998, NCFAN
honored its volunteers at a picnic and pool party held at
the home of Patsy and Sid Sanders.
Cited for special
attention were board members, Susan Park and Frank
Walters. They shared the "Volunteer of the
Year" award in appreciation of their many hours
spent devoted to event activities and the business
operations of NCFAN.
Another board member,
Richard Babb, received the Richard Bruce Achievement
Award for his generous contribution of time and effort to
the 1998 "Love, Life & Legs" AIDS Walk.
Other volunteers were
awarded certificates of appreciation for their tireless
contributions to event planning and participation, daily
NCFAN operations, and special programs.
Honored were Linda Louise
Braswell, Karen Brassard, Greg Allen, Daniel Gillis, Eva
Squires, Mark Cowan, Chris Salamanca, Joe Weider, Sheila
ONeill, Rotem Adar, Ron Riggins, Robert Henderson,
Patrice Parker, and board members, Ricky Ezzell, Paul
Kuritzky, and Mark Stuart.
Thanks, Volunteers! And
thank you Patsy and Sid Sanders for an unforgettable
afternoon!
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