Operation Medicine Cabinet, a three-day event giving people the opportunity to safely dispose of medications, sharp items, mercury thermometers, and sensitive documents, collected 11,780 pounds of material. This included approximately 1,245 pounds of pharmaceuticals, 660 pounds of sharps, 39 pounds of mercury thermometers, and 9,836 pounds of documents for shredding. The event was held September 20 through 22 in Eldridge, Bettendorf, and Davenport, respectively. Residents who were unable to drop items off at the event can make an appointment at the Waste Commission of Scott County's Household Hazardous Material facility in Buffalo or Davenport. These facilities provide free services to both Scott and Rock Island county residents. Call (563) 381-1300 for more information.
Jeff vom Saal has been named the new executive director of the Quad City Symphony Orchestra. Most recently, vom Saal served as executive director of the Fargo-Moorhead Symphony Orchestra in Fargo, North Dakota, a professional regional orchestra that, like the Quad City Symphony Orchestra, performs roughly 20 times per season.
Sister Joan Lescinski will be inaugurated as St. Ambrose University's 13th president on Friday, October 5. Lescinski will be formally installed in a ceremony at 2 p.m. in the Galvin Fine Arts Center on the St. Ambrose University campus. Attendance at the ceremony is by invitation only, but the ceremony will be broadcast live on St. Ambrose TV 11 (available on Mediacom channel 11) and on the university's Web site. Lescinski will be the university's first female president.
Bethany for Children & Families Foster Care program earned a $26,000 bonus as a result of outcomes for Fiscal Year 2006. The program significantly exceeded its nine projected family reunifications, successfully completing 22. In other words, 13 additional families were able to re-claim their children from the foster-care system. Bethany is a voluntary, not-for-profit, nonsectarian agency that has provided services to children and families in western Illinois and eastern Iowa since 1899.
Two
conservation groups, the Natural Land Institute and the Jo Daviess
Conservation Foundation, will share with other private conservation
groups in five Midwest states part of a $10.8-million grant from the
Doris Duke Charitable Foundation to help landowners protect habitat
for wildlife along the Mississippi River bluffs. These
funds, along with additional money from the groups receiving the
grant, will help implement state wildlife action plans. The Natural
Land Institute is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1958 that
preserves and restores forests, prairies, and wetlands for people,
plants, and animals. For information, visit
(http://www.naturalland.org),
e-mail (nli@aol.com), or call
(815) 964-6666.
The Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center at the Davenport Public Library Main Street location will host a special genealogy event on Sunday, October 14, from 4 to 9 p.m. Attendees will have after-hours access to the library's collection of genealogy databases, books, and census records. Registration is $10 and includes refreshments. Payment is due before the event. For more information or to register, call (563) 326-7902.
Iowa Community Action Association received $75,000 to conduct a statewide training geared toward increasing the skills and knowledge of Iowa community action agencies' staff serving low-income people. These funds were made available through the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Staff from all of Iowa's 18 community action agencies will attend the training. In addition to acquiring new skills and knowledge, staff will also work on producing a shared vision for how Iowa's community action agencies can work with other organizations to combat poverty. Each year, Iowa community action agencies provide more than 333,000 Iowans with a wide range of services to help them become self-sufficient. Iowa community action agencies are located in Burlington, Carroll, Creston, Davenport, Decorah, Des Moines, Dubuque, Graettinger, Harlan, Hiawatha, Indianola, Leon, Marshalltown, Mason City, Ottumwa, Remsen, Sioux City, and Waterloo.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Mississippi Valley is enrolling children to participate in its "campus-based" mentoring program. This program is open to any child who wants or needs a positive adult mentor and role model in his or her life. In the campus-based mentor program, each child is matched with a college-student mentor volunteer for one academic year. The "matches" meet twice monthly, on campus, to take part together in a prearranged activity that explores different aspects of college life. The St. Ambrose program meets every other Tuesday evening from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. The other two programs meet every other Sunday afternoon - Palmer College from 1 to 3 p.m. and Augustana from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. For more information, call Chad Driscoll at (563) 323-8006.
The Rock Island Community Foundation awarded $93,500 to 36 community organizations at a press conference last week at the Quad City Botanical Center. This year there were 62 requests for funding totaling nearly $364,000. The Rock Island Community Foundation is a community organization that was formed in 1967 for the purpose of promoting the civic needs and general welfare of the City of Rock Island and surrounding areas.
