Washington, D.C. – Twilight Wish Foundation, a Bucks county-based national nonprofit, charitable organization, recently presented at the annual Pioneer Network Conference held in late August in Washington, DC. Cass Forkin, founder and executive director of Twilight Wish, and Jim Kinsey, board member of Twilight Wish, co-presented “Changing the Culture of Aging…One Wish at a Time.” Their presentation focused on the importance of honoring the spirit and contributions of the elderly through wish grantings and intergenerational participation, changing the culture of aging in America. The question “If you could have one wish, anything what would it be? Now, imagine you are in a nursing home, limited contact and mobility…how would you make that wish come true?” was posed to their audience.

The Pioneer Network, based in Rochester, NY, is at the forefront of changing the culture of aging and long-term care of elders in America. Their annual conference brought together over 1,500 participants including leaders of the national long-term care organizations whose actions are transforming the culture of aging, including Twilight Wish Foundation. Twilight Wish’s Forkin and Kinsey presented an overview of the foundation’s programs, including their pilot Intergenerational Caring Program which brings together local schools and nursing homes in a wish granting program that connects the two generations.

Twilight Wish Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable organization that grants wishes to seniors who are over 68 years old and have an income of less than 200% of poverty level annually, or about $20,800, or who cannot make their own wishes come true. The mission of Twilight Wish is to honor and enrich the lives of deserving elders through individual wish granting events connecting generations. In the five years since its founding in 2003, Twilight Wish Foundation has fulfilled the wishes of over 1,000 seniors and recognized another 1,080 in celebratory events, thanks to volunteers, corporate and community involvement and donations.

Recently granted wishes include a birthday celebration with an Elvis impersonator, a ride in a biplane, and a golf cart for a convent of retired nuns. The wishes granted range from simple, dinner with a friend, to the more elaborate, meeting a favorite baseball player or flying a World War II veteran to the memorial in Washington, D.C. Twilight Wish Foundation would not be able to continue the mission of making the lives of senior citizens brighter without volunteers, corporate and community donations and involvement.

For more information on Twilight Wish Foundation, visit the website at www.twilightwish.org.

71-Year-Old Widow Qualifies for World Cup in Sabre Fencing,
Twilight Wish Grants Her Wish to Attend Competition in Limoges, France

Louisville, KY – Louisa Felty, 71, qualified for the World Cup to represent the United States in sabre fencing. The Louisville, Kentucky resident is currently ranked first in the nation in the Veteran 60+ division of the U.S. Fencing Association and eligible to represent the U.S. at the competition in October to be held in Limoges, France. Unfortunately, Louisa’s husband passed away in May and Louisa used the money she had saved for the trip to pay for his funeral. National nonprofit Twilight Wish Foundation is helping Louisa make the trip to France to compete. This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for Louisa and one that she has earned through her hard work and dedication.

Twilight Wish Foundation is a charitable organization whose mission is to honor and enrich the lives of deserving elders through individual wish granting events connecting generations. Louisa’s daughter, Sandra Felty, submitted a wish application on her behalf, writing, “She is an inspiration to all senior citizens because she shows that just because you are over 65, it doesn’t mean that you can’t still excel at a sport and be competitive.”

Louisa has competed in fencing since 1958! Over the years, she taught many underprivileged schoolchildren for free and helped many of them to qualify for college athletic scholarships. Louisa also coached the U.S. Paralympic Team and has volunteered for the Special Olympics, serving as both an assistant coach and judge. Louisa is the oldest person in the world to win a silver medal in sabre fencing. Her flight leaves for France on September 30, 2008 and she returns on October 6, 2008. Her competition date is October 5, 2008 in Limoges.

Louisa’s wish will be the 1,015th wish granted by Twilight Wish Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable organization whose mission is to honor and enrich the lives of deserving elders through wish granting events connecting generations. Since our founding in 2003, Twilight Wish has granted over 1,000 individual wishes to deserving, low-income seniors, thanks to volunteers, corporate and community involvement, and donations. Recent wishes granted include a ride in a fighter jet for a Vietnam veteran, a visit to the White House for a nursing home resident, and the chance to dance with the Rockettes for a once paralyzed senior. For more information on Twilight Wish Foundation, visit the website at www.twilightwish.org or call 1-215-230-8777.

Running Dates: 10/6/08-10/29/08

PLEASE COME:
Opening: Monday, October 13, 2008 at 6 p.m.- (Columbus Day)

Location:
Holy Family University Gallery
Lower Level
John M. Perzel Education
Technology Center
9801 Frankford Avenue
Philadelphia, PA
215-637-7700

Six Women: Six Perspectives features work by six women: Bonnie MacAllister (local, graduate of C.B. West in 1995) Jane Craven, Kathy Dobash, Meredith McDonald, Sonia Sherrod, and Michelle Wilson.

CLICK HERE FOR THE POSTCARD IMAGE:
http://bonnie-macallister.blogspot.com/2008/08/six-women-six-perspectives-postcard.html

Bonnie MacAllister is an artist, author, and educator. She has most recently exhibited at the Utopian Library in Viareggio, Italy and in la Galería del MEC, Montevideo, Uruguay (along with Michelle Wilson). She is currently exhibiting with the Women’s Caucus for Art DC Chapter in Tacoma Park, MD. Her work for this exhibition explores Catholicism and identity through a feminist lens.

Jane Craven is a graduate of the sculpture MFA program at the University of the Arts. She holds a BFA and teacher certification from Moore College of Art. Her two and three-dimensional work is compelling. She most recently installed “Sculptoure”: a site-specific installation in Long Branch, New Jersey. Craven will show mixed media, clay, and
plaster work at Holy Family.

Kathy Dobash is a Luzerne County artist and an art educator. She has been an artist her whole life. Kathy is known as the artist-in-residence in the historic Markle Building. Renovating a century old ceiling in this building has inspired Kathy to create a new series of work. Dobash brings mixed media and oil pastel work to this exhibition.

Meredith McDonald holds a Master in Teaching Visual Arts from the University of the Arts and has studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Arts. She is a 2008 recipient of the Leeway Foundation Art and Change Grant which funds women in the arts in Philadelphia. An accomplished artist, Meredith brings intriguing new oil work to Holy Family University.

Sonia Sherrod describes her craft, “As an assemblage artist, I try to re-create beauty or relativity out of the discarded, broken, and abandoned found objects juxtaposed with my own original 2-d art, old photographs, and words. These constructions explore the relativeness of color, shadows, and shape as well as compartmentalizing thematic associations of still-life, portrait, and landscape....empty, full, crowded and sparse, revealing and withholding within a narrative context.” She has exhibited widely including Festival of the Masters in Orlando, Florida and the Manchester National Juried Fine Art Exhibition in Richmond VA. Sherrod will exhibit new assemblages in “Six Women: Six Perspectives.

Michelle Wilson is the creator of Rocinante Press and the Migratory Books Project. Michelle describes her art forms, “In my work, I seek to reveal the stories of unseen connections and unconsidered issues that are connected to the experience of the human condition. Through the use of intersecting narratives that become reflective metaphors for each other, I examine political, historical and ecological links.” Her work is widely collected and exhibited in the United States and abroad.

In this exhibition, Wilson will show lithograph inclusion in handmade cotton/abaca paper.

http://bonnie-macallister.blogspot.com/

The County of Bucks and the Bucks County Satellite group of the Greater Philadelphia Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners present: A FREE State and WBENC* Certification Workshop, Wednesday, October 15, 2008 from 8:30 AM to 12:00 Noon. Limited to 1st 25 people to respond.

Having your business certified qualifies you to bid on government contracts as a primary or secondary vendor and to take advantage of a network of free resources and information.

It will be located at the Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center of Bucks County, Room 100/101 For more information contact Sonia Smith at 215-345-3839 or [email protected]

Basic Requirements for Attendance:
Your business must be:
• 51% minimum owned and controlled by qualified minorities and/or women.
• (A woman/minority must hold highest position in company.),
• A small business concern (no more than 100 employees),
• Owned by US citizen or citizens,•
• In business for 1 year minimum,•
• Independent of any other business entity/entities
• A for-profit business,
• Headquartered in Pennsylvania (out of state businesses can get
• certified, but they must obtain their home-state certification first), and Woman/minority owners must have both management control and
• operational control of business.

You must:
Download and complete the certification forms prior to the date of the event. at www.nawbophila.org

Pre-registration is required; however, there is no charge to attend the workshop. Register early... previous workshops were sold-out events!

The Hepatitis B Foundation, a world-class nonprofit research organization headquartered in Doylestown, Pa., has appointed Gang Chen, Ph.D., as its new Associate Director for Public Health.

Dr. Chen will help lead the Foundation’s new public health research initiatives in the U.S. and China which include rigorous epidemiological studies and community-based programs to advance the care of those affected by chronic hepatitis B.

“Dr. Chen’s extensive public health experience in hepatitis B will help drive our efforts to address the needs among communities most affected by hepatitis B,” said Joan Block, Hepatitis B Foundation Executive Director. “His personal and professional dedication to the prevention and control of hepatitis B and liver cancer will significantly advance our Foundation’s mission to help all those affected.”

Prior to joining the Foundation, Dr. Chen was a Research Associate and Project Manager for the Department of Epidemiology at the Drexel University School of Public Health in Philadelphia. He also served as a Senior Project Manager for the International Collaborative Research on Liver Cancer at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. During the 10-year international project, Dr. Chen helped develop and evaluate all field work protocols for the largest prospective cohort study of hepatitis B and liver cancer in the world.

Dr. Chen earned his M.D., M.S., and Ph.D., in Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology at Shanghai Medical University in China. He has served as a volunteer principal of the Guang Hua Chinese School in Philadelphia, volunteer president of the Fox Chase Cancer Center Chinese Scholars Association in Philadelphia, and volunteer consultant for the Haimen City Center for Disease Control and Prevention in China.

A member of the United States Tennis Association, Dr. Chen participates in tennis and table tennis matches. He is a resident of Warrington, Pa., and enjoys spending time with his wife and two children and volunteering at community events.

About the Hepatitis B Foundation: The Hepatitis B Foundation is the only national nonprofit organization solely dedicated to finding a cure and improving the quality of life for those affected with hepatitis B worldwide through research, education and patient advocacy. The Foundation is located in the Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center, which it created to accelerate its research mission. For more information, please visit www.hepb.org or call (215) 489-4900.