Urban Ministries of Wake County

 Nurturing our Community Roots

Over the past 30 years Urban Ministries of Wake County has helped thousands of people with life’s basic needs – food, shelter, and healthcare — through the Food Pantry, Helen Wright Center for Women, and the Open Door Clinic.

To celebrate the achievements of Urban Ministries and to raise funds necessary to continue operating our vital programs, we are hosting our annual Garden Party.

Your support of this event, whether through a sponsorship or an auction donation, will help ensure the future of an organization that makes a critical difference in the lives of 23,000 of our neighbors every year. We hope you will partner with us to build a stronger and more compassionate community.

When: May 19 at 6:30 p.m.

Where: The home of Mary Laurie and Joe Cece

What: The Garden Party highlights Urban Ministries’ roots in our community and our commitment to nurturing our neighbors in need.  The event auction will feature a diverse array of garden oriented items. Guests will enjoy a spring buffet and entertainment by Laura Ridgeway and Friends.

This popular event sold out in 2010. Call or email now for information on sponsorship opportunities and tickets. Please contact Kelly Leonhardt, Garden Party Coordinator, at kleonhardt@urbanmin.org or 919.256.2187.

DOWNLOAD INFORMATION ON THE GARDEN PARTY:

• Save the date
• Event Fact Sheet
• 2011 Sponsorship Levels
• Auction Donation Form
• View Pictures of Last Years’ Event

Join us Saturday, May 21

2010 Tour d’Coop from Shop Local on Vimeo.

Third Eye Blind to Headline Band Together Charity Concert

May 7 Event to Benefit Alliance Medical Ministry

Raleigh, N.C. (March 9, 2011) — Band Together NC, a Triangle-based organization whose mission is to raise funds and awareness for select charities through events that showcase and support musical talent, has announced that multiplatinum-selling alternative rock band Third Eye Blind will top the bill for this year’s charity concert May 7 outside Lincoln Theatre in downtown Raleigh. For the first time ever, the general admission area will be available to attendees 18 years or older.

Last year’s Band Together NC concert featuring Michael Franti & Spearhead, The Old Ceremony, Anoop Desai, One EskimO and Holy Ghost Tent Revival attracted more than 2,500 music lovers and raised more than $358,000 for StepUP Ministry. Supporting acts and activities for 2011 will be announced as the event date approaches.

Music as a Voice

With nearly two decades of musical success, Third Eye Blind has sold more than 8 million albums. Best known for the singles “Semi-Charmed Life,” “How’s It Going to Be,” “Graduate,” “Jumper” and “Never Let You Go,” to date the band has released four albums, with rumors of another release later this year. Over the past 20 years, Third Eye Blind has been able to adapt to changes in the music industry and shift its focus to bring people together as a community.

 According to lead singer Stephan Jenkins, Third Eye Blind hopes “to find people and groups coming together through music [in order to] find problems that they care about and ways that they can express themselves creatively through music.”

Benefitting Alliance Medical Ministry

In October 2010, Band Together NC’s Board of Directors announced the charity recipient for 2011 would be Alliance Medical Ministry, a faith-led nonprofit organization dedicated to providing affordable healthcare to the working uninsured in Wake County. In 2009, Alliance served more than 7,000 patients and conducted 10,179 patient visits.

 “Our goal this year is to raise $500,000 for this organization making a difference in the lives of people in our community,” said Danny Rosin, president and co-founder of Band Together NC. “After nearly tripling the amount raised from 2009 to 2010, we can’t wait to see what the 2011 event with Third Eye Blind has in store. Our goal is to touch the community in a different way each year using the powerful medium of music. We are hopeful the community, in kind, will support our efforts so that we can reach our goal of helping 1,000 local patients in need.”

Through corporate and individual donations, Band Together NC has raised more than $1 million for local nonprofits since 2001. Large contributions have come from Cargill, S&A Cherokee, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, Bank of America, Duke Realty Corporation, Lincoln Theatre, Synergy Commercial Advisors, RPG Solutions, Brand Fuel, Trisure, Capstrat, Prometheus, Hosted Solutions and Manning, Fulton & Skinner, PA. Sponsorships begin at the $300 level and are still available.

Tickets for the event are only $20 in advance or $25 day of the show. VIP tickets are $150 and include exclusive access to catered food and beverage, VIP seating close to the main stage, and a silent auction. Tickets will be on sale starting Friday, March 11 through Band Together’s revamped website: www.bandtogethernc.org.

For more information about Band Together NC, please visit www.bandtogethernc.org, become a fan on Facebook or follow @BandTogetherNC on Twitter. For more information about Alliance Medical Ministry, go to www.alliancemedicalministry.org/. Additional information on Third Eye Blind can be found at http://thirdeyeblind.com/.

 About Band Together NC

Band Together NC is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization composed of business and community leaders and volunteers from across the Triangle. Since its inception in 2001, the organization has helped raise more than $1 million for philanthropic organizations through one mission: using music to raise funds and awareness for local charities. Band Together is run entirely by volunteer efforts. For more information, please visit www.bandtogethernc.org.

At a time when food pantries across the country are facing shortages, Urban Ministries of Wake County, has received generous donations from the faith community, service organizations, schools, corporations, and the community at large.  In 2010 alone, supporters contributed more than 200 tons of food to the Pantry. The following organizations contributed more than one ton of food in the past calendar year:

COMMUNITY DONATONS

• Crossroads Fellowship (11,210 pounds)
• Edenton Street United Methodist Church (9,040 pounds)
• Bible Applications Class (7,426 pounds)
• Curves for Women (5,330 pounds)
• White Memorial Presbyterian Church (5,142 pounds)
• West Raleigh Exchange Club (4,580 pounds)
• Holy Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church/Cameron Park Neighborhood (4,570 pounds)
• Western Boulevard Presbyterian Church (4,326 pounds)
• Sunshine Seniors (3,906 pounds)
• Journeys — A Spiritual Community (3,573 pounds)
• North Raleigh United Methodist Church (3,337 pounds)
• Community United Church of Christ (3,120 pounds)
• Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church (2,496 pounds)
• Ravenscroft School (2,408 pounds)
• Saint James United Methodist Church (2,281 pounds)
• Saint Philip Lutheran Church (2,273 pounds)
• Saint Michael’s Episcopal Church  (2,204 pounds)
• Kiwanis Club of Raleigh (2,030 pounds)
• First Presbyterian Church (1,972 pounds)
• Swift Creek Elementary School (1,879 pounds)
• Umstead Park United Church of Christ (1,850 pounds)

In this challenging economic climate, demand for food continues to be strong,” reports Anne Burke, Executive Director, Urban Ministries of Wake County. “We are so grateful to area congregations and communityorganizations – both large and small — that have shown an outpouring of support for the neediest Wake County residents. The rising costs of food and gas are felt by every household – we are truly moved by the generosity of the Wake County community.”

In addition, Urban Ministries is grateful to the significant contributions of partnering agencies, Food Bank of Central and Eastern NC and The Interfaith Food Shuttle, helping to get food to the tables of families in Wake County.

If your organization is interested in holding a Food Drive for Urban Ministries, please contact Laura Ridgeway at 919.256.2168 or email: Lridgeway@urbanmin.org.

10 Questions with Anne Burke

1.   What inspired you to want to help other people in the community?

My mother, for one.  She always helped our neighbors and others in the community.  Helping others was always a value in our home. I also attended Catholic school through high school.  The inspiration for service came from many of the nuns who taught me and who themselves spent time doing missionary work.  The stories they told influenced me to consider a life of service.

2.    What did you know about UMWC before you came here?

Very little, initially.  UMWC was brand new.  What I learned was that the faith community wanted to work together to help people in the community by doing more than just handing out money or food at their doors. This remarkable decision on the part of the Protestant, Catholic and Jewish community seemed like something in which I wanted to be involved.

3.   What was it about UMWC that has kept you here for 30 years?

I feel that UMWC truly makes a difference in the lives of people who come here for help, and that is what has kept me here.

4.   How have you seen UMWC grow since you have been here and what were some of the biggest challenges in growing the agency?

Urban Ministries has grown enormously since the beginning.  In order to respond to the growing needs in our community we continue to enlist more volunteers, donors and in-kind donations.  And yet the problems in our communities seem so much bigger and harder to fix. For instance, thirty years ago, homelessness was a problem of vagrants migrating north and south with the changes of the seasons. Today, homelessness is entrenched in our communities. Children and families, people with mental illness and now new populations of the unemployed fill shelters and other programs that didn’t even exist back then.  Back then, health care was affordable and insurance was available to most of us. Today, more than 150,000 people in Wake County, alone, do not have health insurance and cannot afford to go to a doctor. Urban Ministries has grown in response to some of these problems and what our community needs. But one of the biggest challenges we face is raising the money year after year to meet these needs and others.

5.   Where would you like to see UMWC go after your retirement?

I would like to see UMWC continue to respond to the needs in Wake County and be successful in raising the money necessary to provide quality, professional services to the people in our community who need them.  

6.    What is one thing everyone should know about UMWC?

The impact this agency has made in the community.  Not only do we provide food, shelter, healthcare, and other services for thousands of people every year, but we bring together people from all walks of life, such as our volunteers, donors, and the people we help, who would otherwise never meet.  We are making an impact on more than just those who receive help from UMWC by breaking down barriers among different segments of our society. 

7.   What do you plan to do after your retire?

Play with my grandchildren!  Beyond that I am not really sure yet.

8.   What is your favorite memory from Urban Ministries?

I have many favorite memories, but one that sticks out are the words of a local pastor in the early days of the agency.  He was volunteering in the food program and he said something along these lines—just because the Bible says the poor will always be among you, don’t misinterpret that to mean it’s a commandment. I think about that comment often.  And I believe it is in our power to eliminate poverty—if we had the collective will to do it. However, in the meantime, we do what we can.

9.   If you could sum up your tenure here in three words what would they be and why?

Fulfilling. Meaningful. Challenging.

10.   Who is your role model or inspiration in life?

I would say I have many role models, but the strongest would be my mother.  She overcame a lot of adversity in her life and remained positive through it all.  She was the most generous person I have ever known.