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THE MICHIGAN CHRONICLE

Do you have a heart on your

March 31-April 6, 2010

‘Donate Life Month’

driver’s license or state identi- fication card?

If you do, that means you

have signed up to be an organ, tissue and eye donor.

If you don’t, then Secretary

of State Terri Lynn Land and her partners at Gift of Life Michigan, the Michigan Eye- Bank and Hospice of Michi- gan want to encourage you to get one by adding your name to the Michigan Organ Donor Registry.

April is nationally recog-

ERROL SERVICE (left), sponsor with students Emmanuel Clark, Kiera Mosby and Mystical Allen.

nized as “Donate Life Month,” and Land and her partners will be promoting organ, tissue and eye donation in Michigan with a news conference, Secretary of State “Buddy Day,” Twitter and e-mail messages, public service announcements and a Shining Star award. A Shining Star is given to acknowledge outstanding efforts to promote organ, tissue and eye dona- tion.

“One organ donor can

bring the gift of life to nearly 50 people,” Land said. “It’s amazing how one simple act can touch so many lives.”

To enroll on the state Organ

Donor Registry, visit the De- partment of State Web site at www.Michigan.gov.sos or visit any Secretary of State office.

PRINCIPAL Brenda Parker with some of the student artists.

Timbuktu Academy student art exhibition displayed in Fisher Building

Academy of Science and Technology’s

Fine Arts Program were re- cently invited to display their art works in the lobby of the Fisher Building. The exhibit’s theme, “Dreaming Bigger than Before,” was coordinated by the Nia Arts Program.

The program was estab-

lished by Timbuktu Academy to provide children attend- ing the school and children in the local community the opportunity to participant in creating numerous visual art forms. Marygrove College has provided a grant to sup- port infusing art in the third and fourth grades. The pro- gram is coordinated by Mrs. Fearby Willingham, who is well known in the arts community and invites various artists to speak to the children.

Students of Timbuktu After-School

“Timbuktu Academy’s

After-School Arts Program is designed to teach our stu- dents various visual art forms and techniques that allow them to express their feelings, ideas and thoughts artistically. The program encourages students to view themselves and those around them as beautiful and to illustrate through the visual arts what they see, feel and desire,” said Timbuktu princi- pal Brenda Parker. “We thank our sponsors who made this art exhibition possible for our students.”

A reception for the art

exhibit was sponsored by McDonald’s franchise owner Errol Service who has been a longtime supporter of the pro- gram. McDonald’s will display the student art works in sev- eral restaurants.

The Timbuktu Academy’s

Fine Arts Program has dis- played art projects in the Fisher Building since 2001. The program won an award in the Michigan Association of Public School Academies, (MAPSA).

Holiday Visual

Arts Contest. The winning art design was displayed on the organization’s Christmas cards in 2002.

Timbuktu’s student art

work was also displayed in Cobo Hall at the 2008 Full & Fabulous Health, Beauty & Self-Esteem Expo.

In addi-

tion, art has been exhibited at Marygrove College, the Wayne County Fair,and the Down- town Detroit YWCA.

Organizations interested in

displaying the art exhibit or learning more about Timbuktu Academy’s Fine Arts Program can contact Timbuktu Acad- emy at (313) 823-6000.

Officials and volunteers

from Gift of Life Michigan and the Michigan Eye-Bank have worked for years with the Sec- retary of State’s office to pro- mote organ, tissue and eye do- nation each April. This year’s annual spring campaign will include a new associate – Hos- pice of Michigan.

A news conference to cel-

ebrate April as Donate Life Month is scheduled for Tues- day, April 6 at the Founders Bank & Trust in Grand Rapids. Information about the critical need for organ donors will be shared along with stories from individuals whose lives have been affected by the miracle of organ donation.

On Wednesday, April 7,

Secretary of State offices will host Buddy Day from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. “Buddies” are Gift of Life Michigan, Michigan Eye-Bank, Lions Club and Hospice of Michigan volun- teers who promote the im- portance of organ, tissue and eye donation. Many are organ and tissue recipients or mem- bers of donor families. Buddy Day provides the public with a unique opportunity to meet people involved with organ do- nation and learn more about becoming a donor.

“We’re excited about our

plans for Donate Life Month,” Land said. “We want to mo- tivate as many people as we can to become organ, tissue

Page B-7

and eye donors. Signing up is easy. Show us your heart by becoming an organ donor.”

Gift of Life Michigan is the

state’s federally certified, full- service organ recovery organi- zation. The agency acts as an intermediary between donors, physicians, hospital staff and transplant centers. For more information about organ and tissue donation, contact Gift of Life Michigan at (800) 482- 4881 or www.giftoflifemichi- gan.org.

The Michigan Eye-Bank’s

mission is the restoration of sight. It recovers, evaluates and distributes corneas for transplantation, supports eye and vision research and offers public and professional educa- tion on the importance of eye, organ and tissue donation. To learn more, call (800) 247-7250 or visit the organization’s web- site at www.michiganeyebank. org.

Hospice of Michigan pro-

vides specialized, compas- sionate care to people living with advanced chronic illness. Its mission is to ensure qual- ity of life, comfort and peace to each patient during his or her experience and to provide sup- port for loved ones.

For more information, call

(888) 247-5181 or visit the Hospice of Michigan website at www.hom.org.

US Department of Labor certifies 3,500 Michigan autoworkers

The U.S. Department of

Labor recently announced that approximately 3,500 Michigan workers are eligible to apply for Trade Adjustment Assis- tance. The group includes approximately 3,300 General Motors workers in Lake Orion and Grand Rapids, Mich., as well as additional auto work- ers in Detroit, Auburn Hills and Warren. These Michigan workers are among approxi- mately 14,000 in 20 states,

including approximately 7,200 auto-related workers in nine states, that are newly eligible.

“Through the Trade Adjust-

ment Assistance program, the U.S. Department of Labor is taking aggressive steps to help displaced workers gain access to the types of job training and placement services that will lead them to permanent good jobs in local industries,” said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis.

Workers covered by these

latest TAA certifications will be contacted by their respec- tive states with instructions on how to apply for individual benefits and services.

For more information on

Trade Adjustment Assistance and the range of Department of Labor employment and train- ing services, visit http://www.

doleta.gov.

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‘Legends League’ to bring kids, baseball together

Their baseball gloves would

dangle from the handle bars of their dirty but reliable bicy- cles. Maybe a baseball bat was grasped with one hand while the other steered. The most important of them brought the ball(s), the white newness of the horsehide long ago scuffed away but no less serviceable.

These were common sights

of a day gone by — a day when sandlots were teeming with youngsters who played base- ball.

This was the backdrop

from which the powerful young man who stepped into the Tiger Stadium batter’s box that day in 1960 came — a stu- dent from Northwestern High School who would eventually be signed by his hometown Detroit Tigers.

Willie Wattison Horton,

launched a drive into the upper deck during the city champi- onship game. The shot helped earn him the nickname “Willie the Wonder,” and a $50,000 signing bonus before the ink dried on his high school di- ploma.

Wayne County Commission

Vice Chair Keith D. Williams is old enough to remember the days when kids like Horton — and thousands of others — would spend countless hours at their local ball fields.

Baseball is among the least

expensive games to partake in. Hand-me-down gloves and bats filled with scuff marks will do just fine. You play baseball,

you travel light. But it’s still a shrinking sport among today’s youth.

Baseball might be Ameri-

ca’s pastime, but in the cities and neighborhoods, it’s past its time. Big difference.

That’s why Williams is

starting a new baseball league that will debut this May. It’s called The Legends League, and it will take kids from ages 8 through 14, divide them into teams, join them with care- fully-selected coaches, and the hope is that the league will help resuscitate a game that is shockingly close to taking its last breath in urban United States.

Williams not only remem-

bers Horton’s youthful days, but also other major league players whose adolescent years were spent on the city’s sandlots.

Latin America has thrived

as a feeder system for the majors while the American kids have turned their backs on baseball, it seems.

“The ‘Legends League’ isn’t

just about baseball,” Williams said. “It may sound cliché, but sports is a microcosm of life. The ‘Legends League’ will teach kids not only about pitching and hitting, but also about teamwork and responsi- bility and how to be a positive influence on your community as you get older.”

The Legends League, which is funded by Wayne County

and will be sanctioned by the Police Athletic League (PAL), is also providing a history lesson to its players; team nicknames will be the same ones used by Negro League teams of decades ago.

Williams and his staff have

nearly completed the task of selecting coaches, a process that was done very meticu- lously and with seriousness, because of the coaches’ in- fluence over the impression- able youngsters. Background checks were done; no stone was left unturned.

The baseball project is just

one of several that fall under the umbrella of the Wayne County Sports Foundation, whose purpose is to “create and strengthen infrastruc- tures that support the positive development of Wayne County youth through athletic par- ticipation and competition,” according to the foundation’s official mission statement.

In addition to the base-

ball league, Williams says the Foundation will oversee foot- ball and basketball leagues, and a track and field program.

“I come from a time when,

as a kid, baseball brought kids together,” Williams said. “And I don’t see why it can’t do that again.”

For more information about

The Legends League or the Wayne County Sports Founda- tion, contact Vice Chair Keith Williams at (313) 224-0942.

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