The winners of Greenspun Media Group's Angel Awards exemplify the caring and compassion found throughout Southern Nevada.
Meghan Borbon, a volunteer at the Children’s Hospital of Nevada at UMC, uses her skills as a seamstress to knit hats and gear for newborn babies and their families.
Eva Martin played a role in shaping the history of civil rights as a young girl and is now shaping the lives of students by helping raise millions of dollars for the Ronald McDonald House Charities scholarship program.
The dozens of members of Nevada Women’s Philanthropy have turned the strengths of their members outward to improve Southern Nevada in areas ranging from the arts to health, investing millions of dollars to improve lives across the valley.
Discovery Children’s Museum has been a fixture in Southern Nevada for more than 25 years. Today, it not only has an array of exhibits to teach children about science, nature and more, but it also offers traveling exhibits and programs to help students stay in school.
Easter Seals Nevada is on track to help as many as 9,000 individuals and families this year. The agency has been helping those with disabilities and special needs since 1950; its philosophy is to begin helping early to offset a lifetime of need.
It’s hard to believe that the Cosmopolitan has been open only since December 2010; it has become not only a fixture of Las Vegas lore but a significant player in helping improve life in Southern Nevada. It’s CoStars gave more than 15,000 hours to community service in 2015.
Meanwhile, Cox Communications awards approximately $3 million in funding and services annually to dozens of local nonprofit groups — and that’s just one example of the company’s largesse.
We’re proud to name them all winners of our Angel Awards.
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Volunteer of the Year
Meghan Borbon
Children's Hospital of Nevada at UMC
As a young girl in a small Indiana town, Meghan Borbon discovered the power of compassion and philanthropy, lessons passed along by her artist mother.
Meghan Borbon
“I love working with my hands, so we were always doing projects — everything from drawing, painting, sewing, knitting and baking — and also volunteering, because we were taught to believe that if you don’t have money to give, you have time to give, and to always pay it forward,” said Borbon, who attended Indiana State University and graduated from Purdue University as a theater major with an emphasis on stage management, making extra money doing costuming at local roadhouses and concerts.
While at Indiana State, a professor introduced Borbon to “The Beatles LOVE” by Cirque du Soleil, and Borbon was hooked, listening to the soundtrack on repeat and realizing she had discovered her destiny.
Fast-forward 10 years, and Borbon is living the dream, residing in Las Vegas and working as a wardrobe attendant on the iconic production.
But something was missing — her hands were growing idle in her free time — and Mom stumbled over the answer.
“I’ve always loved working with kids, and my mom read an article in Dear Abby about how you could volunteer at NICUs (neonatal intensive care units), so I called hospitals and discovered that UMC had (such a volunteer program), and the nurses took me in and I felt like a had a whole new home,” Borbon said.
Borbon began volunteering at Children’s Hospital of Nevada at UMC’s NICU last October, providing fragile newborns and their family members with comfort and compassion. Borbon spends eight hours each week tending to the needs of newborns but her efforts to support the NICU go far beyond her shifts.
Using her creativity and skills as a seamstress, Borbon finds the time and resources to provide the infants and their families with carefully crafted donations, including handmade clothing items, holiday decorations and unique keepsakes.
One of her signature creations? Hand-knitted holiday hats for the babies, an idea Borbon credits to her aunt, the director of nursing at a birth center in Tennessee, who encouraged her niece to put her crafting talents to good use. Borbon estimates she has knitted more than 185 hats for Christmas, New Year’s Eve and Easter, spending an estimated 30 minutes to complete each tiny topper.
“The babies look so cute in their hats, and it’s so special to see the faces of the parents and the nurses, and to celebrate the babies and their stories,” said Borbon, adding that she also created personalized Christmas ornaments for the parents featuring keepsake footprints made from salt dough. “This was my favorite project, because I like that the parents have a (memento) of how small their babies were.”
In addition to hats and ornaments, Borbon also crafts homemade headbands for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day and also designed dozens of holiday-themed crib cards, which nurses fill in with information about the babies, including height and weight and other vital statistics. In addition, Borbon creates festive holiday decorations for the NICU and delivers homemade holiday treats to the nurses.
“I’ve got to give some credit to my supportive husband, who’s been known to run out and get me more powdered sugar for my cupcakes,” said Borbon, whose very New Year’s resolution capitalizes on the concept of giving. “I discovered that MGM Resorts International has employee volunteer programs that match funds, so I resolved to max out both matches.”
Borbon hopes to bring in an additional $4,300 in 2016 by volunteering for 500 hours and using the programs offered by her employers. She also enlisted the assistance of her co-workers in the wardrobe department, who are volunteering their extra time and personal resources to sew Halloween costumes for the infants in the NICU.
But her philanthropy doesn’t stop there. She also sings in her church choir — practicing lullabies on the newborns — and sometimes keeps lunch bags in her car that contain water, vitamins and nonperishable food and snacks to distribute to the homeless.
Further encouraged by her aunt to get involved in more community outreach, Borbon recently launched an effort to reach out to nursing homes to enlist assistance with knitting baby hats, and is also spearheading an initiative to involve community members to help sew fleece hearts.
“Each mom gets two hearts, and the baby keeps one and mom wears the other one under her bra,” she said. “When she comes to visit the baby, we’ll switch the hearts out, which helps the babies develop because they are near their mother’s scent.”
— Danielle Birkin
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Humanitarian of the Year
Eva Martin
McDonald's owner/operator
As the owner/operator of three McDonald’s restaurants in Southern Nevada, Eva Martin is the embodiment of the successful entrepreneur, having purchased — along with her late husband James Martin — her first local franchise in 1995, her second in 1996 and her third in 1998, later selling all three and building a trio of brand-new local eateries within a matter of years.
Eva Martin
But while Martin is undoubtedly a savvy businesswoman, she has made philanthropy her personal mission, particularly when it comes to educational opportunities for at-risk children and teenagers.
“While I have been a McDonald’s owner all of these years, I would say that I do so much more than make burgers — I make a difference in the lives of young people, and that’s so rewarding for me,” said Martin, who in part credits her commitment to her own childhood experience as the first African-American student to integrate into elementary school in southern Illinois.
Escorted by a guard — who refused to hold the 6-year-old’s hand — she found hope and solace under the tutelage of a teacher who recognized Martin’s intelligence and potential and made nightly tutoring visits to Martin’s home.
“She believed in me, and helped me to believe that one person could make a difference,” said Martin, whose husband also had a bent for education as well as the entrepreneurial bug, launching the couple’s journey into business ownership in the dry-cleaning franchise business in Chicago in the early 1970s. Faced with expansion limitations years later, the pair switched gears to McDonald’s, operating a Chicago outlet of the chain before relocating to Southern Nevada in 1995.
Inherently compassionate, Martin’s passion for charitable outreach was sparked in 1999 when Martin got her first up-close look at Ronald McDonald House.
“As an owner, we’d go in and cook dinner for the families about once a quarter — comfort food like rotisserie chicken, mac and cheese, potato casserole and cupcakes — and it just seemed to evolve, because there’s something magical about Ronald McDonald House,” Martin said. “You just feel the love and know that you can’t do enough to help these families. You become their connection to home.”
Martin collaborated with three other Southern Nevada McDonald’s owner-operators in 2001 to establish a committee to receive and judge local applications for the Ronald McDonald House Charities scholarship program, which provides benefits to Nevada high school graduates based on financial need, academic achievement, community involvement, and personal and career goals.
Since the program’s inception, local McDonald’s owner-operators have helped award more than $3.3 million in scholarships to some 1,350 high school seniors in Clark and Nye counties.
“It means so much to me simply to be able to give to young people who have a need who we know are going to become our future leaders,” said Martin.
When her husband passed away in 2003, Martin wanted to further promote their shared vision and establish a legacy by creating the James and Eva Martin Charitable Trust to benefit the RMHC scholarship program, personally contributing at least $20,000 annually since 2004. This year, Martin donated $30,000 to provide 18 scholarships.
“Both my husband and I know the importance of a quality education, and this trust is something I’m committed to and will continue to do,” said Martin, adding the scholarships don’t just cover the first year of college. “Students can come back and reapply over the course of four years. One of my most rewarding experiences was the first time a young lady who was a former employee graduated from college and came back to the restaurant and told me she couldn’t have done it without my help.”
Martin is also instrumental in the success of the annual Eggs for Education, a fund-raising effort that benefits RMHC of Greater Las Vegas’ scholarship program. During the event, held in April, participating Southern Nevada McDonald’s restaurants donate $1 from every breakfast Value Meal sold. Over the past five years, Eggs for Education has raised more than $270,000.
Also active with March of Dimes, Three Square Food Bank, Spread the Word Nevada and Women’s Club of Summerlin, Martin also mentors her young employees, encouraging them to stay in school and realize their dreams.
“I believe you make a living by what you do, but you make a life by what you give, and it’s so true,” she said. “You can work and work and make money, but it’s what you do with the money that matters.”
— Danielle Birkin
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Foundation of the Year
Nevada Women's Philanthropy
It’s the people.
Nevada Women's Philanthropy
Nevada Women’s Philanthropy is a member-driven, pooled-fund, large-impact, grant-making organization established in 2005 to address the needs of the greater Las Vegas community. NWP’s membership consists of philanthropically motivated women, united by a powerful desire to address emerging issues facing our community in the areas of arts, education, environment, social services and health. It has averaged 80 volunteer members a year since 2005 and has a $350,000 grant annually.
When NWP was first established, its strength came from the women who believed in it. The foundation has invested $4.15 million with 19 nonprofit agencies since being founded in 2005. (One in its first year. Two every year since with Three Square receiving Founders Grant twice.) With their pooled dues, members made it possible to give that first grant of $180,000 toward helping struggling Las Vegans re-enter the workforce.
Not much has changed since then: the group’s strength is still in its members.
“Las Vegas is a dynamic city with a diverse demographic,” said NWP President Tami Hance.
“Our members come from all areas of the community. Some were born and raised in Las Vegas, others have moved for career opportunities and some are looking for a place to start a family or a new business in a city that encourages growth, creativity and energy. Combined, we all agree on one thing: we are lucky to live in a community that continues to re-invent itself and refuses to take no for an answer. So why not take that same mentality and use it for philanthropy?”
The group’s members “strive to address needs of the community that are sustainable, make an impact and will benefit the city for years after the grant has been given,” says Hance. “It’s our legacy.”
Hance says that the group’s CEO, Heather duBoef, has been an inspiration to her and one of the reasons she joined NWP. “She has a unique vision and passion for non-profits in Southern Nevada. However, every one of our 91 members influence me, each woman brings a unique insight to non-profit and what it means to give back to the community.”
In past years, grant recipients included:
• Communities in Schools Nevada in 2014, which was awarded $350,000 to launch the NWP Access to Opportunity technology project. Funds went toward laptops and the cost of credit retrieval fees for CISN Academy Students at Clark County School District high schools. Touro University’s Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities received the $30,000 Founders’ Gift.
• Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth in 2013 used its award to expand the existing Youth Drop in Center on Shirley Street near UNLV and provide an expand services for its clients. New Vista Ranch received the $30,000 Founders’ Gift.
• Goodwill of Southern Nevada was awarded $350,000 in 2012 for the Veterans Integration Program. Helping Hands of Vegas Valley/James Seastrand Helping Hands of North Las Vegas received a $30,000 Founders’ Gift.
Other recipients over the years have included the Salvation Army, the Community Counseling Center of Southern Nevada, the Rape Crisis Center, Lied Discovery Children’s Museum, the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada, Three Square, the Public Education Foundation, the Nathan Adelson Hospice, After School All Stars and Boys Town Nevada.
In reviewing last year, Hance said that WestCare Nevada was the recipient of NWP’s 2015 impact grant. The $350,000 went to a new roof, windows and other vital improvements to their women and children’s campus in North Las Vegas. “In May we attended the re-dedication of the building, and to see the improvements our grant created, both outside the building and in the smiles the clients had on their faces was incredibly rewarding.”
This year, Hance said, HELP of Southern Nevada was chosen to be the grant recipient. “Our $385,000 in funds will be used to purchase furniture, fixtures, and equipment for the 120 rooms in the new Shannon West Homeless Youth Center to be located on the Flamingo Campus.”
Moving forward, NWP’s leadership is excited about the organization’s increased membership. “We are 91 members strong,” said Hance, “and our goal is 110 members — which would allow us to grant $500,000 each year: $470,000 to the impact grant winner and $30,000 to the runner-up.” She calls it “a lofty goal, but a tangible one I’d bet on these women and this organization any day.”
— Howard Riell
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Cultural Advocate of the Year
Discovery Children's Museum
A cultural and community hub that’s been sparking imagination and creating playful learning experiences for children, students and families for more than 25 years, Discovery Children’s Museum has emerged as a vital go-to educational institution that enriches visitors’ lives by means of a hands-on interactive environment.
Discovery Children's Museum
With exhibits including Water World, Eco City, Young at Art, Fantasy Festival, Patents Pending, Solve It!, Toddler Town and The Summit — a 70-foot tower that ascends through all three floors, with interactive science exhibits and sliding and climbing structures — the museum also features traveling exhibitions, daily programs, demonstrations, special events and collaborative cultural programs, all replete with informal learning opportunities.
Serving nearly 1 million visitors since the opening of the new location in 2013 — the majority of whom are between the ages of 1 and 12 — the museum provides child-focused visual and performing arts, early childhood development, and science and nature programs in a new state-of-the-art facility in the Donald W. Reynolds Discovery Center, which comprises 58,000 square feet and includes more than 26,000 square feet of dedicated exhibit space. The former facility was a mere 35,000 square feet in total, by comparison.
“We realized that we needed a larger space in order to better execute our mission, and to keep people coming back because there’s always something new and different — we didn’t want people to say, ‘Oh, I’ve already been to the children’s museum, so why bother going again?’” said Tifferney White, the museum’s CEO and president. “We began conceptual drawings for the new facility back in 2008 or 2009, and visitor numbers have significantly increased since it opened.”
Adjacent to the Smith Center for the Performing Arts in the heart of downtown, the new $50 million museum renewed its status as a favorite destination for family fun, not to mention school field trips.
The museum also takes interactive health sciences education directly to Southern Nevada schools under the auspices of its Discovery on Wheels – House Calls program.
“Discovery on Wheels was created in response to schools not being able to get to the museum, so we take the museum to the schools,” said White, adding that the innovative program makes use of authentic medical equipment and anatomically correct models to teach students about how their bodies function and the importance of making informed, healthy choices. “It’s a super-popular program and we’re usually booked with a waiting list.”
White said one of the longest-running and most successful programs offered by the museum is its YouthWorks program for teenagers, which has served some 3,700 teens since its inception in 1993.
“YouthWorks is our pride and joy, designed to help students from low-income families stay in school and graduate,” said White. “It’s a combination volunteer program/internship where we mentor the students and make sure they keep their grades up.”
YouthWorks provides training sessions that incorporate valuable job skills, interaction with the public, workforce responsibilities and career planning, and also includes a college-focused component. White said — with pride — that every single student who has participated in the program over the course of nearly two dozen years has graduated, all except for one.
The museum also offers an Early Childhood Education Program which provides discovery-based and intuitive exhibits and activities designed to help prepare children ages 5 and younger for kindergarten.
“About 70 percent of kids don’t attend preschool and are not entirely prepared for kindergarten: maybe they don’t even know their ABCs, which can put them at a disadvantage,” White said. “When parents bring their children to the museum they are not only having a fun and interactive experience, but are also learning developmental skills. We’ve been offering this program since the museum’s inception, and have served more than 64,000 children since then.”
Another successful program, which targets elementary school students, is the Admission Subsidy Program, which has provided 32,000 subsidized admissions for CCSD students.
As a testament to the success of Discovery — and the ingenuity of its loyal staff — the museum has been recognized by the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities, Association of Children’s Museums and Nevada Humanities.
— Danielle Birkin
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Nonprofit of the Year
Easter Seals Nevada
One of the oldest nonprofits in the state, Easter Seals Nevada has been improving the health and quality of life for infants, children, youth and adults with disabilities and other special needs — as well as veterans and senior citizens — since 1950, working to address the community’s social-service gaps and to leverage partnerships and other strategic opportunities.
Brian Patchett
Serving some 8,500 individuals and their families each year, and on track to serve as many as 9,000 in 2016, Easter Seals Nevada is a heavy-hitter in the nonprofit arena with a distinctive model of providing services from birth and beyond.
“We have identified that providing services to individuals with disabilities at a very young age can offset a lifetime of need,” said Dan Stock, vice president of development. “For example, if you can identify at an early age an infant who isn’t able to track individuals walking across the room, it could be something as simple as a vision disorder or some similar malady, and merely providing a pair of glasses can make all the difference.”
Its top efforts include extensive services for children with autism spectrum disorder, where the number of reported cases of children with ASD in Nevada has jumped tenfold since 2000.
“Easter Seals Nevada is one of the pioneers in the field of autism,” said Stock, adding that the organization’s ASD home-based therapy — in which board-certified behavior analysts develop customized therapy plans with families that trained interventionists implement through one-on-one instruction — has been a hallmark since the local nonprofit’s genesis. “It’s very difficult for a parent to take a young autistic child to a treatment facility, and it’s very difficult for the child, who will be in an uncomfortable environment. In-home therapy is better received and increases actual therapeutic time.”
Stock said there are currently about 700 children in the in-home autism program, which includes physical, occupational and speech therapy, and also cognitive and motor-skills development.
Easter Seals Nevada also provides biweekly playgroups — instructed in English and Spanish — for toddlers with ASD, with an emphasis on activities that promote sensory and social development. Stock said playgroups are especially important because research has revealed that peers tend to have more influence than non-peers.
“Playgroups are a great way of teaching children with autism how to pick up on social cues,” he said. “For example, if one of the activities is (storytime), and the teacher tells the children to sit in a circle, some of them will completely ignore that directive. But when they see their peers getting in the circle, they will comply. Easter Seals Nevada also coordinates a free summer camp experience for 40 autistic children through Boy Scouts of America.”
On a national level, Stock said Easter Seals also broke new ground in the 1980s with the introduction of its “Make the First Five Count,” which helps parents and caregivers identify universal milestones that mark the journey of an infant through toddlerhood to preschooler. Parents can complete an “Ages and Stages” questionnaire that will help to recognize developmental disorders such as autism.
Easter Seals Nevada also provides adult day services whereby individuals with autism and other disabilities can participate in activities and therapies, and also has a community training center that teaches employable skills, as well as an employment solutions program.
“All Easter Seals programs revolve around a two-word mantra: independent living,” said Stock.
Easter Seals Nevada also provides services for veterans and their families to address the challenges associated with transitioning to civilian life. These services include employment assistance, in-home care and referrals for mental health treatment.
To further support Nevada veterans, the nonprofit coordinated the Veterans Summit in July, which included a morning roundtable panel discussion that included two dozen participants — Rep. Dina Titus and Rep. Joe Heck among them — as well as top players from Veterans Affairs and proponents of veterans’ employment rights. The afternoon event featured a poignant speech by Col. David W. Sutherland, co-founder and chairman of Easter Seals Dixon Center for Military and Veterans Services, and a nationally recognized authority on veteran and military family issues.
“It was a very moving presentation, and we brought tissues just in case,” said Stock, who went on to reiterate Easter Seals’ most distinguishing feature.
“What really sets us apart is our ability to provide services from birth to seniorhood.”
— Danielle Birkin
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Philanthropic Business of the Year - Private
The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas
Embodying core values that include conscience, courage, compassion and community, the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas strives to be “world aware” — cultivating meaningful appreciation, driving sustainable action and setting a new standard for how businesses and communities come together.
Cosmopolitan CoStars
Since opening December 2010, the resort’s approximately 5,000 employees, known as CoStars, have devoted time and energy toward volunteering in Southern Nevada. In 2015 alone, CoStars gave more than 15,000 hours to community service, more than double its efforts from two years prior. Pillars of support were concentrated on events and organizations assisting with learning and student enrichment, food and hunger relief, military and armed forces as well as LGBTQ-related causes.
In the areas of learning and student enrichment, the Cosmopolitan has strongly supported Communities in Schools of Nevada, the nation’s leading dropout prevention program, by working closely with its partner school, Cunningham Elementary. Also, the resort acts as the primary sponsor for the nonprofit’s main fundraiser, Harvest for Hope, donating more than $75,000 in time, resources and support. In recent years, CoStars visited the school for Junior Achievement of Southern Nevada’s “JA in a Day,” where they spent time teaching students financial literacy and real-world business lessons.
In addition, one of the resort’s executives created the Suite Holidays fundraiser for Junior Achievement. The event, now one of nonprofit’s major fundraisers, allows the public to tour high-end suites on the Las Vegas Strip that are not normally seen by most. The Cosmopolitan is also involved with providing food and hunger relief, donating 12 months’ worth of food, totaling $6,000, to Ronald McDonald House while providing a chef and CoStars from the resort to cook dinner monthly.
“Giving back to the community is important to the Cosmopolitan as a company because it’s very meaningful to each CoStar,” said Daniel Espino, senior vice president-people.
“CoStars are the foundation of our charitable strategy. They influence where we give and what we’re involved in, and this gives them another way to become a part of the resort aside from just working here. It provides a personal opportunity for each individual and many establish an emotional connection with these efforts.”
In addition, Espino said, “community is one of the resort’s core values, along with conscience, courage and compassion. As a company, we strive to be world aware – cultivating meaningful appreciation, driving sustainable action and setting a new standard for how businesses and communities come together to impact the greater good.”
For 2016, the company launched its Supporting Our Veterans Initiative, which helps veterans in Las Vegas that are transitioning from the military back to the workplace. Through this initiative, says Espino, “we’ve not only been able to continue to hire veterans but also have joined forces with local organizations to support veterans and their spouses that are in transition from the military back into the workforce. Efforts include educational workshops and special events that have been curated specifically to meet their unique needs. The resort has hosted large galas and events for various nonprofits. We recently hosted HRC’s annual gala for the first time and will also host two other major fundraisers with local charitable organizations this fall. ”
Cosmopolitan’s strategy for getting people involved in giving back, said Espino, is “to let our CoStars lead the way.”
Last year, the company presented 500 different opportunities to its CoStars on ways they can actively get involved with various nonprofits. “We also develop creative ways for our CoStars to get excited about the difference they’re making. For example, we have come up with a friendly competition between departments to see who can collect the most school supplies to donate to Communities in Schools’ Fill the Bus event, which we participate in yearly.”
What Espino is most excited about is that everyone steps in to participate, including leaders and executives. “It’s really a group effort. Recently, our CoStars stepped in during the We Stand with Orlando March in June. Our team members welcomed marchers with a cold bottle of water after their walk outside. Having everyone from front of house to executives get involved really resonated with the community.”
— Howard Riell
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Philanthropic Business of the Year - Private
Cox Communications
Cox Communications of Las Vegas, a provider of telecom services for the residential and commercial marketplace, believes its true distinguishing characteristics can be found in how it embraces its nearly 1,400 employees, how they reciprocate, and how they collectively affect Southern Nevada.
Cox Communications
For example, Cox has since 2007 awarded more than $1.2 million in grants to nonprofit organizations in Southern Nevada through its employee-led charitable giving program Cox Charities, including awarding $190,000 to 32 nonprofit organizations in 2016. Funds were generated through an annual employee workplace giving campaign and golf tournament and primarily support organizations that focus on children, families, education, diversity and the arts. The company gives approximately $3 million annually in cash, grants and in-kind services to dozens of local nonprofit organizations. In addition, Cox delivered approximately 10,000 PSA’s to local nonprofit organizations and business partnerships in 2015.
According to Michael Bolognini, Cox Las Vegas’ vice president and market leader, the company’s founder, James M. Cox, “left an incredible legacy of giving back to our country and communities that continues today.” In Southern Nevada, the James M. Cox Foundation has provided $25,000 to $50,000 to establish Cox Technology Centers at several units of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southern Nevada.
Employees support three annual company-wide initiatives: a canned food drive each fall to benefit the Salvation Army; a back-to-school supply drive each summer for the children at Olive Crest and a pet-needs drive to support the Animal Foundation each spring.
Cox Las Vegas offers a formalized volunteer program that provides opportunities to employees and allows each to seek their own endeavors separate from company recommendations. In 2015, Cox employees logged 24,662 volunteer community service hours, up from 13,000 volunteer hours in 2014.
The company’s Southern Nevada employees also play a big role in developing and supporting programs. For example, Cox’s Knowledge College initiative was created as a direct result of employees who said the company needed to take an active role in promoting STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) programs and educational efforts in the community, including sponsorship of the annual Las Vegas Science & Technology Festival and Cox Stars of Science contest for high school students.
Under the Cox Hearts for Arts program, the company moved to foster music outreach and education through the creation of the Cox Communications Young Artists’ Concerto Competition in partnership with the Las Vegas Philharmonic.
Cox has been recognized for the past eight years as the Top Operator for Women in the cable industry by Women in Cable Telecommunications and Cox has ranked among DiversityInc’s Top 50 Companies for Diversity 10 times, including the last nine years. The Cox Las Vegas Diversity Scholarships, targeted toward youth and education, has awarded more than $100,000 to 30 graduating local high school students in just the past three years.
Cox’s Connect2Compete program is open to families with K-12 children who receive support from the Federal Free School Lunch program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. In addition, Cox has partnered with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to support its ConnectHome initiative. Families with K-12 children who live in Public Housing, as well as K-12 families who receive Tenant-Based Vouchers, Project-Based Vouchers or Section 8 Project-Based Rental Assistance are eligible for Cox’s Connect2Compete discounted internet service offer.
Bolognini said that Cox Las Vegas’ greatest accomplishments in 2015 included exceeding the $1 million in giving through our employee-funded and managed Cox Charities program, “supporting our community through $3.3 million in cash, grants and in-kind contributions, and our employees volunteering 24,662 hours in our community.”
“We plan to award another $50,000 to two nonprofits following our annual Cox Charities Golf Tournament planned for October and break our 2015 employee volunteer hours record because our employees are wildly committed to helping improve our community through volunteerism and giving,” Bolognini said.
— Howard Riell
