Did you know that over 23 Million Americans have diabetes?

On October 11th, I will be running a 5k as a fundraiser for Diabetes research for the American Diabetes Association. The mission of the ADA is to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes. This includes people living with type 1, type 2, gestational, pre-diabetes or anyone who may be at risk.

I will be running with a team of friends, one of whom has a younger sister named Anna with type 1 diabetes. In honor of her, our team name is Anna's Bananas (her sister's nickname).

If you would like to make a donation towards this cause, you can use the following link: http://www.active.com/donate/nwatour/nwatourLCuster.
Thank you for supporting me in this cause.

Lindsay Custer

Keep the Magazines Coming!

This is a message we received from the woman who is sending the magazines overseas for us ...

PLEASE tell your co-workers thank you again for the mags. Tim's unit started receiving mail over 2 weeks ago and there are 180 men and women Marines in his platoon/unit with about 36 to a tent and those magazines ARE getting passed around.

Backpack Drive Results

We received a total of 152 backpack donations for the Backpack Drive for GRACE. Plus, $120 in cash donations. PLUS, the Ivie's matched your donations so we had a total of 305 backpacks to donate!

Thanks to everyone's generous donations GRACE did meet their goal of 500 backpacks. They have promised to send some pictures from the day they distributed them to the kids so we will post those as soon as we receive them.

Congratulations and thank you to everyone that participated!

Magazines for U.S. Troops

Everyone has old magazines at home that either end up in the trash - or hopefully for some in the recycle bin at least. How about putting them to good use? Bring in old magazines - whatever the genre - and Ivie Cares will have them shipped off to troops in Iraq.

Feel free to include any letters of encouragement along with those magazines! Even better - get your kids involved! Have them write letters and draw pictures to include in the package.

Drop off boxes will be in 2 locations in the Flower Mound office:
1st Floor – Cube 102B just inside the entryway in the Client Service area
2nd Floor – On the Ivie Cares’ cart outside of Becky Pearce's office near IT

If you are located in the field and are interested in participating send us a message at IvieCares@ivieinc.com. We will provide you with the details to either have them shipped here to Flower Mound or directly to Iraq.

I Need Your Help: Junior Achievement Bowl-A-Thon

I am excited to be supporting Junior Achievement's economic education programs as a Bowl-a-thon participant.

It is estimated that about half of our young people leave school without the knowledge or foundation required to find and hold a job. The main reason is that they lack hope. Junior Achievement programs show our youth how they can take advantage of the many opportunities that are available to them through the free enterprise system and how to prosper in it.

If you would like to make a donation please visit my website.
For more information on Junior Achievement follow the link to the right under Recommended Links.
Thank you for your help...if you have any questions, call me!

Alessia Andrae

I Lived In My Backpack!

Calling all Ivie employees ...
IVIE CARES BACKPACK DRIVE '08!

We all had one; that glorious protector of our stuff from a strange & confusing world, that place where only we could go: our backpack. Old tater tots, the math homework we thought we didn’t do, gym shorts, somebody’s phone number that fate never let us find again. When we thought we might have forgotten something, our backpack picked up the slack (unless we forgot your backpack, but that is another story).

IVIE CARES in cooperation with GRACE is asking all IVIE employees to once again step up and give a kid something that will make their day just a little easier. These children desperately need to have successful educational experiences to make a change in their lives, and carrying books around with papers sticking out, and supplies falling out of their pockets just won’t cut it.

Be a part of the IVIE CARES BACK PACK DRIVE ’08!
Monday, August 4th-Thursday, August 14th.
NEW BACKPACKS are needed for kids Pre-K – 12. Our goal is 500.
We need a variety of colors, but recommend people sticking to solid colors and to stay away from cartoon characters.

For those in Flower Mound, donation bins will be located in the upstairs & downstairs lobbies. For those in the field, please use the reference "IVI 118 Backpack" to ship all donations to arrive in Flower Mound no later than the morning of Friday the 15th. Please keep it to 1 shipment so we can keep our costs down.

Cash/check donations are also welcomed.

IVIE HAS CLASS!! BE COOL, HELP A KID GET BACK TO SCHOOL!

For more information, please contact CINDY FLENAR (XT.5265 cindy.flenar@ivieinc.com) or CHRIS RAY (XT.5377 chris.ray@ivieinc.com).

JC Penney’s, Kohl’s and Walgreens have had recent backpack sales. Please check back here for updates on major dept. store specials.

For more information on GRACE please follow the link to the right under Recommended Links.

Outcome of the Dog Days Event

Thank you to everyone who donated and helped with the Dog Days fundraiser for Kindred Spirits. In particular, I want to thank Leala Ulrich, Tami Pace, Meagan Vaughn, Linda Miller, Laura Avila and Bonnie Lacombe for their help organizing and planning the week's events.

We raised $664 for Kindren Spirits which is outstanding. If you are interested in more information about Kindred Spirits they can be reached at kindredspiritsresq@sbcglobal.net.

Cutest Pet Contest Winners
Cutest Pet - Oliver
(Owner: Bekah Randolph)



Cutest Cat - Mia
(Owner: Chris Ray)



Cutest Dog - Oscar
(Owner: Meagan Vaughn)



We also want to mention that Oliver, the Cutest Pet Winner above, as well as Dobie (below) were chosen to be in the Sam's Holiday Catalog.

Dobie
(Owner: Bonnie Lacombe)



Raffle Winners
1 month covered parking - Jerry Raign
Mary's Q.'s famous strawberry cake - Kevin White
$35 gift certificate for grooming at Trinity - Leala Ulrich

Dog Days of Summer

July 7th through the 11th the Flower Mound office will be holding a fundraiser for Kindred Spirits, an organization that provides rescue and rehabilitation for small dogs.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: If you are available Monday, Wednesday or Friday 8:30-9:30am or 12:30-1:30pm to help run the bake sale & raffle OR are interested in baking some pet or owner treats please sign up at the Ivie Cares Events page.

Click here for a detailed schedule of the week's events.
Here is a glimpse:
Bake Sale (Pet and Owner Treats)
Cutest Pet Contest
Supply Drive
Raffle for:
- Covered parking spot for 1 month
- Famous Mary Q. cake
- $35 grooming gift card at Trinity Pet Hospital

Ivie Cares For Our Soldiers

We at Ivie Iowa will be showing our support for our troops by helping a platoon of soldiers in need. We were given the name of a soldier who is on his second tour of duty. He and his platoon are being re-stationed in a remote location with very few supplies and amenities. We will be collecting everyday items for our care package and sending them off to our soldiers to receive in early July.

If you are interested in making a donation please contact Tracy Carbis in the Iowa office at Tracy.Carbis@ivieinc.com.

Flower Mound Blood Drive

The blood drive in Flower Mound this past Friday went great. We had 38 donors which will help to provide blood for up to 102 patients! Thank you to everyone who took the time. There is a link to a few of the pictures under Ivie Cares Pictures in the column to the right.

American Hiking Society Volunteer Vacation

I am officially signed up to participate in the AHS's Volunteer Vacation - Buffalo National River, Arkansas Trip Number: 4 October 19th to the 25th. This will be an opportunity to improve a national resource and leave a legacy for future generations. This is important to me because this beautiful river is close to where I grew up in Northwest Arkansas. I've camped, hiked and canoed along the Buffalo many times in my life. This is my chance to give something back to future generations of backpackers, hikers and anyone who appreciates the solitude that can be found on the trail. The American Hiking Society is a 501 (c)(3) organization that is focused on stewardship through volunteerism. This Volunteer Vacation program will work with the National Park Service to help build and maintain trails along the Buffalo National River in Northwest Arkansas. If anyone is interested in participating in this project, please visit the American Hiking Society at http://americanhiking.org or contact me.

Travis McElroy

Update: Ivie Iowa Races For The Cure

Saturday morning was a beautiful day for the Race. There were over 9,000 registrants total and 37 came from the Ivie Iowa office. As you can see in the pictures, adults as well as children had a great time walking the 1 mile and 5k routes. After the race, everyone enjoyed popsicles and other treats that were available to the race participants. We missed those that were not able to attend due to the flood waters, but we know they were thinking of us and how much they would have rather been walking.

In memory of those that have lost the battle, in celebration of those that are winning, and for the hope of those who are fighting; we must continue to Race For The Cure!

Iowa Office Participating in Race for the Cure

The Komen Race for the Cure Series raises significant funds and awareness for the fight against breast cancer, celebrates breast cancer survivorship, and honors those who have lost their battle with the disease.

The Ivie Iowa office is walking in the race this year to do just that. We have survivors within our office, and we have loved ones that we have stood by through their fight. On Saturday, June 14th there will be 33 adults and 3 children walking with our group.

If you are interested in making a donation to Susan G. Komen for the Cure please visit their Donation website. Or you can also visit their Promise Shop to purchase gift items. Fifty to 80 percent of the purchase price of all gift items sold funds research and community outreach programs that support our promise to save lives and end breast cancer forever.

Blood Drive Sign Up in Flower Mound

Carter BloodCare will be visiting the Flower Mound office on Friday, June 13th from 10am to 4pm. If you are interested in donating blood please sign up on the Ivie Cares Events page.

Great Strides Cystic Fibrosis Walk

Dave McCaskey in our Prepress department in Flower Mound will be participating in the Great Strides Cystic Fibrosis Walk at Six Flags on Sunday, June 8th. His daughter is a nurse in the Cystic Fibrosis department at Cook Children's Hopsital so he will be participating with other staff from the hospital.

If you would like to make a donation to the team please visit their website. For more information about Cystic Fibrosis visit their website at www.cff.org.

In the 1950s, few children with cystic fibrosis lived to attend elementary school. Today, with much thanks to fundraising efforts like Great Strides, advances in research and medical treatments have further enhanced and extended life for children and adults with CF.

Relay for Life Fundraising Results

Well, once again the people that work here at Ivie have stunned me with their ability to raise money. We have raised a total of $4740.71 for the American Cancer Society.

Here are the results of the PENNY WAR:
1st PLACE
IT & Prepress
34,100 pennies
-1354 silver coins
TOTAL of 32,746 points = $494.85

2nd PLACE
Creative & Production
17,188 pennies
-927 silver coins
TOTAL of 16,261 points = $256.33

3rd PLACE
Accounting, HR, Administrative & Strategy
9,038 pennies
-152 silver coins
TOTAL of 8,886 points = $99.38

4th PLACE
Account Services
1,442 pennies
-72 silver coins
TOTAL of 1,370 points = $22.52

5th PLACE
Corporate Services
868 pennies
-87 silver coins
TOTAL of 781 points = $17.93

6th PLACE
Media, Marketing Strategy & Operations
42 pennies
-49 silver coins
TOTAL of -7 points = $5.72

Relay for Life - Fundraising Plans

Ivie has about 18 associates plus their family & friends participating in an American Cancer Society Relay for Life event in Carrollton, TX on My 30th.

We will have a couple of things going on over the next couple weeks to raise money and awareness for this cause.

Department Penny Wars
Thursday, May 22nd to Thursday May 29th, All Day, Upstairs Lobby
There will be water jugs set up in the upstairs lobby for each department to drop their pennies into. The department with the most points wins, BUT there’s a catch. Pennies are worth positive points, but each silver coin is worth negative points so you can spoil other department’s efforts by dropping silver coins into their jugs.

Celebrate & Remember Banners
Week of May 27th, All Day, Upstairs Lobby
There will be 2 banners posted in the lobby. One banner will be to celebrate those who have survived cancer and the other will be to remember those that have been lost to the disease. This is an opportunity for us to honor our loved ones that have been affected by this disease, so please take a few minutes to add the name of anyone you know. We will hang these banners at our campsite when we get to the event next Friday.

A Pat On The Back
Tuesday, May 27th and Thursday, May 29th, 11:30 to 1pm, Blue Room
During lunch we will have a table setup in the blue room where you can purchase a “Pat On The Back” for fellow Ivie associates. You will have the opportunity to write a personal note if you’d like, which will be attached to small gift for the person you are recognizing. We should have more information on this fundraiser late this week.


Here is a link to the team website to see who is participating: Ivie Cares Relay for Life team. If you are interested in joining the team please sign up on the Ivie Cares Events page.

The Significance of Overnight

Relay For Life starts at dusk and ends the next morning.

The light and darkness of the day and night parallel the experiences of the cancer patient undergoing treatment.

The Relay begins at sunset, which symbolizes the time a person is diagnosed with cancer. As the evening progresses, it gets colder and darker – this represents the patients’ struggle as they endure the emotions of being a cancer patient.

The time between 1 to 2 a.m. represents when the cancer patient starts treatment. They become exhausted, some sick, not wanting to go on, possibly wanting to give up. As a participant in the Relay, you have been walking and feel much the same way. Like the cancer patient, you cannot stop or give up.

The time around 4 to 5 a.m. symbolizes the completion of treatment for the cancer patient. Once again, they are tired, but they know they will make it.

The sun rising represents the end of treatment for the cancer patient. They see the light that life will go on.

The morning light brings on a new day, full of life and excitement for new beginnings. As a participant, you will feel the brightness of the morning and know that the end of the Relay is close at hand.

When you leave the Relay, think of the cancer patient leaving their last treatment. Just as you are exhausted and weak, so is that person, but there is hope in the new day! The money raised at Relay will support patient services, lifesaving research, education, and advocacy efforts … and that is why we Relay!

Remember: There is no finish line until we find a cure!

Relay for Life Sign Up - Due by May 16th

We had about 30 people express interest in participating in the American Cancer Society Relay for Life event. It will take place in Carrollton on Friday, May 30th from 7pm to 7am. Please visit the Ivie Cares Events page and enter YOUR NAME and T-SHIRT SIZE no later than Friday, May 16th. I will get everyone signed up.

When you sign up I will send you more information about our team goals, team website, event details, etc. As we get closer to the event date we will also have a quick meeting to get everyone signed up for a particular time slot.

New Ivie Cares Events

We have posted several new events to the Ivie Cares Events page.
http://www.iviecares.org/events.php

Ivie Cares Committee Mtg in Flower Mound

We will have an Ivie Cares committee meeting in Flower Mound on Tuesday, May 13th at 1pm. Please feel free to join us in the blue room if you are interested in participating.

Old Computer Equipment

To Prepare A Place is a ministry in Denton, TX that provides various levels of assistance to single mothers in the area - anything from shelter & food to assistance with education & training. They are building a program to provide academic and job training for women and are in need of computer equipment to do so. They need 10 computers total and have only 5 right now. If you are in the market for a new computer and would be willing to donate your old system please send an email to IvieCares@ivieinc.com.

Thank you!

Riding towards health and a world free of MS

Hello! I'm Katie Turk - Account Coordinator on site at Dick's Sporting Goods in Pittsburgh, PA. Briana and I are participating in a 150 mile bike ride for 2 days in June. My dad is an avid cyclist which encourages me to think via genetics maybe I will be a great rider too. As seen in the picture above, I'm not too buff, but I know that I'm blessed with a healthy body that will carry me through to the finish line. I'll have the support and encouragement of fellow riders Bri, my boyfriend, dad and brother as well as my mom on the sidelines volunteering and all my buddies at Dick's.

Through "Lunch and Learn" sessions here we've learned more about how devastating it feels for someone with MS to have things we take for granted like walking become painful and challenging. The MS Society is a worthy place to donate to because of their very low overhead costs and dedication to helping people.

I also volunteer for an organization in Pittsburgh that provides health services to women. The great thing about volunteering is that you better yourself while helping others. You feel good once you have done something nice for someone else. When you learn about different people's challenges and circumstances it helps you to reflect on the blessings in your life.

In the case of this bike ride, we will be physically bettering ourselves in addition to emotionally growing. Heck, maybe we'll even cut down on a few carbon emissions (in keeping with Ivie's GREEN initiative) when we're zipping around on our bikes instead of starting up the car for quick trips to the grocery store.

Hello,

My name is Briana Clear and I am an Account Coordinator on the Dick’s Sporting Goods Account. Each year the employees of Dick’s Sporting Goods put together a bike team to ride 150 mile for multiple sclerosis. This year I decided to join the team and help Dick’s with their efforts to be the #1 fundraising team. Somehow I convinced my dad to ride along with me, mostly by telling him he probably could not keep up with me anymore! On June 7th & 8th we will be riding from Cranberry, PA to Lake Erie. It is going to be a very challenging, but rewarding ride. I have spoke to several people who have participated before and all of them say it is a weekend you will remember for the rest of your life. I am looking forward to riding this event with my father, my fellow Ivie employee Katie Turk, my coworkers at DSG, but most importantly I look forward to riding this ride for all of the individuals in this world who are diagnosed with MS!

150-Mile Bike Road in PA

Two of our employees in Pittsburgh are joining the Dick's Sporting Goods team in a 150-mile bike ride for Multiple Sclerosis on June 7th and 8th. Please cheer them on by visiting their websites and making a small donation. They are each trying to raise $200 so every little donation will help.

Briana's Website
Katie's Website

A Visit from Jonathan's Place

This past Friday we had a fun event in Flower Mound for the kids from Jonathan's Place, which is an emergency shelter for children here in the Dallas area. We had 8 kids from Jonathan's Place as well as some of our own employee's children join us for the day. We had a couple of Wii games setup, board games, and bean bag toss. We also had a craft project - mostly for the girls - to design their own tiles with paints, stickers, etc. It was even a nice enough day for the boys to go outside and play a little catch with a football. It seemed like everyone enjoyed themselves and the kids from Jonathan's Place were very appreciative of all of the fun and, of course, the great prizes they got to take back to the shelter with them.

Jonathan's Place is located in Garland, TX. If anyone is interested in additional opportunities they have for volunteering please take a look at their website at http://www.jpkids.org/.

1st Meeting of the Year in FM

The Community Service committee in Flower Mound will hold there 1st meeting of the year on Thursday the 10th from 1 to 2pm in the blue room. Anyone is more than welcome to join us. We will begin the process of planning for 2008.

If anyone from any of Ivie's other locations is interested in local community service please let me know and we will help in any way we can.

Posted by Becky P. (Ivie-TX)