Frank Azar – Charity Golf Event To Assist Veterans’ Employment Programs

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Earlier in the month, Agility announced on BusinessWire that it would host the seventh annual Paralyzed Veterans Golf Open, which raises funds for Paralyzed Veterans of America’s employment assistance program, Operation PAVE (Paving Access for Veterans Employment). The unique event pairs disabled military to play golf alongside veterans, military officials, corporate sponsors and other supporters of Operation PAVE’s mission to help veterans overcome employment challenges.

(Image: National President Bill Lawson at the 2012 Paralyzed Veterans Golf Open, source PVA)

This year, the charity event will feature an adaptable Golf Clinic for veterans with disabilities, let by Anthony Netto, PGA golf pro and founder of the Stand Up and Play Foundation. In addition, the event will include a showcase of adaptive golf cart technology that lifts players into a standing position, allowing them to play even if they are paralyzed.

Since its start in 2008, the annual Paralyzed Veterans Golf Open has raised $2.2 million for Operation PAVE and helped open rehabilitation centers in Chicago, Tampa, and San Antonio. The vocational rehab centers address the high unemployment rates for veterans by providing free one-on-one job counseling and placement assistance for veterans, their families, and their caregivers. They also specialize in assisting disabled veterans on their path to re-enter the workforce.

The charity event will take place on June 9, 2014, and will serve as a beacon of hope for veterans seeking assistance nationwide.

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Frank Azar – GM Plans Compensation Fund For Victims of Defective Vehicles

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The long road to compensation for those injured or killed in accidents involving defective GM vehicles may be finally coming to an end. As reported in a recent blog post on the West Virginia Legal Examiner, GM has been working with the Center for Automotive Safety, as well as lawyers for the plaintiffs in drawing up the terms of the proposed plan. As it stands, there will be no monetary limit to the fund, and payments will be offered to claimants who had already settled out of court prior to the 2014 recall of the vehicles.

Claimants seeking payments from the fund would be required to prove that the air bags in the vehicle did not go off, a stipulation that is giving critics of the plan pause. How plaintiffs can be expected to prove that the air bags did not engage is anyone’s guess, but some are hoping that claimants whose vehicles powered off would benefit from presumption and be accepted.

The fund will open until the end of 2014 according to recent reports, which has some accusing GM of trying to hurry the process along before the Department of Justice and the NHTSA complete their investigations. Those findings may have relevance upon plaintiff’s claims and critics hope that GM allow victims to wait for results before having to accept payment.

The company has indicated that the fund will only exist to provide payments to parties who were injured or killed due to the defective vehicles, and will not be providing payments to individuals looking for compensation for economic matters. Claims based on complaints of the depreciation of the vehicle’s value will not be considered valid under the current plan.

In the plan as it currently exists, payments going to claimants may range from $20,000 to several million dollars.

Read more at West Virginia Legal Examiner or the Wall Street Journal.

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Frank Azar – Golf Tournaments A Boon To Charities

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Charity golf tournaments have been on rise in recent years, meaning big money for the charities they support. In a recent article, the New York Times reports that the number of these organizations has grown to such extremes that organizations have to attract affluent golfers.

According to a survey conducted in 2011 by the National Golf Foundation, 143,000 charity golf events in that year that raised approximately $3.9 billion. But these tournaments mostly serve as a way for charities to attract new supporters and to also market their message. A representative from the World Golf Foundation indicated that 60 percent of the charities reported that their golf tournaments were very important to the success of their organizations.

The likelihood that the average recreational golfer will play in an amateur tournament of some kind is very unlikely. However, according to the representative of the World Golf Foundation it is very likely that one of those golfers will play in a charity tournament. 12 million golfers played in at least one charity tournament in 2011, a significant number considering that only about 25 million golfers play the game in U.S. Recreational golfers tend to be an older and more affluent crowd which makes them very desirable for attracting financial support.

The attraction of golf as a social event and the allure of playing on golf courses one might not otherwise play on is helping to raise revenue and awareness. Even high profile cultural organizations are finding golf tournaments to be a very important part of their fund raising operations. The Lincoln Center will host its third annual golf tournament at the end of June. Each of the previous two event raised roughly a half-million each.

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Frank Azar – Google’s Impact Challenge Supports Charitable Innovation

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Google will contribute roughly £3.2m to 10 British charities that participate in the company’s Impact Challenge. The money will be given to UK nonprofits to develop and implement ideas meant change lives for the better throughout the world, ITPRO reports.

The ten charities chosen will each be given £200,000 in the Impact Challenge, an initiative from Google Giving developed to to inspire and facilitate innovation within the world of nonprofits as a way to do more good, faster. Of the ten chosen, one will be shortlisted by the public, while another three will be listed by a panel of expert judges. Each of these organizations will see their prize fund increased to £500,000.

In addition to funding, Google will provide mentoring for all 10 organizations in tandem with Nesta, an innovation charity. The charities run the gauntlet of charitable aims, from technological innovations, to curing social ills, and even biology research. Google and Nesta are looking to mentor charities that are looking to tackle an array of social issues but all look to, “To make a better world, faster.”

“We hope in the future to continue developing and supporting the charity and community sector to embrace digital technology and use it to create far more social impact at even greater scale,” Nesta said.

The organizations represented at the Impact Challenge cover a range of causes. Among those firms that have been shortlisted is Kew Gardens, a group looking to eliminate the threat of malaria around the world through the use of wearable acoustic sensors that detect mosquitoes. The Royal National Institute of Blind People develops smart glasses to help those with the sight impaired take advantage of what little sight the do possess. WeFarm helps geographically isolated farmers from all over the world the chance to connect with others and access crowdsourced data.

“Google’s Impact Challenge shows that innovation is crucial to success,”said panel judge Peter Jones, “You can’t stand still…These are non-profits doing great things that have a real impact on society.”

The Royal National Institute of Blind People is developing smart glasses to help those with limited vision make use of the little sight they have, the St Giles Trust has created an app that will allow for ex-offenders to be rehabilitated and WeFarm’s initiative is to help farmers in remote locations across the world connect with others via crowdsourced information.

Judge Peter Jones said: “After an inspiring process, we’ve unearthed ten exceptional projects from ten exceptional charities.

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Frank Azar – Insurer Files Climate Change Class Actions

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Farmers Insurance filed nine class action lawsuits against almost 200 communities in the Chicago area for failing to adequately prepare for flooding and damage from severe rains, Insurance Journal reports. The lawsuits could be the first of many to determine who can be held liable for the costs incurred due to the effects of climate change.

Farmers is arguing that local governments should have been aware that there would be consequences stemming from the rising of global temperatures. By their argument, municipalities should have known that climate change had the potential to increase rainfall, and that sewers and stormwater drains ought to have been fortified in preparation. These cases have potential to redefine what can reasonably defined as an “act of god.” If successful, these lawsuits could have serious consequences for how communities will have to budget for potential future emergencies.

The City of Chicago claims that it has in place a comprehensive Climate Action Plan and that it is already investing heavily on infrastructure to guard against disasters from changing weather patterns. Ironically, this foresight on the part of the city may work against them in these suits, as Farmers cites the Climate Action Plan as evidence that the government was aware of the potential risks and failed to respond properly.

Flooding occurred in Illinois in April of 2013 resulting in over 64,000 Illinois households being awarded more than $218 million in aid and loans from the federal government. Farmers has not specified how much they paid in claims due to last year’s flooding.

“It’s a long shot for the insurance companies,” said Robert Verchick, who previously served on the Obama administration’s Climate Change Adaptation Task Force, “but it’s not completely implausible, and if you have enough cases like this going forward it might build some helpful precedent.”

To read more, head over to Insurance Journal.

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Frank Azar – Two More Sue in Relation To Accident That Injured 27

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On June 25 2012, a woman named Linda Booth lost control of her vehicle while pulling into a parking space at a Rally in the Square in Lima, Ohio. The resulting accident injured 27 people which likely occurred due to mistaking the brake and the accelerator.

(Image: Downtown Lima, Ohio)

Now LimaOhio.com reports, two more entities have joined list of those suing over the accident just under the two year deadline. An insurance company who paid out on behalf of its clients and a woman who claims that injuries sustained from the accident required hip replacement surgeries.

The woman, Faye Stewart, named the city of Lima, City Engineer Kirk Niemeyr, the Lima Public Works Director, the Deputy Public Works Director, ArtSpace Century Endowment Fund who held the rally, General Motors, Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield, and the Ohio Department of Job and Family services, and the driver, Linda Booth as defendants in the suit. She is seeking damages in excess of $25,000.

A similar suit was filed all of these defendants with the exception of the Department of Job and Family Services by a man who claimed to have had his leg amputated due to injuries inflicted in the accident.

Central Mutual Insurance of Van Wert also filed suit against Booth seeking $6,534 that it paid out on behalf of Richard Norton, a client injured in the accident.

Booth filed for bankruptcy in August of this past year. She filed suit to limit her liability in relation to the accident, claiming that she only has $25,000 in liability coverage.

Read more at LimaOhio.com.

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Frank Azar – Family Makes High Climb for Charity

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Vacation has different meanings for different people. For some it means relaxing at a resort, playing shuffleboard on a cruise to Bermuda, or surf trip to Costa Rica. But for the MacDonald family, as a recent article in the Londoner reports, vacation means helping those in need.

This June, parents Jamie and wife Leslie, along with their daughters, Melanie and Diana will travel to Vacation has different meanings for different people. For some it means relaxing at a resort, playing shuffleboard on a cruise to Bermuda, or surf trip to Costa Rica. But for the MacDonald family, as a recent article in the Londoner reports, vacation means helping those in need.

This June, parents Jamie and wife Leslie, along with their daughters, Melanie and Diana will travel to Tanzania with the goal of climbing to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro. The climb will benefit Plan Canada, a development agency dedicated to improving the lives of third world children. The MacDonalds hope to raise $5,000 to benefit the organization.

The MacDonalds say that their inspiration for their humanitarian vacation comes from Jamie’s late parents, Gord and Gladis. According to Jamie, Gord would take yearly trips to Jamaica or Cuba where he would donate computers, bicycles or clothes to help the communities there. Gord and Gladis both passed away in the past two years, and MacDonalds say that this trip will largely serve to honor their memory.

As of May 9, the MacDonalds were just shy of half-way to their fundraising goal. The money will be used to purchase mosquito netting to protect families living in areas where insect borne illnesses are prevalent.

“For $10, you can give a family a chance to be safe for three years,”Diana said. “It’s a pretty good deal.”

People can make donations to the MacDonalds’ climb at their Facebook page, MacDonald Kilimanjaro Climb for Plan Canada. Jamie emphasized that the family would accept donations in any amount, and that the trip was about “the act of giving.”

To read more about the MacDonalds, read the original article over at the Londoner.

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