Denny Hamlin Donates To Help Kids

When children enter the big red barn at the Children's Museum of Richmond on Friday, thanks will go to several donors to the new Little Farm exhibit.

Capital grants came from the Robins Foundation ($50,000), the Richard Gwathmey and Caroline T. Gwathmey Memorial Trust ($25,000), the Marietta McNeill Morgan and Samuel Tate Morgan, Jr. Foundation ($25,000), the Richard S. Reynolds Foundation ($20,000), the Barbara J. Thalhimer & William B. Thalhimer, Jr. Family Fund of The Community Foundation ($5,000) and the Ruth Camp Campbell Foundation ($2,000).

Demolition and construction services were donated by Graybeale Construction. The Virginia Farm Bureau's Save Our Food campaign will support the exhibit with a $100,000 sponsorship.
A second exhibit including a life-size fiberglass milkable cow has been provided by and sponsored by the Southeast United Dairy Industry Association Inc. for $15,000.
. . .
NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin is helping children in the race for rehabilitation with a $20,000 gift to build a gym at the new Children's Hospital therapy center in Midlothian.

The gift was presented at the main hospital this week as part of a send-off celebration for 14 long-term pediatric patients departing for the unit's annual "Beach Trip."

"Partnering with the Richmond Children's Hospital is a natural fit for us," said Jennifer Reuss, executive director of the Denny Hamlin Foundation. "Denny has always had a place in his heart for children who are disabled or ill, and his hope is to give them the means and the inspiration to win the battles they fight."

The Denny Hamlin Foundation gift will help build the main gym in the South Therapy Center's new location later this year to meet increasing demand for outpatient physical, occupational and speech therapy for children in the community.

The day trip to the beach was for children who live at the hospital because of their medical conditions. All 14 use wheelchairs, and many also rely on ventilators and feeding tubes. For some, it was the first time they have been able to enjoy the simple pleasure of going to the beach.
. . .
Four neighborhood revitalization projects in Richmond are $10,000 ahead, thanks to the Greater Richmond Association for Commercial Real Estate golf tournament.

Proceeds from the tournament were donated to Virginia Local Initiative Support Corp. (LISC), part of the nation's largest nonprofit intermediary in the community development and affordable housing arena.

In Richmond, LISC helps support the Beckstoffer development of up to 75 housing units in Church Hill, the Carrington Gardens/Northridge redevelopment of more than 200 units in Highland Park, the Hippodrome development of 32 units in Jackson Ward and the Six Points rehabilitation of six houses to create units for ex-offenders in Highland Park.

The charity golf tournament was held May 6 at Independence Golf Club. In previous years, the tournament has split the proceeds between two groups, but this year it chose only one, said president David Auman.

Greta Harris, Virginia LISC executive director, saw links between the two groups.
"In many ways we are players in the same market," Harris said. "However, Virginia LISC targets a specific customer: residents of underserved communities who need a leg up."
. . .
An anonymous donor has pledged half of the remaining $40,000 needed to build My Space, a universal design playground, at the James City/Williamsburg Community Center. Other donors must match the $20,000 donation before the end of the year.

Fundraising for the $133,000 playground began last November by members of the Leadership Historic Triangle class of 2009. As of May 26, the project still needed approximately $40,000 in donations before ground could be broken on the 5,100-square-foot playground.

Visit http://www.myplaceplayground.camp9.org for details.