Indianapolis is My Home

02
Aug

Indianapolis Teen on USA Olympic Gymnastics Team

Author: Jason Bean, Category: Carmel, Charities, Local Residents, Sports, Students

Did you know we have an Olympic Gymnast in our town? Bridget Sloan is from Carmel and she will be representing the United States in Beijing, China along with the other members of the USA Gymnastics Team.

Now the question is how would you feel if it were your daughter that was representing the United States in the Olympics, in China, and you couldn’t afford to take yourself over there? That’s the challenge that faces Bridget’s parents and you can help. You can visit Bridget’s home gym website and donate money to their efforts to send her parents to China.

You can get more information about how you can support their efforts as a family or if you’re a business and would like to help you can get that information as well.

Visit their website at www.sharpsboosters.org

20
Jun

Jon McLaughlin at the Hard Rock Cafe

Author: Jason Bean, Category: Chain Restaurants, Charities, Concerts, Downtown, Radio Now 100.9

A few days ago I wrote about Jon McLaughlin putting on a little concert at the Hard Rock Cafe in downtown Indianapolis. The concert was a re-opening of the Hard Rock Cafe Indianapolis with all new memorabilia as well as a fund raiser for Riley Children’s Hospital here in the city.

It was a great live concert. Thanks to a friend I’d only met online I found out it was a “closed” event, but we were both able to work some magic (THANKS SARAH!) and get some passes to the event to see Jon live. It really turned out well for both of us. I got to see Jon McLaughlin in concert live for the first time and my friend ended up winning a Gibson Epiphone guitar that was signed by Jon and the rest of the band.

This is Kyle and Sarah (in the purple dress) and another lady that worked for Hard Rock up in Chicago, but I didn’t catch her name.

If it hadn’t been for our great waitress, Megan, Kyle would have never won the guitar, but she was persistent and convinced Kyle to purchase some raffle tickets.

Read Kyle’s recollection of the events and see more photos at Jon McLaughlin, A Sweet Waitress and a Gibson Guitar.

A few thoughts about the night. The new memorabilia was really cool. Lots of great stuff if you love rock music and haven’t been to Hard Rock Cafe in awhile, it’s time to check it out again.

One thing I was thinking about during the performance is that it would have been nice if there was a live camera feed to the various LCD panel TV’s (which are actually in need of being updated) that are mounted on the walls in the restaurant. It’s true that Jon was right in front of us, but having a camera that could zoom in on the close-up of his hands as he masterfully played the keys would have been sweet!

I also ran into a good friend of mine, Nate, that works for the Riley Children’s Foundation. His team put on a great event and raised some great money for charity as well. If you’d be interested in finding out how you can help the foundation yourself, visit their website or let me know and I’ll put you in touch with Nate.

I also got to meet Scotty Davis of Radio NOW 100.9 Morning Drive fame. He’s recently new to Indianapolis after moving down here for the gig at 100.9. He’s from Minnesota, but now calls Indianapolis “home” as well. Seemed like a great, down to earth guy who’s really getting to enjoy the city. It’s too bad he had to head out a little early that night, but part of his job on the morning show calls him to be up at 3am. Just about the time I’m heading to bed!

Jon’s going to be performing again tonight in Indianapolis as part of the Indianapolis Colts FanFest events. I’ll be posting about it later.

03
Jun

ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition Coming to Indiana

Author: Jason Bean, Category: Areas, Charities, Families, Local Media, People, Real Estate, Volunteers

Do you know a real local hero in our community? The producers at ABC’s Extreme Makeover Home Edition are looking for a family and a home to feature in their TV show.

I just saw this post from Roger at I Choose Indy and thought I’d spread the news.

I know a family that might be a great one to feature on the show, I’ll talk to some friends about nominating them.

If you’re familiar with the show then you probably also know they’ll be needing some volunteers. We’ll keep our eyes and ears open for more information.

11
Feb

Free Pancakes at IHOP Tomorrow

Author: Jason Bean, Category: Business, Chain Restaurants, Charities, Dining

If you’re near an IHOP tomorrow, stop on in and get yourself some free pancakes. It’s all to help support the Children’s Miracle Network, so unless you’re a complete mooch, a donation would be great!

03
Jan

Hoosiers Among Those in Kenyan Turmoil

Author: Jason Bean, Category: Charities, General, Government, Indianapolis History, News, People, Politics, Volunteers

When news about Kenya arrives via the TV or Internet, I perk up a little more now than in the past. I’ve got a couple of web clients that are either directly located in Kenya or have strong ties to the area. My parents have been in some of the areas that are at the epicenter of these riots and turmoil as well. After college I had the opportunity to live in Nairobi and work for an undetermined amount of time at a local university there.

I came across an article in the IndyStar today that also let me know there are a number of Hoosiers that are also in the midst of the political strife happening right now in that country.

“I took heart in an ER this morning when I no longer needed to step over a body,” wrote Indiana University’s Dr. Joe Mamlin, who works at Moi University School of Medicine in the western Kenyan city of Eldoret, where about 50 people were burned alive Tuesday inside a church where they had sought shelter.

Hopefully things will calm down and everyone can get home safely. Hopefully the people and government of Kenya can get their own arms around this situation and determine the best solution to bring peace back to their country as well.

News Story: Dozens of Hoosiers stuck in Kenya
Photo Credit: Yahoo News

05
Dec

Annual WZPL Make A Wish Request-a-thon Shoots for $200K

Author: Jason Bean, Category: Business, Charities, Local Media, Special Events, Volunteers, WZPL 99.5

I don’t listen to 99.5 WZPL as much as I used to but I always appreciated their Annual Make A Wish request-a-thon. It’s probably because back about the time they started doing it I was a volunteer for the Make A Wish organization here in Indianapolis and had an interest in other businesses that were also assisting with the efforts of the MAW organization.

We’ve set our most ambitious goal ever this year — $200,000 in 36-hours!  Our friends and longtime Make A Wish supporters at Applebee’s Neighborhood Bar & Grill, UAW/GM, Panera Bread, and eTapestry have made significant pledges.  But, your help is what makes the difference!  Are you ready to share the power of a wish?

Every dollar counts towards the goal.  Take a few minutes to collect money around the office, school, or with your friends and donate as a group.  You can join the Wishmakers Club to spread a larger donation over the whole year.  And, of course, you can make a wacky request with your donation of $25 or more (we receive thousands of requests and will play as many as we can, it’s a lot of fun to play your requests but the Request-a-thon is more about helping children and their families get through a difficult time).

Take a moment tomorrow and for the rest of the week to switch on over to 99.5 and here the stories of some of the children and volunteers that have been rewarded by their involvement with this great organization. Oh, and why not call up and have them play your favorite song that doesn’t make the airwaves much anymore.

31
Jul

Petty Thieves Steel $100 Copper and Ruin $500,000 in Food

Author: Jason Bean, Category: Charities, News, Volunteers

If you live in the Indianapolis area close enough to pick-up a local radio station, you’ve probably heard the news today about Gleaners Food Bank.

This past Friday, thieves stripped and stole the copper from refrigeration units at the bank’s location causing their freezers and coolers to malfunction. The malfunction in-turn caused almost $500,000 in perishable food to be lost.

It takes Gleaners almost a year of dedicated work to raise that much money or collect that much food, and these thieves stole about $100 in copper for recycling, not even touching the food. Honestly, they probably didn’t even realize or think about what they were doing or the impact at the time.

99.5 WZPL is one of the local radio stations that are very active in helping out where they can for Gleaners. They sent the information below out to their Freeloaderz network.

People here in Indianapolis could go hungry unless we get your help today!  You can help by making a cash donation to Gleaners Food Bank today, or a food donation at one of our three broadcast locations starting Wednesday morning. 

Donate by cash or check payable to “WZPL Gleaners Help Fund” at any branch location of Fifth Third Bank.  You can use your credit card or debit card to donate money online through our secure website by clicking here.

Wednesday, starting at 6:00am, the Smiley Morning Show will broadcast live from the Marsh at 2904 South State Road 135 in Greenwood.  Bring any food donation — canned, boxed, jarred, bottled, jugged, even perishables!

WZPL is competing with our two other Entercom Communications sister radio stations to raise the most food and money donations.  If the south side is not convenient for you Wednesday, please visit one of the other two donation points and drop off whatever you can to help:

Ann Duran & 107.9 The Track at the Marsh in Fishers (116th Street & Allisonville Road).
Abdul & Newstalk 1430 WXNT-AM at the Marsh in Trader’s Point (86th Street & 465).

Thank you!  Together, with your help, we can get Gleaners Food Bank up and running again quickly.  If you have any information about the theft at Gleaners, please call the Crimestoppers Tipline at 262-TIPS or contact the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.

31
Jul

Rebuilding the Wall

Author: Jason Bean, Category: Business, Charities, General, Real Estate, Volunteers

At one of my previous jobs a couple of years ago, I was able to participate in a charity work day for an organization called Rebuilding the Wall.

They basically revitalize urban homes and sell or give them to families in the inner city to help them reclaim the neighborhoods and give the family a fresh start with a great new home.

The mission of Rebuilding the Wall, Inc. is to stabilize and empower low-income families by renovating vacant inner city properties and giving the families the opportunity for homeownership.  We combat social injustice by building relationships across racial and socio-economic barriers; and we stabilize community by the recycling of resources within the neighborhood.

As I said, I participated in a one-day work session to help renovate a house. I signed up for their e-mail list and have stayed connected to some of their efforts, even though I haven’t set aside the time to do another event with them.

I think I’m going to present the opportunity to my life group to see if they’d be interested in taking on a project across a few different Saturdays coming up.

If you’ve got a heart for the inner city and are connected with a group of individuals that would be interested in volunteering a few hours or days of your time, I really encourage you to contact Chris Provence or one of the other people involved directly with this organization.