West Palm
Beach
--
Urban Youth Impact will welcome supporters and guests to
take their best swing for the underprivileged youth of
West Palm Beach and
Riviera Beach at its 2009 Golf Classic. The
annual dinner will be held March 8, 2009 at the
Borland
Center in
Palm Beach
Gardens, followed by the Golf Classic
March 9, 2009 at Greg Norman’s Jupiter Country Club.
For the first time, Sheila
Rinker is taking up the role of event honorary co-chair with
her husband, John, youngest son of Marshall and Vera Lee
Rinker, who started Rinker Materials. Based in
West Palm Beach, Rinker
Materials, now known as Cemex, is one of the largest
producers of heavy building materials in the
U.S. with principal operations in
Florida and
Arizona, plus additional operations in 29
states.
As honorary co-chairs, the
Rinkers, along with friends Tom and Susan Fazio of Jupiter,
are bringing fresh energy to UYI’s largest fundraiser, which
makes economic, educational and spiritual opportunities
available for area children and teens. Here, Sheila talks
about what drew her to the cause and why she would like
others to be involved:
Q: How did you learn about UYI?
A: I learned about Urban Youth
Impact from my husband, John. At the invitation of Mitchell
Watson, he toured the facilities and was most impressed by
all that Executive Director Bill Hobbs had
accomplished and all that he was planning. Once you take a
tour, you are hooked. You see the smiles and hear
the laughter of all the kids, and you cannot help but want
to get involved. I’ve sat on their Board of Directors for
about a year and a half.
Q: What appeals to you about
the mission of Urban Youth Impact?
A: Bill Hobbs is right on
target with UYI’s mission statement -- “Loving, Equipping
and Empowering inner-city youth and their families to their
God-given purpose.”
Q: What are you most looking
forward to with regard to the UYI dinner and golf
tournament?
A: John and I are very pleased
that our friends and
North Carolina
neighbors, Sue and Tom Fazio, are joining us as honorary
co-chairpersons. I am hoping that our dinner and golf
tournament will create awareness and interest in UYI. It is
the only major fundraiser for the year, and therefore of
great importance in sustaining the programs for UYI. We have
a great dinner program planned. There will be a live
auction, featuring auctioneers Curt Fonger, news anchor and
TV personality for WPEC News 12 and FOX 29, and Janice
Worth, co-owner of Anushka Spa & Salon at CityPlace. We will
also showcase three videos of young adults who are very
active in UYI.
Q: What does it mean to you to
be honorary co-chairperson of this fundraiser, especially
during these tough times?
A: As everyone knows, we are
in very difficult times. We have all felt the economic
pinch. However, I am very optimistic that when the attendees
see the videos and meet the young adults they will want to
help.
Q: Are you involved with any
other non-profit organizations in
Palm Beach
County? If so, which ones and what type of
volunteer work do you do?
A: I am on the Board of the
Palm Beach
Habilitation
Center in
Lake Worth and on the
committee for the Women of Distinction luncheon at
Palm Beach
Atlantic
University.
Q: What is your most proud
moment of charitable involvement?
A: My most proud moment of
charitable involvement was when our foundation, The Marshall
and Vera Lee Rinker Foundation, became involved with Habitat
for Humanity, and we went to the groundbreaking ceremony of
the house we were sponsoring. I have lived in
Florida most of my life and in
Palm Beach
County for 25 years. I am a firm believer
in charity begins at home. We need to take care of our own
communities and the people that live here.
Urban Youth Impact provides a
daily, after-school program through its new
Leadership
Academy, which includes tutoring,
mentoring, leadership and life-skills curriculum, community
service projects, and a studio of the arts. Other programs
include job skills training through a Summer Work Program
and Impact Coffee, an entrepreneurial business run by teens;
scholarships for higher learning; summer camping programs;
and a parenting program. In addition, benevolent support is
provided to families in a crisis.
For more information about Urban Youth Impact and the Golf
Classic, visit
www.urbanyouthimpact.com
or call Holly Boland at
561-832-9220.