This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it How do you go from an idea to a certified 501(c)(3) foundation in less than a year?  Hire the right team! 

Following planning work with the City of Boynton Beach, since April 2010, Charlotte Pelton & Associates has worked with The Greater Boynton Beach Foundation to turn a concept into a full-fledged community organization, complete with a board of directors, a strategic plan and its first ever "friend-raising" event. 

Most notably during this past year, less than a month after the Foundation submitted paperwork to the IRS, its Letter of Determination establishing the Foundation as a 501(c)(3) was received.  A solid plan, a clear mission and the right lawyer - working pro-bono - all contributed to the ease with which the group completed this process, which can often lag on for six months or more. 

The upcoming event, being held on Valentine's Day 2011, will support the Foundation's first initiative: the creation of a barrier-free playground in Boynton Beach.  The event will feature a groundbreaking ceremony at the Congress Avenue Park in Boynton Beach and will be followed by a champagne reception at Hunters Run Golf and Racquet Club clubhouse.  For more information about the Greater Boynton Beach Foundation and to learn about the event, visit www.boyntonfoundation.org.

Curious to see how Charlotte Pelton & Associate's team can turn your vision into reality?  Contact us today.  

September 14, 2010 -- CP&A helped client Urban Youth Impact, a faith-based outreach to West Palm Beach's inner-city, win a $50,000 grant for the organization along with a $5,000 scholarship for a student served by UYI from the Miami Dolphins Foundation and Sun Life Financial. 

At the same time, our client scored big with media coverage!  To celebrate the award and capture smiling faces of students meeting Dolphins players, the local NBC, CBS and FOX affiliates along with The Palm Beach Post and others came out.  To see a bit of the coverage, check out this short video here.

We are excited for Urban Youth Impact and were glad to have helped make this award and surrounding coverage possible. 

St. Mark’s Episcopal Church and School in Palm Beach Gardens “shook things up” Aug. 29, 2010, with a “groundshaking” to mark the start of construction of a new 18,000-square-foot youth center and gymnasium.

After the “3 – 2 – 1” countdown, officials and students depressed handles on five red “detonators,” and a 40-foot blast of green confetti shot to the sky.  The confetti blast came from four special-effects cannons hidden in a crate marked “Danger – Keep Away,” that was flanked by an engine from the Palm Beach Gardens Fire Department and a construction front-end loader.  Another confetti cannon showered the crowd of parishioners, school parents and students.

“This marks the beginning of the new St. Mark’s Church and School campus,” said the Rev. James B. Cook, rector.  The youth center and gymnasium is the first-phase of a multi-year project that will see major renovation of the church and school’s 11-acre site at the corner of Burns Road and Gardens East Drive.

“The new St. Mark’s youth center and gymnasium will enable church and school to increase its outreach and service to our community,” said Kay A. Carnes, head of school.  “Not only will students be able to participate in PE classes regardless of the weather and benefit from large locker and shower facilities, but the new facility will also more than double our space for youth ministries.  Plus it will give our St. Mark’s Lions basketball and volleyball teams ‘home court’ advantage for games!”

In his remarks, Rev. Cook thanked the St. Mark’s Parents Association, which, for the past several years, has earmarked the proceeds of its auctions and other fundraisers for the building fund.  That enabled construction to begin on the $3.1 million youth center and gymnasium without the need for additional fundraising.  The upcoming capital campaign will be directed toward Phase II construction on the main campus.

Palm Beach Gardens City Councilman Eric Jablin congratulated St. Mark’s for choosing to construct the new building as a LEED-Certified “green” youth center and gymnasium, the first in the county.

St. Mark’s was established in 1963 in an old farmhouse on Alternate A1A near Lighthouse Drive.  Its current location was purchased in 1964 and the first services were held in St. Mark’s Church on Easter Day 1965.  The church is now among the largest Episcopal churches in the United States.  Nearly 70,000 people worship at St. Mark’s each year.
St. Mark’s Episcopal School began as a preschool and kindergarten in 1976.  It now has nearly 500 students from 3-years-old through 8th grade and a staff of 80.

Kaufman Lynn Construction, Leo A. Daly Architects, Charlotte Pelton & Associates, Inc., and Stonegate Bank sponsored the groundshaking event.  Food Sponsors were Joseph's Classic Market, C.R. Chicks and Moe's Southwest Grill.

June 16, 2010 -- The Boynton Beach City Commission unanimously agreed to set aside $870,000 in park funds toward building a barrier-free park under the auspices of the Greater Boynton Beach Foundation.  Groundbreaking is planned for early 2011.  Click here to read a Palm Beach Post article on the park.

June 19, 2010 -- Urban Youth Impact's (www.urbanyouthimpact.com) board of directors and close friends have issued a $40,000 matching challenge grant to support the critical programming of the organization.  Every donation made towards this matching challenge by August 31st will be matched dollar-for-dollar and will ensure youth living in the most violent part of Palm Beach County will continue to have a safe place for after-school academic, social and character enrichment, summer programs and work opportunities.