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Vol. I Issue: 1

A quarterly publication of The Carrie Meek Foundation

The sun will soon set upon yet another year. The process of reflec-tion will begin and thoughts of achieved goals and missed op-portunities will flood our minds. When I reflect upon the Carrie Meek Foun-dation, I am particularly

proud of the accomplishments we have made this year. The organization is soaring to heights that meet my high expectations. We have weathered transition with grace and tackled hurdles with fortitude. We are cer-tainly on the track to greatness. As we journey into 2010, I challenge the South Flor-ida community to reaffirm their commitment to the Foundation. The Foundation needs your time, treasures and talents. If we are to continue to move progressively forward, it can only be done with hard work from our staff, continued dedicated service from our board mem-ber and support from our community. Thank you to the staff who worked so tirelessly this year and to our board members for their endless com-mitment to the Foundation. Last and most importantly, thank you to the community for your generous support of the Foundation. I wish you and your family a joyful holiday and a prosperous New Year.

Carrie P. Meek

Carrie P. Meek

Greetings From The Chair

The Carrie Meek Foundation Gives

Over $5 Million In Scholarships

Through the Corporate Tax Credit Program, more than 1,200 students are participating in the Foun-dation’s scholarship initiative for the 2009/10 school year So far this academic year the Foundation has given away over $5 million dollars to low income families in zip codes 33169, 33167, 33056, 33055, 33054, 33150, 33147 and 33142. The scholarship recipients include 648 male students and 635 female students. Of those, 660 are Black, 16 are White, 447 are Hispanic, 60 are multiracial, 1 is Asian and 99 chose not to be eth-nically specified. The Carrie Meek Foundation scholarship recipients are enrolled in 114 private schools.

THETHETHETHETHETHETHETHETHETHETHETHE

umber of Scholar-

ship Students, By

Grade

Grade K- 202 Grade 7- 83

Grade 1- 207 Grade 8- 69

Grade 2- 123 Grade 9- 53

Grade 3- 123 Grade 10- 35

Grade 4- 119 Grade 11- 27

Grade 5- 108 Grade 12- 28

Grade 6- 106 Total Students : 1283

The Carrie Meek Foundation, in partnership with AMERIGROUP Community Cares, AstraZeneca and The Children’s Trust, pre-sented the 2009 Hip Hop 4 Health™ Fair and Final Dance Competition on May 2nd at Jungle Island. This fourth annual event, which drew over 2,000 attendees, featured dance teams from 18 Miami-Dade County Public Middle Schools who competed for a variety of prizes including mountain bikes, interactive gaming systems and Miami HEAT Dancers Summer Camp sessions. The competition was hosted by Lorenzo “Ice Tea” Thomas of WEDR-FM/99 Jamz

and was judged by a panel of celebrity guests which included K. Foxx of 99-Jamz, model/actress Kalyn James and HEAT Dancers choreographer Janine Thompson. Hip Hop 4 Health™ is a health-based initiative for the Foundation that featured valuable health infor-mation and resources from over 30 community-based organizations that incorporates a dance com-petition and health fair – all in a fun and exciting environment full of activities for the entire family. Using a genre of music and dance that is widely popular with youth, Hip Hop 4 Health™ encour-ages physical activity, cardiovascular health and positive healthy behaviors.

EW BEGI I GS

The Foundation Puts Health on the Good Foot with Hip Hop

Denise Mincey-Mills

My journey with this illustrious organization started as a founding board member in 2002 and continued later as a consultant in 2008 and has now transitioned into the In-terim Chief Executive Officer. It has been seven months since I took the helm of this robust foundation While new to this role with The Foundation, I am a long-time member of the Foundation family and advocate of the driving mission. As 2009 prepares to fade away from us and the dawning of 2010 arrives, I am excited about the possibilities that await The Foundation. We are certainly about to embark on new beginnings. In 2010 I am looking forward to aggressively moving swiftly on our economic devel-opment project for the Opa-Locka Airport. I am excited about engaging the community with our programs Men To Men, Hip Hop 4 Health and the Annual Back-2– School Summer Splash. There will be challenges that face us and hurdles to cross, however it is my firm belief that with the hard work of each and every Foundation family member we can move into our new beginnings with grace and success!

Denise Mincey-Mills

A UAL REVIEW

Created and published by

The Carrie Meek Foundation

Hon. Carrie P. Meek, Chair

Interim Chief Executive Officer

Denise Mincey-Mills

ewspaper Staff

Editor

Nakia Bowling

Staff

Randall Darling Bill Anfield

Maria Wimberly

Websiste

carriemeekfoundation.org

Contact Tel: 305-953-0525 Fax: 305-474-0190

Board of Directors

Hon. Carrie P. Meek, Chair Cynthia Stafford, Vice-Chair

Aletha Player

FP&L

Charles Wellons

Retired City of Miami-

Police Off.

Craig Barkley

Veteran Affairs Assoc.

Cynthia Stafford, Esq.

Legal Aid of Miami

David Wilson

DLW Enterprises

Dr. Craig Wilson

Starworks Inc.

George Yap

LEASA Industries

Guylene Berry

Radio Personality

Dean Harry Hoffman

Miami-Dade

Community College

The CMF ews

Hugh Westbrook

Retired Business Owner

Jerry Rushin

WEDR 99 JAMZ

Lucia Davis-Raiford

Miami-Dade County

Margarita Ollet

Health Choice .etwork

Marie Etienne

Miami-Dade Community

College

Mike Abrams Akerman Senterfitt

Attorneys at Law

Rev. Daryl Bakter

Family Foundation, Inc.

Rhonda Wimberly

Turner Construction

Vincent Brown, Esq.

CEO Grace Funeral Home

Yolanda Cash-Jackson, Esq.

Becker & Poliakoff

The Foundation Helps Bring

More than 1,100 Affordable

Housing Units To The City

Since 2007, The Carrie Meek Foundation joined with several developers to provide to the community affordable housing through the “Soul Lives in the City campaign”. The first housing development, Lafayette Plaza, opened in December 2008. The second housing development, Amber Gardens, opened in June 2009 and the YMCA Village Allapattah dedi-cation took place December 11, 2009. The Foundation has played an intricate part in bringing more than 1,100 affordable housing units to the City of Mi-ami. Housing developments Carver Village and Georgia Ayers Apartments are expected to open in the Spring and Summer of 2010. The Foundation is involved in the devel-opment 10 housing projects in total.

First Annual Summer Splash

Attracts Over 500 Families On August 8, 2009, The Carrie Meek Foundation held its first Annual “Back-2-School Summer Splash” event at the Opa-Locka Airport from 2pm to 6pm. More than 500 families participated in the event where the Foundation distributed

500 book bags filled with school supplies. The Foundation partnered with The Portrait of Empowerment, a non profit organization managed by Opa-Locka Commissioner Dottie Johnson. The event was co-sponsored by Airside, Step Up For Students, The Children’s Trust, Landshark Stadium and Miami-Dade County. The event received multi-media press coverage by The Miami Herald, Hot 105 with Rodney Baltimore, WEDR with Cheryl Milzell’s Community Voices and by channel NBC 6. The children and their families enjoyed thrill rides, good food and fun entertainment.

The Foundation Calls for Men To Help

End Violence Against Women and Girls

The Foundation moves closer to

developing Opa-Locka airport The Foundation has made great strides towards the development process of the 2 parcels of the 125 acreage of land at the Opa-Locka Airport where they hold a long-term lease. This year the Foundation released a RFP for potential developers for the site and convened developer presentations from finalists. The board of directors is now in the process of selecting a developer. The first phase of development is expected to begin in 2010.

Board Member Spotlight: Rhonda Wimberly

Men To Men is a community development program designed to create opportunities for well meaning men to contrib-ute their leadership to ending violence against women and girls. This men’s leadership movement crosses cultural, lan-guage, age and economic boundaries and focuses on the positive voices of men in our community.

Efforts to end violence against women and girls must include men. Last year, the Foundation developed and implemented the cutting edge program “Men To Men”. Men To Men is a series of educational forums to en-courage dialogue among well meaning men to discover their role in the elimination of violence against women and girls. The first forum was successfully implemented in October of 2008 in the African American community to a packed audience of more than 500 men. A second successful forum “Hombre A Hombre”, in the Hispanic community took place in May 2009 with more than 250 men in attendance. Due to the growing emphasis on the need to include men in the solution to ending violence against women, beginning in 2010 The Carrie Meek Foundation will develop a council of men to lead this mission. The “Men To Men Leadership Council” will provide input and direction, to ensure that the broader community of men in Dade County is involved in this effort. Too often the voice of men have been limited to the abuser; neglecting to give voice to those men who are not violent and do not condone violence. The eradication of violence by men against women and girls is a top priority of the Foundation. It is our belief that violence against women and girls will end when right thinking men take action to end it.

If ever there is an event happening that the Foundation is putting on, you can be sure of one thing—board member, Rhonda Wimberly will be on the scene. De-pendable, hard working and extremely participatory are just a few adjectives that come to mind when thinking of Ms. Wimberly. Ms. Wimberly was a standout board member this year. She was the year most successful fundraiser. She lent her talents and helped out at the Foundation annual “Hip Hop 4 Health” event. She participated in two “Soul Lives in the City” af-fordable housing grand opening events and represented the Foundation at many community events. Board member Wimberly has not only lent her time and talents, but has made sure the Foundation saw some treasures come its way. Ms. Wimberly was an in-tricate part of the Foundation first annual “Back-2-School Summer Splash” event being a huge success. She ensured that her employer gave a sizable donation. Ms. Wimberly’s valuable contributions to the Foundation has played a huge part in the success of all of the programming at the Foundation.

Upcoming Board Meetings 2010 Third Thursday of Every Month

January 21 July-August (Summer Break) February 18 September 16 March 18 October 21 April 15 November 18 May 20 December (Winter Break) June 17

All board meetings will be held at 6 p.m. at the Carrie P Meek Entrepreneurial Education Center

Rhonda Wimberly