Tag Archives: Foundation

Solid Work. Solid Foundation.

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Throughout 2016, the R&R Partners Foundation has been on the move, continuing our work of transforming lives and strengthening communities. Of the great work being done for our Foundation clients, here are a few examples we just had to share.

Santuario De Luz

The first pro bono collaboration with our Mexico City office produced a beautiful and touching video for a hospital in Autlan, Mexico, which is supported by Carlos Santana’s Milagro Foundation. In addition, we produced a fundraising brochure for Milagro Foundation’s telemedicine program that will seek to provide the best medical care possible for patients of Santuario De Luz.

The Animal Foundation

We saw the completion of our two-year engagement with the Southern Nevada nonprofit that produced the award-winning “In-fur-mercial” campaign.

Flip the Script

Our anti-bullying initiative is alive and well, completing our first school year of working directly with local middle schools to create customized respect campaigns. Becker Middle School, Fremont Middle School and Greenspun Junior High School all had the opportunity to work with R&R employees to create their own student-led anti-bullying campaigns. All were a great success and have become works-in-progress as students continue with their R&R teams for the 2016-2017 school year. In addition, we have selected three new middle schools to work with this year: Brinley, Swainston and Findlay. We’re looking forward to launching their new campaigns in January.

Lastly, we’ve also made some exciting structural changes to our Foundation, including:

Our Employee Board

Because our Foundation is a reflection of the culture and generosity of R&R Partners, we created a board of employees to help ensure that our Foundation stays true to that culture. They have done a fantastic job this year! We wish to thank R&R team members Catherine Cole, Nick Vassiliadis, Piper Overstreet, Bruce Wilcox, Mark Sundermeier, Steve Wright, Monica McCafferty and Courtney Barrett for their service. We also want to congratulate and welcome our new employee board members – our chair, Jennifer Lopez, James Coleman, Melissa Keegan and Mandy Walsh.

Employee-Directed Giving Fund

This year, the Foundation established an employee-directed giving fund that matches the amount of money an employee chooses to donate to a charity, up to $100. We expect this fund will benefit some great causes that our employees care deeply about. Go R&R!

23rd Annual Latino Youth Leadership Conference a Huge Success

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Recently, the R&R Partners Foundation Employee Board agreed to coordinate a $1,000 donation on behalf of the Foundation to the 23rd annual Latino Youth Leadership Conference (LYLC). The LYLC empowers youth through the pursuit and completion of higher education, while emphasizing the importance of community, cultural and civic engagement.

“Going into the program, I felt confident in myself due to my grades at school, extracurricular programs and other organizations I’m involved in,” said Kimberlyn Mejia, a junior at Canyon Springs High School and aspiring attorney, who graduated from the program this year. “However, my experience at the LYLC was filled with more motivation and knowledge that only this program could have provided. I left with an understanding of how I can improve my future and how to be a hero in our community.”

As a participant in the LYLC class of 2000, Jennifer López, a senior public relations account executive at R&R, is also able to say firsthand that the program changed her life. And because of that, she’s been involved in supporting the program in various capacities for over a decade. This year, Jennifer was invited to serve as a speaker during the career exploration session. She proudly represented R&R and shared with the audience (90+ youth and community professionals) the amazing work that the agency does.

“I wouldn’t be where I am today without the LYLC,” said López. “It opened the door to many professional and personal opportunities. It’s my honor to represent R&R at such an important event where, undoubtedly, we connected with several youth who want to enter the field of public relations, marketing and advertising. I’m thankful the employee Bboard understands the value in investing in our future leaders.”

The LYLC would not be able to serve our Latino and Latina youth without the Foundation’s generous support. If you’d like to get involved in this important cause or have an incoming junior or senior in Southern Nevada who may be interested in applying to next year’s program, visit lylc.info.

R&R at Project El Crucero in Nicaragua

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This past week, I had the pleasure of joining Sean Tonner and Bruce Wilcox on their annual trip to Nicaragua. As first-timers to the Nicaragua “Project El Crucero” service trip, my daughter Olivia and I didn’t know what to expect. Project El Crucero is a recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit, volunteer-led organization and has been operating the Susie Syke Medical Clinic in El Crucero, Nicaragua, for over six years. The clinic’s team has treated thousands of patients and provided thousands of meals to the hungry children. It operates four days per week with medical, dental and feeding programs. The total cost to operate the clinic is less than $3,500 per month, with nearly every dollar spent on serving the community.

IMG_9455I can truly say it exceeded our expectations and my fears were quickly put to ease. To see the beautiful children and their families in the small, impoverished community of El Crucero truly took our breath away and brought us to tears. They have so little, yet are so happy and grateful. What an unforgettable lesson in gratitude and the importance of serving others. Seeing the excitement on the children’s faces when we arrived was so powerful. To see the young men so eager to work and the obvious pride they took in their workmanship was inspiring. And on a personal note, seeing the joy on my daughter’s face as she bonded with the children filled my heart with love and a renewed perspective of what really matters.

It was so astonishing and moving to see what a huge impact this group was able to make in five short days. The accomplishments of the group varied during our time there: we moved tons of rock and gravel to repave the property and the driveway; fixed the swing set for the kids; built a wall around the outside door of the clinic for weather protection; reinforced the water tower; and mounted a basketball hoop. Our volunteers conducted the meal program for the children—which is the best meal they will have all week—and delivered 22 food baskets to a few families in need in the surrounding neighborhoods. Additionally, we created art out of old window panes; repaired the leaking roof; conducted English, as a second language, classes for the kids; painted the walls; fixed the clinic signs; repaired the septic line; and repaired leaking window seals.

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Even with the above jobs, we endlessly played with the sweet children of El Crucero, which brought delight to them and the teenagers on the trip; and most importantly, we treated several hundred patients who otherwise would have no access to health care. Bruce Wilcox, R&R’s VP of technology, has been on the annual trip four years in a row, and he says, “The reason I keep going is for perspective. Even my worst day is multitudes better than their best days, yet I always come back, gaining more than I’ve given.”

I can’t say enough about the Project El Crucero Foundation, headed by Jamie and Sara Hendren and my R&R Partners colleague Sean Tonner and his wife Laura. What an incredible and inspirational group of people! They truly believe in serving others, and that was so evident in working with them and their children. There were 33 of us in the group. The majority of the group was from Denver and have been on this trip together many times. Olivia and I were two of the few rookies. From the beginning, the families welcomed us to their tight-knit group and made us feel part of the family. I was so appreciative of that kindness.

“Project El Crucero and its clinic are a beacon of light for the community,” shares Sean, who is the president of R&R Partners Denver. “I, and the many R&R employees who have traveled to El Crucero over the years, have witnessed firsthand what a difference it is making every day for some of the most needy people in the Western Hemisphere, as The Beatles famous sang, “the more you give the more your get.” I always come away from El Crucero with the soul bucket a little fuller.”

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Even though my work at R&R brings me close to many nonprofit organizations with cause marketing campaigns, it was very rewarding to work directly within the community. For those of you who have considered taking a trip such as this one, I highly recommend it.  It is an experience that will affect you in ways you never can imagine. And you will have lifetime memories of service, joy, love and gratitude.