Shampoo.  Towels.  Laundry detergent.  Batteries.  This may read a little differently than your Christmas list, but these items we take for granted are in need right in our own community.  When members of the National Junior Honor Society at Rivermont Collegiate chose the Transitional Housing for Homeless Youth (THY) Program for a service project, it went beyond filling service hours; students felt a personal connection to this project, which serves youth-clients ages 14 through 21.  There are about 850 homeless youth in Davenport and Rock Island combined.  Members of Rivermont NJHS are hosting a "Bed, Bath, and Beyond for Bethany" fundraiser through December 10th, collecting donations of clothes and household products to supply youth apartments. NJHS members have thrown themselves behind the cause with fervor, even spending a chilly morning on the Rivermont front lawn with cardboard signs reading "Cold.  Tired. Hungry." and "Wanted: A Safe Place." to raise awareness about local homeless youth and encourage donations.  The cause is about to become even more meaningful!  On Friday, December 10th, THY Program Supervisor Ben Cleaveland will be on the Rivermont campus at 1:00 p.m. to speak with students in grades 5-12 about THY. He will be accompanied by a client who has benefited from THY and its services, providing the opportunity for students to see the significance and direct impact of their donation.  Following the program, Rivermont's donation boxes will be loaded and delivered.

Bethany for Children and Families has been providing services since 1899, ranging from custody mediation to teen parent support.  Specifically, the THY Program provides services for homeless youth, available to clients ages 14 to 21 that are homeless or living in a shelter.  Client-youth are located in various apartments throughout the QC community, furnished by donations, and must attend school or be employed.  THY focuses on providing educational and employment counseling, money management skills, vocational training, mental health services, and assistance with housing, food, and transportation.  THY encourages self-sufficiency by giving young people opportunities to exercise leadership, build skills, and get involved in the community.

Rivermont Collegiate, located in Bettendorf, is the Quad Cities' only private, independent, nonsectarian college-prep school for preschool through twelfth grade.  For additional information on Rivermont Collegiate, visit us online at www.rivermontcollegiate.org.

For additional information about Bethany for Children and Families and the THY Program, including a list of needed donations, please visit www.bethany-qc.org.

-END-

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Senators Urge Action for Energy Security and Job Creation

WASHINGTON - Saying that ethanol offers the most effective alternative to foreign oil and supports hundreds of thousands of jobs in the United States, Senators Chuck Grassley and Kent Conrad have gathered signatures for a letter to Senate leaders urging action this year on legislation to extend renewable fuel tax and tariff provisions.

The senators said immediate action is warranted to "provide stability and certainty for producers and consumers of renewable fuels."

"Ethanol has proven its value as a homegrown, renewable fuel and, in light of the hundreds of billions of dollars shipped abroad as a result of foreign oil dependence, ethanol is a relative bargain," Grassley said.

"Our country is spending over $730 million a day on imported petroleum this year, money that often ended up in the hands of unstable or unfriendly governments," Conrad said.  "This is not the time to reduce the supply of a domestic source of fuel and place at greater risk the thousands of well-paying jobs that the renewable fuels industry has created."

The senators said that ethanol is the only renewable fuel that is substantially working to reduce U.S. dependence on oil.  Domestically produced ethanol displaces millions of barrels of imported oil every year from Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Nigeria and now accounts for almost 10 percent of the U.S. fuel supply.

Last April, Conrad and Grassley introduced a bill to extend, through 2015, the volumetric ethanol excise tax credit, or VEETC, which is also known as the blenders' credit; the small ethanol producer tax credit; the cellulosic producer tax credit; and the ethanol import tariff.

Ethanol is good for rural economies, and a recent study found that the failure to extend the VEETC credit and the secondary tariff would result in the loss of more than 100,000 jobs nationwide and reduce ethanol production by nearly 40 percent.

The lapse of the separate tax credit for biodiesel, which expired at the end of 2009, has cost nearly 23,000 jobs. "We can't risk a repeat performance with ethanol, where 112,000 jobs are at stake," Grassley said.  Of the ethanol tariff, he said, "the United States already provides generous duty-free access to imported ethanol under the Caribbean Basin Initiative, but the CBI cap has never once been fulfilled.  In fact, last year, only 25 percent of it was even used by Brazil and other countries."

Grassley and Conrad are longtime advocates for tax incentives for biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel.  Grassley is Ranking Member of the tax-writing Finance Committee.  Conrad is a senior member of the Finance Committee and Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee.  Grassley is a senior member of the Budget Committee.

The text of their letter is below.  It also was signed by Senators Tom Harkin, Kit Bond, Ben Nelson, Amy Klobuchar, John Thune, Sam Brownback, Byron Dorgan, Tim Johnson, Al Franken, Mike Johanns, Mark Kirk, Debbie Stabenow and Claire McCaskill.

November 30, 2010

The Honorable Harry Reid

Majority Leader

United States Senate

S-221 United States Capitol

Washington, D.C. 20510

The Honorable Mitch McConnell

Minority Leader

United States Senate

S-230 United States Capitol

Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Majority Leader Reid and Minority Leader McConnell:

We are writing to ask that you make an extension of renewable fuel tax and tariff provisions a high priority on the Senate's legislative agenda for the remainder of the year. Allowing the provisions to expire or remain expired would threaten jobs, harm the environment, weaken our renewable fuel industries, and increase our dependence on foreign oil.

Our country is spending over $730 million a day on imported petroleum this year, money that often ended up in the hands of unstable or unfriendly governments. The price tag for our dependence on foreign oil is likely to rise even higher as the economy recovers. This is not the time to reduce the supply of a domestic source of fuel and place at greater risk the thousands of well-paying jobs that the renewable fuels industry has created. Congress should demonstrate that it continues to recognize the need to develop domestic, renewable sources of fuel.

Next year the Senate will be in a position to debate alternative legislative proposals for developing renewable fuels, including proposals to invest in biofuel infrastructure. In advance of this debate, we believe that, in an effort to provide stability and certainty for producers and consumers of renewable fuels, Congress must act to extend biofuels tax and tariff policies for the longest term possible. We ask that you place such an extension high on the Senate's upcoming agenda.

Sincerely,

Kent Conrad

Chuck Grassley

Kit Bond

Tom Harkin

Amy Klobuchar

Ben Nelson

Sam Brownback

John Thune

Tim Johnson

Byron Dorgan

Mike Johanns

Al Franken

Debbie Stabenow

Mark Kirk

Claire McCaski

BON-TON STORES COMMUNITY DAY EVENT RAISES OVER $6.5 MILLION FOR LOCAL NON-PROFITS

The Bon-Ton Stores Semi-Annual Community Day Event Generates Donations

Milwaukee, Wisc. (November 30, 2010) - The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. is pleased to announce today that the Company raised over $6.5 million for local non-profit organizations and agencies through its semi-annual Community Day event held on Saturday, November 13, 2010.

To kick-off the holiday giving season, The Bon-Ton Stores, under its eight nameplates: Bon-Ton, Boston Store, Carson Pirie Scott, Bergner's, Elder-Beerman, Herberger's, Younkers and Parisian (Detroit-area), held its signature Community Day event on November 13. Through this charitable-giving event, organizations raised donations for important projects and causes in their communities.

The event provides an opportunity for local 501(c)(3) organizations and schools to raise donations needed to support their mission. By selling $5 discount savings booklets and retaining 100% of the donation, local non-profit groups raise money for their charity. In return for their donation of $5 to the organization, customers receive a $10 coupon and multiple discounts to be used on Community Day. Over the past twelve years, The Bon-Ton Stores have helped thousands of local non-profit groups raise over $80 million through the successful Community Day event.

"The Community Day event allows us to make a meaningful impact on thousands of organizations in the markets in which we operate," said Bud Bergren, President and CEO, The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. "We thank our customers and associates who contributed. We know that fundraising is a crucial activity for local non-profit groups, regardless of their size, and we are honored to support them through this program."

The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc., with headquarters in York, Pennsylvania and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, operates 277 stores, including 11 furniture galleries, in 23 states in the Northeast, Midwest and upper Great Plains under the Bon-Ton, Bergner's, Boston Store, Carson Pirie Scott, Elder-Beerman, Herberger's and Younkers nameplates and, under the Parisian nameplate, stores in the Detroit, Michigan area. The stores offer a broad assortment of brand-name fashion apparel and accessories for women, men and children, as well as cosmetics and home furnishings.  The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc is an active and positive participant in the communities that it serves.

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