Donated by:  Kevin Welby                                       Value: $3000

2.     DINING FOR SIX AT CAFÉ FRESCO & MARTINI GLASSES

Gather your friends for an evening and experience a customized dinner for six at Café Fresco in East Greenwich.  You will be treated to a three course meal you select with the Chef, which includes culinary creations of Italian origins using fresh local seafood, veal, beef, pastas, and risottos.  The atmosphere is casual bistro style.  Alcohol and gratuity are not included.  Also included are two Swarovski martini glasses!

Donated by:  Tony Morales & Jack Waldron, Swarovski         Value: $600

3.     STAY OVERNIGHT AFTER THE GAME

You have the chance to bid on four tickets to see Red Sox live at Fenway Park.  The game is on June 5th at 7:05PM and the tickets are for 3 rows behind the Visitor’s Dug Out!  No need to worry about finding parking – these tickets come with a parking pass!   This package also includes an overnight stay at the Marriott at Copley Square along with receiving a fleece Red Sox blanket for the game!

Donated by:  Joe McGonagle, Marriott, Donna LoMastro             Value:  $750

4.     SUNDAY RIVER SKI PACKAGE

A three night stay at the Grand Summit Hotel.  Ski in Ski out sleeps 8.  Two lift tickets each day are included.  A lovely setting slope side with pool and hot tub.  Saturday night fireworks!  Availability:  Dec. 18-21, Dec. 24-27, and Mar. 19-22.    Ski Market Family Fun Pack:  Family of four weekend rental equipment!

Donated by:  Dr. & Mrs. Marshall Carpenter, Kevin Murphy/Ski Market    Value:   $1800

5.     CARNEGIE ABBEY GOLF DAY WITH ZACHARY DARROW

This great package includes a round of Golf for 3 people at the prestigious Carnegie Abbey Country Club on any Monday or Tuesday between May 1st and September 1st 2009 with Zachary Darrow.  It also includes caddy fees and The Golf Buddy Pro GPS Range Finder!

Donated by:  Darrow Everett, LLP , Jim DiMarino/Warwick CC                   Value:   $1300

6.     PATRIOTS GAME

You have a chance to bid on four tickets to a Patriots game including an overnight stay; the game will be determined once the schedule is released.  Also included in this package is a football signed by Tedy Bruschi, one night stay at the Residence Inn – Foxboro, MA and a fleece Patriots blanket.

Donated by:  Kevin Welby, Eric Chalmers/Marriott, Donna LoMastro     Value:   $750

7.     WORKING IT OUT

This wonderful package offers a framed, autographed photo of Mohammed Ali.  Also included is a one-year membership to World Gym in Seekonk and 2, one-hour personal training sessions with Mike Malone, and also includes the full use of an indoor pool club!  There’s a $100 gift certificate towards dinner at the Luxury Box included!

Donated by:  Community First Bank Loan Services, World Gym, Mike Malone, Luxury Box

Value:  $1500

8.     BASEBALL RIVAL TICKETS

Three tickets in July for the Red Sox!  Four tickets in September for the Yankees.  Mix it up!!  A framed, autographed photo of Derek Jeter in also included. Red Sox - July 30th at 1:35PM Yankees - Sept. 28th at 7:05PM.

Donated by: John Blackmar, Joe Silva, Deb Colagiovanni            Value: $500

9.     A DAY ON THE LINKS

What could be better than a relaxing day of golf at scenic Warwick Country Club overlooking Narragansett Bay?  Jim Drumm will be the host for a member three guest tournament.  Lunch, dinner and prizes (if you win) included.  This package also includes a one-hour free evaluation at GolfTec.

Donated by:  Jim Drumm, Wayne Daniel            Value: PRICELESS!!!

10.   GUY’S NIGHT OUT

Cigar Masters is offering a Cigar and Scotch Tasting and Education evening for 10 people.  Learn about the artistry of cigars.  Join your friends or colleagues as you enjoy scotch, cigars, and high society living with instructions from the best in the business!  Included in this amazing package is a Villiger Stokkebye Cigar Humidor!!

Donated by: Cigar Masters/Jeremy Soares, Villiger Stokkebye/Susan Soares

Value:  $1500

11.   CASA DE CAMPO GETAWAY

Get ready for a tropical getaway to the Dominican Republic!  This package includes a one-week stay in a 3-bedroom condo at the Casa de Campo.  Staff is available to serve breakfast and lunch.  Dates negotiable – Christmas, Easter, and Sugar Tournament dates are excluded.  Air and Tax excluded.

Donated by:  Don and Yolanda Creamer                             Value:  $4000

12.   IN THE GYM WITH RANDY STEVENS

Nationally known artist, Randy Stevens has created an original mixed media artwork entitled “IN THE GYM” that will add a whimsical touch to any home décor.  Let this art piece inspire you to get to the gym with a one-year membership to World’s Gym, which includes the full use of an indoor pool club!

Donated by:  Randy Stevens, World’s Gym                               Value:  $800

Some skaters spun in circles, some latched on to each other to form a train, while some just glided on the ice but all with the same goal: to raise money for Skate for Joy at the first skate-a-thon held at St. George’s School in Middletown, RI on January 25, 2009.

The skate-a-thon offered people the opportunity to skate to raise money for Skate for Joy, a non-profit organization that teaches underserved youth of all backgrounds to skate. The event included over 50 participants skating; Kim Zandy from 92 Pro FM set up a table playing music and had a wheel to spin for a chance at prizes; and a raffle, which featured prizes ranging from a hockey stick signed by the Boston Bruins to Providence Bruins tickets. There was also a chance to meet Sara DeCosta, who is an Olympic gold medalist hockey goalie.

Founder and Executive Director of Skate for Joy, Carolyn Drumm, thought the event was very nice and very well organized. This was the first skate-a-thon the organization has held and Salve Regina University’s Dr. Traci Warrington and her Marketing Strategies classes helped organize the event. Drumm would like this to be an annual event held in January. Drumm said she was gracious for “Sara DeCosta taking the time posing with the Olympic medals… St. George’s for stepping up in a big way… and Traci Warrington of Salve Regina University and her class.”  St. George’s School provided the ice time for this event, as well as ice time for the Skate for Joy program this fall.

Additionally, Salve Regina University’s American Marketing Association received a $1,000 American Marketing Association Foundation (AMAF) Collegiate Chapter Community Service Grant for SRU’s AMA to use to market the event. “The American Marketing Association Foundation (AMAF) is pleased to provide support to the Salve Regina University American Marketing Association Skate for Joy Skate-A-Thon.  The AMAF’s mission is to be an essential resource to nonprofits, helping them achieve greater success through effective marketing.  As the nonprofit philanthropic arm of the American Marketing Association (AMA), the AMAF also champions and supports excellence in marketing and diversity in the marketing profession.”

After the skate-a-thon, there was an award given to the individual and team, who raised the most money. The Herbert J. Kaplan, Jr. Philanthropy Award was awarded to Mariel Guay, of North Scituate, RI, who individually raised $225 for the organization, and The Lincoln School volunteers Corey Fitzgerald and Rachael Kerzer, who as a team raised $265. Guay is a senior at Salve Regina University where she majors in Marketing, and minors in Sports Management and Business Administration, and is a two-year captain of the University’s ice hockey team. “I heard about Skate for Joy in my Marketing Strategies class with Dr. Warrington, and as skating is a passion of mine I wanted to get really involved.  Being from Rhode Island I had a lot of contacts throughout the state and made them a part of the organization,” said Guay.

Currently, Skate for Joy’s Providence program uses an outside venue, and therefore is looking for inside ice time when the program ends the second week of March. As for the off season, Drumm plans “expansion of the organization and building relationships in communities.”

For more information visit the website www.skateforjoy.com or contact Carolyn Drumm at carolyndrummsfj@yahoo.com

# # #

Carolyn Drumm, a former professional figure skater, was inspired by an Oprah Winfrey show that urged people to use their own special skills to help others. Initially, Drumm arranged for skating lessons at the outdoor skating rink in downtown Providence. Seven years later, the program has expanded to the Sovereign Family Skating Center in Newport and St. George’s School in Middletown.

It’s a luxury to give lessons indoors, Drumm said, and we imagine it is a real treat for underpriveleged children not only to learn how figure skate and play ice hockey — neither of which are cheap hobbies or sports — but to do so in as nice an arena as the Cabot/Harman Ice Center at St. George’s.

The program, which also incorporates “life-skills” speakers, such as Ryan Mulhern, the varsity boys hockey coach at St. George’s, will be holding a fundraiser on Sunday at 2 p.m. We hope local skaters will turn out in force to support such a good cause.

http://www.newportdailynews.com/articles/2009/01/19/editorial/doc49746e54e7012163650970.txt

Like millions of Americans, Carolyn Drumm watches Oprah Winfrey’s show when she can. And because she does, youngsters in Providence and Newport are reaping the rewards.

Seven years ago, after watching an Oprah segment entitled “Use Your Life,” Drumm had what she called “a light-bulb moment.” The show urged people to use their own special skills to help others. Drumm, a former professional figure skater, was inspired to create “Skate For Joy,” a not-for-profit program designed to teach underprivileged children how to ice skate.
“I was working for my husband’s construction company at the time,” Drumm recalled recently. “When I saw that show, I said, ‘Gee, I used to be a pretty good skater at one time. Why don’t I do something with that?’”

At the time, her husband’s company was doing some work at the Urban League of Rhode Island headquarters in Providence. Drumm spoke to officials there and arranged to take some children down to the outdoor skating rink in downtown Providence. The program, which offers instruction for figure skating and ice hockey, has been running in the capital city for seven years.

After a half-hour of instruction, kids get another half-hour of free skating under the watchful eyes of the volunteer instructors. At the end of the eight-week program, children are tested. Those that pass can be moved up to a higher level of instruction, Drumm said. All skaters are invited to attend an end-of-the-year banquet, where they receive graduation badges.

The program also offers scholarships and grants to young skaters, she said.

The program is about more than just skating, though. Drumm said organizers also bring in a “life-skills speaker” to talk to the kids.

“The message is that if you want to play hockey, you have to do well in school,” Drumm said. Last year, an official at St. George’s School in Middletown read about Drumm’s program and asked if she would be interested in running the program at the school’s rink. Drumm quickly agreed. It was a luxury, she said, to give the lessons indoors.

“They gave us the red-carpet treatment here,” Drumm said of St. George’s.

On Sunday, Jan. 25, Skate For Joy will hold a Skate-A-Thon at the St. George’s rink to raise money for the program. Skaters will try to raise money through pledges. All money raised will go to the program, Drumm said.

Send reporter Joe Baker e-mail at Baker@NewportRI.com.

Among the guests who came to help celebrate the office grand opening, were several supporters such as Two-time Olympic Goalie, Sara DeCosta Hayes, an Honorary Board Member for Skate For Joy and Kevin Boryczki, Vice President of Marketing for the Providence Bruins.    One of the highlights of the evening was receiving a Citation from The Honorable David N. Cicilline.  The Citation was given in recognition of the tremendous value Skate For Joy’s skating program brings to the underprivileged youth of our community.  To learn more about this wonderful program, we encourage you to visit our Website at www.skateforjoy.org  to see the joy that this program brings to the children!

###

Providence, R.I.—SKATE FOR JOY, a Providence, R.I.-based program that teaches ice skating and hockey to low-income, under-served youth, will hold an open registration on Tuesday, Sept. 30, from 3-5 p.m. at the Cabot/Harman Ice Center at St. George’s School in Middletown, R.I.
The program, which targets children who otherwise would not have the opportunity to lace-up skates in a high-quality, after-school program, has met every Thursday for the past five years, with ice time donated by the Bank of America City Center. Last year, more than 85 inner-city children, ages 5-16, were registered in the U.S. Figure Skating Basic Skills Program.
“The partnership with St. George’s School, which is so generously donating ice for our program, marks Skate For Joy’s first statewide expansion,” said Carolyn Drumm, a former competitive figure skater and Skate For Joy’s founder and executive director. The board of directors, volunteers and supporting partners are thrilled to bring our program to the Greater Newport area.”  Children from the Martin Luther King Center and Child And Family will be participating in Tuesday’s program.  In addition, there are 20 open slots available on a first-come, first-served basis. Instructions, skates, helmets and sweatshirts ALL will be provided free of charge. To learn more about the program, please visit www.skateforjoy.org or contact Carolyn Drumm at 401-751-4569.

-30-

(PROVIDENCE, R.I.) — The Rotunda Room at Cafe Nuovo was the setting for the fifth annual Skate For Joy fundraiser on Friday April 4, which raised over $30,000.00.    This unique non-profit organization is the only one of it’s kind in Rhode Island that teaches the U.S. Figure Skating basic skills program in figure skating and hockey to disadvantaged youth in a high quality, after-school program.  A record 85 children, ages 3 to 16, and mostly from the city of Providence, were registered this past season.

Governor and  Mrs. Carcieri served as Honorary Chairpersons.  Live Auctioneer and TV personality Gene Valicenti gave generously of his time and talent, while getting supporters to bid high. Highlights included original artwork from Randy Stevens, a mixed media pastels called  TAXI TAXI which sold for $1,800.00.  Two sets of Red Sox tickets which went for $900.00 each.  Dinner for eight, cooked in your home by the General manager of  Ruths Chris Steak House, Kevin Gaudreau which sold for $1,400.00.

Founder and executive director, Carolyn Drumm, was thrilled to formally announce that the organization will be going state-wide next season with donated ice from Saint Georges School in Middletown, R.I.  “This is an exciting opportunity to offer expensive sports like figure skating and hockey to low-income children from the greater Newport area” she said.  ” After six long years of searching for inside, consistent ice to run our program, our prayers have finally been answered.  We appreciate the generousity of St. George’s School as we strive to replicate the success  we’ve had in Providence for the past six years.”

Skate For Joy also has a new office located at 76 Dorrance Street in downtown Providence.  Be sure to check out the website at:  www.skateforjoy.org.

Skate For Joy is a unique 501(c)(3).  It offers disadvantaged youth an opportunity to learn the U.S. Figure Skating basic skills in figure skating and hockey.

Honorary Chairpersons for this event are The Honorable and Mrs. Donald L. Carcieri.  Co-Chairs are Donna Bokor and Joan Redmond.

This year’s event will be hosting a cocktail party with hors’ d’oeuvres, cash bar, silent auction and a live auction featuring Channel 10’s Gene Valicenti.

Tickets for this event are $50.00 per person.  To purchase tickets please contact Donna at 401-742-8287 or Joan at 401-301-1498.  For detailed Corporate Sponsorships please visit  www.skateforjoy.org.

COME JOIN IN THE FUN!!