Every July we ramp up for our participation in the local United Way Campaign. JCMG is a United Way Pacesetter and, as a company, we do fundraisers and employee drives to try to exceed our previous year’s donations. The Laser & Vein Center donates a portion of its July proceeds to the drive every year. Last year, with your help, we were able to contribute $5,000. We hope to meet or beat that goal this year.

United Way’s theme, Live United, really gets to the heart of what this charity is about. We all share the wonderful community of Jefferson City and the success of any of us benefits all of us. When companies and individuals get together to support those that need a helping hand and provide enriching opportunities for our youth, we are bringing our whole community up. We have very generous people in Jefferson City. I know my fellow local businesses support this community in so many admirable ways. Your patronage of local business helps keep this community strong and we honor that patronage by being good local stewards of our profits. So, this month, know that your patronage of JCMG Laser & Vein Center will benefit the many wonderful United Way organizations in Jefferson City. We are proud to join the other United Way Pacesetters in Living United.

Every month, we choose a local charity and donate a portion of our profits to that charity. In April, we chose to donate to the Red Cross of Mid Missouri and sponsor their Day of Heroes. Due to the recent disaster in Joplin, the Day of Heroes has been postponed and will be scaled back so the money raised and the volunteers can focus on what they do best: respond to disasters. This is a responsible move on their part and we are thankful that in times of crisis we have such a well-run organization to count on. So, this month, we are going to do two things we normally don’t do. One, donate to an organization twice in one year and, second, donate for a cause outside of our local area. We know there are many deserving charities in town, but sometimes you have to reach beyond your borders. I am sure if the tables had been turned our neighbors to the south would have done the same for us. As our clients know, we do not except tips, but if you are inclined to tip us this month we would be happy to pass on your thanks to the Red Cross. You can also contact them for volunteer opportunities. Our prayers are with them and those that volunteer their time to help.

Red isn’t always an undesirable color. If you are facing an emergency such as a home fire, weather disaster, or you are a military family with a family tragedy, chances are the Red Cross is the first to reach out to help. I was unaware how much and how often the Red Cross touches local families. They are right there in the case of a fire, helping with funds to purchase immediate needs such as toiletries and a change of clothes, and they will assist with shelter if necessary. They are on call for any weather-related threats and are ready to offer assistance as needed. They have numerous trained volunteers that will drop their own personal daily or nightly activities to jump into action. The Red Cross prepares these volunteers with training classes and supports them in their efforts. Military families have a long-standing relationship with the Red Cross. When emergencies happen at home, the Red Cross is the organization that locates our overseas soldiers in combat and assists them to get home if needed. The Red Cross also helps to keep our community trained in the case of cardiac events. Having CPR-trained community members is a benefit to all. They even offer a babysitting class that prepares our teens for taking care of the youngsters in our community. Their help is vast and far-reaching. We are excited to be able to support their Day of Heroes banquet this year and will donate funds from purchases this month towards this event and also for general funds for local disaster assistance. See their flier to learn about attending this luncheon. It is always rewarding to get a chance to hear about the people that are enhancing our lives in the great City of Jefferson. Hope to see you there!

This month we will split our donation between two community cancer support organizations. We will once again participate as a major sponsor for the Community Breast Care Project Girls Night Out, which helps fund the many services they provide to cancer patients. Please see their flier for information on how you can support this organization by participating in this event. We hope to see you there.

We are also excited to be hosting the American Cancer Society’s Look Good Feel Better program. Brandi and Kim, our aesthetic providers, attended training to facilitate this program. which teaches hair, skin, nail and wig techniques to female cancer patients in active therapy to help them combat the appearance-related side effects of cancer treatment. The first class will be April 5th from 5:30 to 7:30 pm. If you know of any cancer patients that would benefit from this program, you can have them call the American Cancer Society at 573-635-4879 to reserve a space and free makeup kit.

We are ready to embark on our second year of choosing a monthly charity to donate to. This past year it has been a pleasure to present our monthly checks to some very worthy causes in Jefferson City. However, many small groups ask for donations for their fund raising efforts and, by making the larger donations, we did not have the funds to help as many of these causes as we would like. So this year I thought it might be nice to have a little slush fund for the smaller groups that seek our help. A portion of our January profits will go towards funding this. We will keep these funds for requests from clients to support their favorite charity.

I will continue to keep you posted on the donations in upcoming newsletters and at our blog on the website. If you would like to make any suggestions for our February through December donations, feel free to contact me at bprasad@jcmg.org. You can always visit our community involvement blog by accessing the Connect With Us section on our website homepage to share your thoughts or information on charitable activities in Jefferson City. And, once again, thank you for your patronage of our business because it is only through your trust in us that we are able to continue to offer these donations.

This month our charitable donation is designated for Dreams to Reality. It seems a fitting time of year. I am sure we can all remember spending past Decembers dreaming about what Santa would place under our tree. Now, as parents or grandparents, it is fun to help make some of those dreams come true. Unfortunately for some the dreams are much more basic: having a job and the ability to take care of a family. By your patronage we are able to give this organization a helping hand. The mission of Dreams to Reality is to help low-income women of Missouri meet their employment goals and build self-confidence by providing appropriate interview and business apparel, motivation and follow-up support. We are happy to help them make this “dream a reality”.

This month we honor our veterans by choosing the Central Missouri Honor Flight as our charity of the month. The Honor Flight transfers Mid Missouri veterans to Washington, D.C. to visit the memorials dedicated to honor their sacrifice. As the proud daughter of a World War II veteran, I know the sacrifices these men and their families made, and that service men and women continue to make, to ensure we live in a country where freedom is something we can take for granted. But it has not come without a cost.

If you have not been to Washington, D.C. and had the privilege to visit the war memorials and other historical sights, I would highly recommend you put it on your to-do list. It is impossible to go there and not feel proud to be an American and grateful to the people that founded and protected our country throughout history. I hope every World War II veteran gets the opportunity to see the long overdue memorial dedicated to their service. I stole the idea for my quote of the month from the Central Missouri Honor Flight website: “We can’t all be heroes. Some of us have to stand on the curb and clap as they go by.” – Will Rogers. I hope our veterans will consider this month’s donation as our standing ovation.

The Rape and Abuse Crisis Service, otherwise known as RACS, will be the recipient of our October Charitable donation. There are a couple of reasons we chose this worthwhile organization in October. For one, this month is the National Domestic Violence Month and it seemed a great opportunity to bring attention to this often overlooked community issue. According to the RACS spring newsletter, sexual assault is an issue that affects 33% off all women at some point and 10-20% of all men. It is, however, not an issue people are comfortable talking about. If you do not know about this community service organization you can obtain information on all they do and how you can help at www.racsjc.org.

Secondly, at the Laser and Vein Center we work hard to help improve people’s quality of life and help them feel confident in their appearance. No amount of help with aesthetic issues, however, can help when someone has had their self-esteem knocked down by physical and mental abuse. While we are not equipped to help, we can lend our support to those that help the women and children in our community that suffer this abuse. RACS offers a 24-hour hotline, shelter, counseling for children and adults, support groups, and advocacy for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. They celebrated their 30th anniversary this year! We hope our 3rd anniversary donation will help them in their continued effort to provide a safe haven for women and children in our community.

Our receptionist Tami chose this month’s charity. She wanted to make sure that her choice helped with the youth in our community. September is National School Success Month, so it seemed a perfect month to offer our support to Missouri Valley Big Brothers Big Sisters. They are a nationally accredited, not-for-profit organization providing services to youth in Cole County for over twenty years. They facilitate the matching of adult mentors, otherwise known as Bigs, with Littles, children 6 to 17 who need adult support, guidance and encouragement.

They presently serve over 250 children a year and have made over 120 matches, with many more kids on the waiting list. If you are interested in learning more about volunteer opportunities you may contact them at (573) 634-3290 or visit the Missouri Valley Big Brothers Big Sisters site. Money donated goes towards mentoring and providing background checks to make sure the matches are successful and positive influences on the children’s lives.

My favorite call of the month is notifying our chosen charity of our plan to make a donation to their organization. This month was no exception. I called Joy Sweeney, the new director of The Council for Drug Free Youth, to inquire as to what needs could be met with our donation. I was excited to find out about the new program they are hoping to implement, The Save A Life Campaign. And guess what the only hang up was: FUNDING. As usual there is a great program, people willing to offer it, people wanting to have it, and then the hard part: finding people to help sponsor it.

If you are not familiar with The Council for a Drug Free Youth, let me give you a little background. First of all, if you have a child or grandchild that is in Kindergarten through 9th grade your family has benefited from this organization. Safety Kids, Respect, Show Me Players, Cope and Team Challenge are all programs they have probably participated in. They also offer Baseline Training, which is a pull-out-of-school program for 9th graders. These programs address drug and alcohol issues along with smoking, peer relations, and parent/child relations. Each program is tailored for a certain age group and presented in a manner they can relate to. Our kids are faced with messages every day that promote drugs and alcohol in a glamorous fashion. It is nice to know our community has an organization that talks frankly with them about the downside of these behaviors.

Up until now there has not been a program that addresses these issues from 10th-12th grade and, let’s face it, that is when the pressure to use drugs and alcohol really increases. I am excited that this year The Council for a Drug Free Youth is going to add the Save a Life Campaign targeted at high school students. Our donation this month will help make that a possibility. Watch for details of this upcoming program.