A partnership between Cleveland State University and the Northeast Ohio Medical University hopes to reach students as early as middle school and inspire them to consider a career in medicine.

Now, a recently awarded $500,000 grant from the Mt. Sinai Foundation will help to support a crucial piece of this program -- a mentoring program to ensure the success of students being trained as primary care physicians.

The three-year grant will focus on linking students with educators, clinicians and community champions in the neighborhoods where the students will be placed. The new urban-focused medical school, which will begin enrolling its first students in fall of 2013, aims to place students in neighborhoods throughout Cleveland.

Each year, up to 35 qualified NEOMED students will be eligible for full tuition scholarships if they agree to work in Cleveland for five years after receiving their medical degrees. One of the main purposes of the program is to train primary care physicians to serve in urban areas. Many city neighborhoods are currently underserved, and demand is expected to increase in coming years.


Source: Cleveland State University
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Believe to Achieve, a program that teaches young people kindness, caring and respect as a means of achieving lifelong success, this year helped dozens of at-risk girls graduate from Collinwood High School.

Now the leaders of Project Love, the nonprofit that is spearheading the program, are planning to expand Believe to Achieve to 12 schools across the Cleveland Municipal School District (CMSD). They are currently seeking funding for that initiative.

"l ascribe our success to a very simple formula, and the formula is love," says Stuart Muszynski, President and CEO of the Project Love Remember the Children Foundation. "When people love themselves and understand what they stand for, then they understand the social and emotional part of being successful."

Seventy one girls entered the four-year trial program in 2008, and 51 of them recently received diplomas. Along the way, they were buttressed with constant mentoring, a character-building curriculum, summer jobs and 24/7 support.

Eric Gordon, CEO of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, also praised the program. "The successes we are celebrating at Collinwood show the power of collaborative investment in the social and emotional learning needs of our students," he said in a news release.


Source: Stuart Muszynski, Eric Gordon
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Chloe Hopson knows firsthand the disparity between urban and suburban arts education programs. Having grown up on South Moreland on the edge of Shaker Heights and Cleveland, she flourished in the arts-rich Shaker Heights school system while many of her Cleveland friends lacked similar opportunities.

That's why Hopson founded the Passport Project 14 years ago. She wanted to provide arts programs to youth living in the Buckeye, Larchmere and Shaker Square neighborhoods, and expose them to different cultures across the globe. "We help kids in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District to build literacy skills, and we also help them see that there's a whole world out there," she says.

Now this "local girl with a global perspective," as she calls herself, is working with other arts organizations, residents and businesses in the community to launch Shaker Square Arts. The new organization will offer a range of free programming and classes and will use the historic Shaker Square shopping plaza as its home base.

"We're looking to create a more vibrant neighborhood and one where we get to know each other," says Hopson, who now lives in the Larchmere neighborhood and operates the Passport Project in a storefront at Buckeye and East 128th Street. "We hope to bring people together across perceived lines of difference."

Some of the programs include West African dance and percussion classes, capoeira classes, storytelling workshops and "Drinks and Doodles." This "happy hour with a twist" will invite attendees to draw on a napkin and enter their creation into a contest to win a $25 gift certificate from a local Shaker Square merchant.

Some of the partners involved in Shaker Square Arts include the Passport Project, Lake Erie Artists, City Dance, the Coral Company and area artists and residents. The free classes are supported by a grant from Neighborhood Connections.

A Drinks and Doodles happy hour will take place on Thursday, June 21st from 5-7 pm at Dewey's Coffee Shop. A free West African percussion and dance class will be held this Saturday, June 23rd from 12:30-2 pm right before Larchmere Porchfest.


Source: Chloe Hopson
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Before a packed house at Severance Hall, Cleveland Foundation President Ronn Richard touted the city's accomplishments in becoming a hub of innovation and taking bold steps to address big problems at the foundation's annual meeting this Tuesday.

Waxing poetic on the gilded stage for a moment, Richard harkened back to the foundation's early days in the 1910's as a time of tremendous innovation in Cleveland. "I still wonder if the past might be prologue," he mused, noting that the foundation's centennial is just two years away. "Can we envision the spirit of a second renaissance in Cleveland?"

Richard also posed a challenge to civic leaders to remain focused on true economic development and social change within the city. "Physical development, as wonderful as it is, must be coupled with investment in people and placemaking," he said, noting that the building spree of the 1990s was too focused on bricks and mortar projects. "We need to invest in connecting communities."

Among the foundation's projects, Richard touted the Cleveland schools plan that recently passed the state legislature, ongoing investments in high quality urban education, economic development programs such as the HealthTech Corridor and the Evergreen Cooperatives, and programs to connect new audiences to the arts.

Richard also told the audience that later this year the Cleveland Foundation will unveil a new microlending program for entrepreneurs seeking loans under $50,000 to help spur job creation and assist the creation of startups.


Source: Ronn Richard
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Groundworks Dance Theater recently presented an original work choreographed by Lynne Taylor-Corbett that featured rousing Broadway-style choreography set to the music of the 80s band the Pretenders.

The show wasn't exactly what comes to mind when one thinks of contemporary dance, and audiences loved it. Groundworks General Manager Beth Rutkowski says her organization is using performances like this to reach new audiences in Cleveland.

"There are a lot of people who say, 'I'm not really a modern dance person and modern dance is weird,'" says Rutkowski. "Yet if we're able to get them in the door, they find our work is extremely accessible. It's getting past that barrier."

Connecting diverse, new audiences to Cleveland's rich arts and culture groups is the purpose of Engaging the Future, an initiative by the Cleveland Foundation to help arts organizations think differently about how to grow their audiences.

"It's about more than just putting butts in seats," says Rutkowski. "We're looking at ways to engage different people and a more diverse audience. Audiences for many arts organizations in Cleveland are getting older and are for the most part white. We want to look at new ways of thinking and share best practices."

Some of the new ideas Groundworks is considering include collaborating with other groups; stressing a more interactive relationship with its audience; offering performances online for younger audiences that want to "self-curate"; hosting evening gatherings of creative individuals, including entrepreneurs, to explore the relationship between art and creativity; and developing a series of videos called "It's Your Move" that connect dance to regular, everyday body movements.

Engaging the Future recently released a survey and hopes to glean audience information from it that will help organizations to chart a course in the future.


Source: Beth Rutkowski, Kristin Puch
Writer: Lee Chilcote

The Cleveland Public Library recently unveiled TechCentral, a new downtown computing hub that offers free use of laptops, tablets and desktop computers, wireless access and 3-D printing.

A library card is all one needs to access the center, which cost $1 million to build and is located in 7,000 square feet in the lower level of the Louis Stokes Wing.

In addition to being able to explore the latest technology on site, card holders will be able to borrow iPads and Kindles to take home for a week at a time. They will also be able to borrow laptops for use anywhere in the building -- including the Eastman Reading Garden -- but won't be able to take them off premises.

Other features of TechCentral include a flexible learning space and SMART board, cloud computing and computer instruction at the main library as well as branches.

CPL created TechCentral in part to provide city residents access to technology. Yet the library's intentions go beyond serving its core constituency of Cleveland residents to better connecting the library to new developments in downtown.

TechCentral is the first phase of CPL’s $12-13.5 million Downtown Destination Plan, which aims to better connect CPL’s downtown buildings with East 4th Street, the Horseshoe Casino, Public Square, the Medical Mart and Convention Center.


Source: Cleveland Public Library
Writer: Lee Chilcote

When National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Rocco Landesman toured Cleveland's arts districts last year, he blogged about how they were actively applying the principles of arts-based development and urban placemaking touted daily by the NEA.

Now ArtPlace, a creative placemaking initiative led by the NEA and others, has awarded Northeast Shores Development Corporation a $500,000 grant to engage local artists in creatively combating urban vacancy and foreclosure in Cleveland.

“This work is part of a national creative placemaking movement that, we believe, will have a profound and lasting impact on the health and wellbeing of communities throughout the country," said Ford Foundation President Luis Ubinas in a news release. The ArtPlace initiative is supported by a variety of national foundations, federal partners, and a $12 million loan fund.

Competition was extremely fierce. North Collinwood's application was selected, along with 46 other grantees, from over 2,000 applications across the country.

"Collinwood Rising will work with artists to establish replicable development models for artist space in older industrial cities, leveraging ongoing HUD and municipal investments," according to the NEA's ArtPlace news release.

"The investment will allow us to make targeted interventions in three vacant properties in and around the Waterloo Arts & Entertainment District," says Camille Maxwell, Real Estate Development Director with Northeast Shores. "These interventions are the conversion of a vacant lot into an artist-inspired playground; conversion of a vacant house into an artist live/work facility; and conversion of a vacant storefront into a performing arts incubator."


Source: Rocco Landesman
Writer: Lee Chilcote

During Langston Hughes' heyday, African American theatre was "booming, expressive, avante garde and politically punching," says Anthony Elfonzia Nickerson-El of Project1Voice, a national group that aims to spark renewed interest in black theatre. "Hughes and his contemporaries were the conscience of the community."

Fast forward 80 years. Historically African American theatres continue to play an important role in exposing young people in urban areas to the arts and nourishing the much-needed attributes of creativity, critical thinking and self-confidence. Yet they also face new economic challenges in the wake of the Great Recession.

"During this time of reduced funding for the arts, African American theatres have been hit hard financially," says Nickerson-El. "These theatres offer arts and music programs that may not be in the schools anymore. They play a significant role in the development of young people and introduce the community to the arts."

Cleveland is fortunate to be home to Karamu House, the oldest African American theatre in the U.S. Many of Langston Hughes' plays premiered at the theatre.

To help raise money for African American theatres, Project1Voice sponsors a fundraiser called "1 Voice, 1 Play, 1 Day." A stage reading of James Baldwin's "The Amen Corner" will take place on Monday, June 18th at 7 pm to benefit Rainey Institute Children's Theatre. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased online.


Source: Anthony Elfonzia Nickerson-El
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Santina Protopapa is a self-professed high school "band nerd" who learned about hip hop while organizing a Rock Hall conference, then used it as a launching bad to start her own arts nonprofit.

Ten years later, the Progressive Arts Alliance (PAA) serves more than 1,000 students across Northeast Ohio every week through hip hop arts education.

"Our students have really grown to be leaders through hip hop," says Protopapa, a percussionist and DJ who teaches rap, hip hop, dance, film and animation. "Teachers are excited because they have no way to present this stuff in a meaningful way to their kids. They tell us, 'We could never have done this without you.'"

Last month, the PA All-Stars, a group of five high school and college students who write and perform their own original hip hop tunes, had a chance to perform on stage at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. The event was part of a program called "What's Going on Now" which celebrated the 40th anniversary of Marvin Gaye's famous album. The PA All-Stars also ended up on PBS News Hour.

"It was really cool to have the opportunity to present their work to a larger audience," says Protopapa. "Normally our shows are attended by parents."

On August 11th, PAA will celebrate its 10th anniversary with an event called Ten Years of Rhapsody at the House of Blues in Cleveland. The fundraiser will feature a tribute to Cleveland break dancing legends Project Five featuring Councilman Matt Zone, the Corporate Cleveland's Best Dance Crew crew competition, live dance performances and hands-on art experiences for people of all ages.


Source: Santina Protopapa
Writer: Lee Chilcote

The Cleveland Carbon Fund has announced three grant awards totaling $15,000 for 2012, including an ambitious effort to increase the number of bike commuters in Cleveland, a backyard composting initiative in Tremont, and a project to make homes in the Central neighborhood more energy-efficient.

Bike Cleveland's project, Creating a Mode Shift, will provide riders with the tools, tips and advice on how to commute to work in Cleveland. The effort includes a commuter challenge in which individuals and teams can compete and win prizes, a guide to navigating bike commuting, and outreach to employers to help incentivize more employees to ride to work.

Tremont West Development Corporation will initiate a Residential Composting Program that will distribute bins to local residents, encourage participants to reduce their waste, and track how much is saved from landfills. The program is offered in partnership with the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District.

Burton Bell Carr Development Corporation's project, Heritage View Model Block Sustainability Program, will make homes in the Central neighborhood more energy-efficient by switching out incandescent bulbs for compact fluorescent bulbs, adding sink aerators, and installing low-flow shower heads.

The Cleveland Carbon Fund was created in 2009 by the City of Cleveland, Green City Blue Lake Institute at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Gund Foundation, Cleveland Foundation and Cleveland Clinic. Its goal, as Carbon Fund Fellow Joanne Neugebauer puts it, is to "think globally, green locally." The Carbon Fund is the first community-based, open-access fund in the U.S.


Source: Joanne Neugebauer
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Christopher Busta-Peck first became interested in teaching others about Cleveland's architectural history when he developed summer history programs for kids as part of his job as a children's librarian.

Too fascinated to put the material down, he soon found himself enmeshed in creating a local history and preservation blog, Cleveland Area History, that has been called the voice of history and historic preservation in Northeast Ohio.

Part of what motivates Busta-Peck is the simple notion that our area's history often lies "hidden in plain sight" between modern buildings, tucked amid neighborhoods or covered up by garish additions. He also believes historic buildings are among the competitive advantages our city should trumpet.

"We have historic buildings that set us apart from other parts of the country," he says. "It's a monetary asset we need to think of when compared to other cities."

Through working to elevate the discussion about urban history, Busta-Peck hopes to make saving Cleveland's forgotten fabric a bigger part of our civic discourse.

On Saturday, June 9th, Busta-Peck will lead a walking tour of East Cleveland in collaboration with SPACES. Among the sites on the tour are a stone tannery he touts as one of the most significant early industrial sites in Cleveland and a large, once beautiful mansion that now lies hidden behind a gas station.


Source: Christopher Busta-Peck
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Technology, health care, food and rock and roll -- these are just a few of the industries flourishing in the eclectic Midtown neighborhood, its leaders told a sold out crowd at the Midtown Cleveland Inc. annual meeting at the InterContinental Hotel.

Key accomplishments within the past year include a successful lawsuit that stopped the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) from closing Innerbelt ramps until a study has been completed; breaking ground on several new projects within the Health-Tech Corridor; securing a commitment for a new Third District police headquarters on Chester Avenue; facilitating the redevelopment of the historic Agora Theatre; and completing a new plan to transform the East 55th and Euclid intersection into a more vibrant downtown for the neighborhood.

"We are succeeding in reinventing MidTown Cleveland," said Director Jim Haviland.

"A healthy urban core helps all boats to rise, and MidTown is an example," said Len Komoroski, President of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Quicken Loans Arena, during a keynote address that touted the Cavs' investment in Cleveland. Komoroski said the Cavs had spent millions renovating Quicken Loans Arena into a "dynamic urban environment" that attracted people to visit downtown.

Komoroski shrugged off concerns that the new Horseshoe Casino would be a self-contained facility whose visitors would not spend money elsewhere in Cleveland. "This is a decidedly knit-into-the-urban-environment casino," he said. As an example of the spillover benefits of a casino that Komoroski claimed is "underserved from a food and beverage perspective," he cited the fact that Michael Symon recently tweeted about a record night at Lola on East 4th.


Source: Jim Haviland, Len Komoroski
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Communities in Cuyahoga County are recycling about 50 percent of their waste on average, Diane Bickett, Executive Director of the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District, told the audience at the recent Cleveland Composting and Recycling Forum.

Austin, Texas has an ambitious goal of reaching zero waste by 2040, which means reducing the amount of trash sent to landfills by 90 percent.

The question now becomes: How does our region advance those goals while encouraging communities with dismal levels of recycling to raise the bar? That was the question that Bickett posed to the crowd during the one-day examination of recycling and composting in our region.

The City of Cleveland has one of the lowest levels of recycling in Cuyahoga County at about seven percent. Cleveland Heights and Lakewood hover around 60 percent, and Pepper Pike is over 70 percent. Bickett said that Cleveland and other cities could improve recycling rates by focusing on new, automated technologies, expanding organic collection, adding more recycling in public spaces, making citywide policy changes, and better educating residents and businesses.

Beyond the sustainability benefits, recycling also creates jobs. "For every job in the disposal industry, 17 are created in the recycling industry," Bickett said.

Given the prowess of the local food and urban agriculture movements in Cleveland, Bickett cited an opportunity to create composting facilities run by volunteers and community organizations that generate nutrient-rich soil.

Councilman Brian Cummins criticized the city's one-size-fits-all disposal fee and unambitious recycling goals (the city aims to recycle up to 25 percent of its waste by building a waste-to-energy facility and rolling out curbside recycling citywide). 

Cummins also promoted the idea that recycling could generate local jobs, although he and Bickett acknowledged that recycling programs actually cost cities money.

City of Cleveland representatives were invited to attend the forum but declined.


Source: Diane Bickett, Brian Cummins
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Last fall, when the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency held a hearing on the City of Cleveland's proposed waste-to-energy plant, hundreds of protesters turned out to decry the plans.

The gasification plant, which would turn trash into energy to be used by Cleveland Public Power, would result in unacceptable levels of pollution in urban neighborhoods, environmental groups said.

Since then, the city has terminated its agreement with its controversial consultant, Peter Tien. However, CPP says that it is still studying the waste-to-energy plant as well as other options to increase recycling, reduce costs and generate electricity.

To capitalize on the renewed interest in recycling and composting generated by the public meetings earlier this year, environmental groups are now pressing the city to develop a more comprehensive plan. Ohio Citizen Action, Earthday Coalition and other groups have organized the Cleveland Composting and Recycling Forum on Saturday, June 2nd at the downtown YMCA.

“Clevelanders have said loud and clear that they want stronger recycling programs,” commented Chris Trepal, Executive Director of Earth Day Coalition, in a news release. “The urban gardening and local food community in Cleveland creates hundreds of opportunities for the productive use of compost.”

"We're hoping to bring in good ideas from other cities," adds Sandy Buchanan, Executive Director of Ohio Citizen Action, who says that the local and national speakers attending the event will provide a litany of successful models.

The public forum takes place at a crucial time, as the city is gearing up to roll out its recycling program to additional neighborhoods over the course of the summer.

Brian Cummins, a Cleveland Councilman who represents the Brooklyn Centre, Clark-Fulton and Stockyards neighborhoods adjacent to the proposed gasification plant, says that the city's recycling program needs improvement.

"The city claims this is a comprehensive system, but they haven't been able to roll it out citywide due to budget problems," he says. "We need to look at incentives to recycle, such as 'pay as you throw' fees that other cities are now using."

The City of Cleveland has stated that its goal in the next few years is to roll out its recycling program to all neighborhoods. No composting program currently exists.


Source: Chris Trepal, Brian Cummins
Writer: Lee Chilcote

The Princeton Prize in Race Relations is awarded each year to outstanding high school students across the country who are helping to increase understanding and mutual respect among all races and cultures.

The Cleveland prize, now in its second year, was recently awarded to Demi Zhang, a freshman at Orange High School who has devoted herself to achieving racial and cultural harmony through teaching others. Zhang has exposed her community to Chinese culture through art and music (she plays the Gu-Zheng, which is the Chinese zither) and created a Chinese club for neighborhood children.

"I found that people were not very aware of Chinese culture in Northeast Ohio, even though we have a sizeable Chinese community here," says the Pepper Pike resident. "Our Chinese heritage is important to my parents and grandparents, and I inherited that. Along with preserving my own identity, I wanted to address different barriers that exist between cultures in the form of ignorance."

"When people share aspects of their culture, they share part of their identity," she adds. "That kind of understanding is what the Princeton Prize is all about."

The winner of the Princeton Prize receives a $1,000 cash prize and is publicly recognized for his or her efforts. Two other Cleveland-area students -- Prateek Singh, a freshman at Solon High School, and Shivangi Bhatia, a sophomore at Orange -- received Certificates of Accomplishment for their work.

An awards event will take place on Thursday, May 24th at the Tudor Arms Hotel. For more information or to attend, contact Sandhya Gupta at sandhyag@alumni.princeton.edu.


Source: Sandhya Gupta, Demi Zhang
Writer: Lee Chilcote

In April, 51 volunteers picked up more than 500 pounds of trash at Edgewater Park as part of an effort to revitalize our city's beaches and reconnect Clevelanders to our lakefront parks.

Among the items that were collected at Edgewater that day were more than 3,000 cigar tips that had washed up in Edgewater cove.

Cleveland has the dubious distinction of being a leader in cigar tip pollution in the Great Lakes region, says Erin Huber of Drink Local Drink Tap. Currently, Huber has the cigar tips soaking in soapy water in her basement. She plans to complete an art project with them in order to raise awareness about pollution in Lake Erie.

Huber says that the beach cleanups help to improve the city's neglected system of lakefront parks. "It makes me absolutely furious, because the state park staff are basically glorified garbage people who hardly even have time to replace broken light bulbs," she says. "The state parks don't have any money, but all of the volunteer hours we log can be used to apply for funding for the park."

Although Huber believes that the long-term solution for the lakefront parks is for the City of Cleveland to hire the Metroparks to more effectively manage them, she is encouraged by the diverse array of beach lovers that have pitched in to help so far. These events help to build an active constituency for the parks, she says.

The Friends of Edgewater Park, the nonprofit group that partners with Drink Local Drink Tap on the cleanups, is focusing its efforts on supporting Ohio Department of Natural Resources staff through a range of activities.

The next "Pancakes and Trash" beach cleanup, which is cosponsored by Friends of Edgewater Park, the Ohio Sierra Club, Cleveland Lakefront State Parks and 106.5 The Lake, takes place on Saturday, June 2nd from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. The Ohio Sierra Club is hosting a free pancake breakfast that begins at 9 a.m.


Source: Erin Huber
Writer: Lee Chilcote

When the Broadway Farmers Market in Slavic Village piloted a new program to offer a dollar-for-dollar match to Ohio Direction Card customers who purchase produce, it experienced a 191-percent increase in Direction Card sales in one year.

By offering incentives, the Produce Perks program helps to ensure that fresh, locally grown produce gets into low-income households where it's needed most. Many city residents do not have a grocery store with fresh produce within walking distance of their home. The program offers a dollar-for-dollar match up to $10.

This summer, the Produce Perks program is being expanded to 17 local farmers markets throughout Cuyahoga County. The program has been successful at helping lower-income residents to overcome obstacles that inhibit them from shopping at farmers markets and boosting their produce purchasing power, organizers say.

"We know that there are more people using local food assistance programs due to the economy, so how do we get them to local farmers markets?" says Erika Meschkat, Program Coordinator with the Ohio State University Extension. "This is about improving public health, boosting local food production and creating economic development opportunities at neighborhood farmers markets."

Meschkat says that the Produce Perks program helps farmers markets to profit from an untapped market. While many suburban market managers are shocked to realize that they have customers on food assistance, too, it benefits them as well.

The program is part of a regional push to address healthy food gaps by helping low-income residents to take advantage of farmers markets. Produce Perks is coordinated by the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Food Policy Coalition with the support of several area foundations and Wholesome Wave, a national nonprofit organization focused on access to healthy, affordable foods in poor communities.


Source: Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Food Policy Coalition
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Whereas some kids bond with their dads over football or baseball, Jacob Friedman and his dad have always bonded over oldies music stars like Petula Clark and Dean Martin and old movies starring Tim Conway.

Five years ago, Friedman suddenly had blurry vision and he couldn't get out of bed. He was diagnosed with a brain tumor. The nine-year-old listened to Clark's "Downtown" to comfort him as he traveled from his home in Parma to Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital in University Circle.

By a stroke of luck, Friedman later ran into Petula Clark while vacationing with his family at Disney World during a trip that was sponsored by the Make-a-Wish Foundation. He asked for her autograph and they talked for over an hour. Clark was so taken with the young boy's story that she stayed in contact with him.

Figuring that he had nothing to lose, Friedman also emailed Tim Conway through his website. They soon struck up a relationship that continues to this day. Clark, Conway and some of Friedman's other film and music heroes have encouraged him to stay hopeful about his recovery and pursue his dream of becoming an artist.

"It's really meant a lot to me to have them a part of my life," says Friedman.

Now, Friedman has achieved another one of his longtime dreams. The 13-year-old has painted a "gratitude guitar" as part of Guitarmania, an event that places large, colorfully painted guitars around Cleveland to benefit United Way and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's education programs. The guitar features a rendering of Petula Clark and Tim Conway, and will soon be revealed to them as a surprise.

"Jacob thought it would be a great opportunity to say thank you in a really big way," says Steve Friedman, Jacob's father. "He wanted it to be a surprise."

The front of the guitar contains the words "laughter and music are the best medicine" and the guitar also features an image of Cleveland's skyline.

The Guitarmania kickoff takes place on Friday, May 25th at the Rock Hall.


Source: Jacob Friedman, Steve Friedman
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Last year, Akron marketing professional Amy Wong signed up to attend Cleveland GiveCamp for a few hours and ended up staying the entire weekend. She was taken with its mission of helping nonprofits with tech projects -- and she was having a good time.

This year, she hopes to deliver an even bigger impact by serving more nonprofits. GiveCamp, which is part of a national network of events that link technology professionals with nonprofits, is accepting applications until June 17th. The event takes place July 20th-22nd on LeanDog's barge at North Coast Harbor.

"Not only do nonprofits get help, but the teams learn a lot about the nonprofit community," says Wong of the event. "It's a win-win situation on both fronts."

Getting accepted into GiveCamp is competitive, and nonprofits must demonstrate a feasible project, community benefit and financial need. The projects help them better serve their constituencies by becoming more efficient and effective.

Last year, GiveCamp helped 23 nonprofit organizations with $500,000 worth of free development work. Completed projects include 17 new websites, three database applications, an iPhone app, Android app and mobile website.


Source: Amy Wong
Writer: Lee Chilcote