Bank kicks off campaign by helping

There are 106 students at the Performance Learning Center high school on North Graham Street. All had dropped out of school, or were on their way out the door.

The center is a partnership between Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and the nonprofit Communities In Schools (CIS) to provide alternative schools for students who have lost their way in traditional settings.

The classes are small. So teachers nurture relationships and make sure their students don't fall through cracks. As CIS Executive Director Bill Anderson said, "kids can't be wallflowers here."

That is why shortly before lunch today, the famed horse-drawn Well Fargo bank stagecoach (actually there are 26 around the country) pulled up to the learning center to the cheers of many of the center's students wearing straw cowboy hats.

The stagecoach had been parked at Wachovia Plaza on South Tryon uptown, where Wachovia, now owned by Wells Fargo, kicked off its United Way campaign with another vote of confidence for Jane McIntyre, the new president of United Way of Central Carolinas.

After McIntyre spoke to a crowd of bank employees, the dog (a Boxer named Jack sat on top of the coach) and pony (four horses pulled it) show rolled out on Tryon and pushed north, then west to Graham Street. Forty-five minutes later, it rolled past cheering students at the Performance Learning Center.

It was not carrying a steamer chest of gold, but it did have a large -- literally -- check for $25,000 that the merged bank turned over to Communities In Schools (see photo above). An hour later, the bank gave Junior Achievement another check for $25,000.

Their giving was symbolic on many levels. For months, many in Banktown have worried about the impact the recession would have on banks and their long history of philanthropy in Charlotte.

But Laura Schulte, a Wells Fargo executive who recently moved to Charlotte as president of East Coast banking for the merged bank, made it clear that keeping the Charlotte region strong is good for business.

"We can't be successful as a company unless the community that we do business in -- and that our employees and customers live in -- is successful," Schulte said. "So it's in our very best interest to have a strong community."

She said the bank supports United Way, but this year is instituting an "open giving" plan which would allow employees to give to the charity of their choice, with some matching fund opportunities and grants to spend time helping charities.

"People today want more choices ... and support what they feel is important," Schulte said. "But we do believe that the United Way concept is important to this community. And Jane (McIntyre) is the right person at the right time to lead its effort. We're not giving up on the United Way."

Communities In Schools, the drop-out prevention program, lost 23.5 percent of its United Way funding, so the $25,000 comes in handy with the nonprofit doubling in size in two years from fulltime site coordinators in 25 CMS schools to 47.

"The fact that Wells Fargo, Wachovia, First Union have long been supporters of CIS, we're extremely appreciative of them recognizing the work we do," Anderson said.

He came loaded with statistics: In North Carolina, 30 out of 100 9th graders won't graduate from high school in four years.

"Society cannot sustain 30 percent not graduating from high school," he said. "The minimum to get a decent job these days and to be financially independent is a high school diploma. So we're really honored that Wells Fargo chose us. They could have chosen any nonprofit.

"It reiterates the importance of proving that outcomes of nonprofits make a difference."

Goodstock 25 hours of helping nonprofits

Over the summer the country observed the 40th anniversary of Woodstock and its three days of “peace, love and music.”

Now comes Goodstock, or better yet, d0-Goodstock. Don't mistake the two. This one will be 25 hours of hard work and a sleepless night by the 40 creative staffers at Luquire George Andrews, the Charlotte advertising and public relations agency, to help six needy nonprofits – for free.

All to celebrate the firm's 25th anniversary.

The idea is borrowed from a similar sized firm in Madison, Wisc., where Judi Wax, LGA's senior vice president and public relations director, once worked.

Wax's friend, Andy Wallman, president and executive creative director at Knupp and Watson in Madison, created Goodstock five years ago.

“I loved the idea, and wished we'd have come up with it,” Wax said. “We were trying to figure out how to celebrate LGA's 25 years, and I told everyone about Goodstock. They loved it. I called Andy to see if he'd be willing to let us at least borrow some of his idea.

“He said, ‘You can have everything we've used. Just do it.'”

So from 11 a.m. Oct. 15 to noon Oct. 16, LGA staffers will produce the three marketing pieces the six nonprofits need the most, whether they are print ads, brochures, feature articles, media kits, radio scripts, logos or social media strategies. The Madison firm will perform the same services for 24 hours those two days.

Any nonprofit with a 501(c)3 status can apply, except for religious and political organizations.
Over the years, LGA has worked with numerous Mecklenburg nonprofits – through paid or pro-bono jobs.

“This year especially, we know that budgets are tighter and resources more limited, which makes it even more difficult for nonprofits to market themselves,” said Steve Luquire, LGA's founder and CEO. “We want to help.”

From the applications, LGA will pick six of the county's neediest charities, and assign staffers according to their passions.

LGA plans to continue Goodstock every year, and hopes it will spread to other agencies throughout the country. They plan to market it to national media and trade magazines.

“We hope that as other agencies hear about this ... Goodstock will be happening all over the country so we can spread the love and say thanks to all of them for their good work,” Wax said. “All agencies do this on their own, but we'd like to see this become 24 hours of concerted effort. Everybody wants to give back to the community.”

Want to participate?

Go to www.lgaadv.com, and fill out an application. They must be e-mailed to LGA by 5 p.m. Sept. 18. Judging will be based on services charities provide; their needs and inability to fund marketing pieces; their 501(c)3 status; and their availability during the 25 hours.

The Ivey reaching out to fading memories

Lynn Ivey had built a substantial career after 25 years of banking, when her mother, Nancy, suffered a series of mini strokes in 2004 and was ultimately diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.

Ivey could hear her father's tired voice as he tried to care for her mother. So she took a six-month leave from Bank of America, where she was a senior vice president, and went back to her native Wilmington to look after her parents.

She knew nothing about caring for someone whose memory was fading, and set out to educate herself about the array of facilities that care for not only the patient, but the caregiver.

Through officials at the local Alzheimer's Association, she learned about assisted living programs, home care and day care for adults. Assisted living was out. Ben and Nancy Ivey were adamant they'd remain in their home of 46 years.

So Ivey convinced her father that a combination of home care and day care was the way to go.

For both of them, she said. The home care nurses arrived mornings and helped get her mother up. They fed her and helped her take her (medications). Then they took her to adult day care.

"That gave Dad the whole day off to refresh," Ivey said. "He napped, he saw friends. And when he picked up Mom in the afternoon, he was refreshed and eager to keep life as normal as possible."

A month before her leave was up, she decided not to return to the bank. Instead, she used what she'd learned to design a for-profit, upscale daycare center for cognitively and functionally impaired adults and their caregivers.

There are nearly a dozen certified adult day-cares in Mecklenburg, most of them nonprofits, but none in south Charlotte, Ivey said.

Using money from investors and loans, The Ivey (a tribute to her parents) broke ground on Park South Drive in the SouthPark area in October 2006 -- the same week her mother died. It was designed to look like a mountain retreat, a one-stop resource offering daytime social and therapeutic services from exercise classes to managing medications. It served up gourmet meals, had a patio with putting green, whirlpool tubs, woodworking shop, a rocking chair porch with gas-burning fireplace, and crafts and relaxation rooms.

The 11,000-square-foot center opened for business in January 2008, and Ivey waited for clients to flock to her facility.

They didn't.

"I was a naive entrepreneur who expected people to line up, waiting to come in," Ivey said. "It was a perfect storm. The people didn't come as we had expected. And then the economy tanked."

So, this year, Ivey rearranged her business model and turned the center into a nonprofit facility to reach a broader market. "Our goal is to serve as many people as we can possibly reach out to," she said. "By forming a nonprofit, the community could feel a sense of ownership and help support it."

Bill Hogue was a client before he died recently. He'd spend 35 years at Lance Inc., when he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. His wife, Mary Anne, wanted to keep him living at home, but as his disease progressed that became challenging. Her job required travel, and she worried about his safety.

They found The Ivey. "Though Alzheimer's disease was chipping away at his life, I felt great joy at being able to keep him at home," Mary Anne Hogue said. "Bill considered The Ivey 'his club,' and I could continue my career with peace of mind."

Ivey, now partnering with the Western Carolinas chapter of the Alzheimer's Association, says the center is "on a cliff" again, as it continues to apply for grants and seek other forms of funding so it can serve people regardless of their ability to pay.

She's trying to raise $440,000 this fall to triple her clients and help reach out to the 10,000 Mecklenburg families affected by Alzheimer's alone.

"These people are real people," she said. "They deserve dignity and a quality life. How you deal with them requires a special touch. Alzheimer's knows no socio-economic status, and neither does this facility.

"Aging challenges affect everyone."

To donate or get more information, call Lynn Ivey at The Ivey at 704-909-2070; or email info@theivey.com.