The New Wishard Diversity Team hosts holiday benefit
- Diversity
- December 15, 2010
- admin
The New Wishard Diversity Team will host a holiday benefit on Wednesday to provide gifts to children at The Julian Center. The targeted goal is to collect gifts and donations it will use to purchase gifts for at least 75 children at The Julian Center, with all proceeds going to The Julian Center. The New Wishard Diversity Team consists of Vickie Howard, support services manager, Barbara Holder, diversity manager, and diversity coordinators Jessica Reeder and Jonathan Carpenter.
“In the spirit of the season, we are inspired to provide the gift of our support to these children, many if not all of whom will be forced by their circumstances to experience the holidays in a different and more unfortunate way than most people,” said Holder. “We know that not all children desire the same gifts during the holidays, that some only want to be safe and warm and loved. No child should be left behind for the holidays. We want to show them that they are loved and cared for, and we want to share with them these gifts and happiness.”
The celebration and benefit event will be from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at 300 East in the Julia Carson Government Center at 300 E. Fall Creek Parkway. Guests are asked to bring gifts in the $10-$15 range for boys and girls ages 2-17 years old or monetary donations. Organizers will collect, purchase and package the gifts, and they will deliver them to The Julian Center on Friday, December 17.
“These children are being deprived of the gift of a safe, peaceful and comfortable childhood, and we want to do everything we can to let them know that they are cared for, they are loved and they are cherished,” said Howard. “They deserve our support, and they deserve safe and happy holidays.”
The New Wishard Transformation Team is a team of independent contractors working to create The New Wishard. The Diversity Team focuses on ensuring the project gets maximum participation from minority-, women- and veteran-owned businesses (M/W/VBE), conducting workshops and outreach events as well as executing the diversity plan for the project.
The New Wishard is pursuing City of Indianapolis goals for participation of 15-percent MBE participation, 8 percent WBE participation and 3 percent VBE participation. As of Nov. 10, the project team had executed contracts totaling more than $96 million of which more than 17 percent were MBEs, nearly 11 percent were WBEs and nearly 4 percent were VBEs.