New Orleans YLC
The 22nd Annual New Orleans YLC Role Model Gala (Young Leadership Council) is next Saturday, August 23 at the Sheraton Hotel. They need 8 more volunteers to help staff check in tables and/or auction tables. If you would like to volunteer a couple hours, then enjoy the rest of the evening, please email caroline@youngleadershipcouncil.org.
Volunteers are able to purchase event tickets to the Gala at a discounted price of $50 each (regular tickets are $150!). Your admission includes dinner, open bar and dancing!
Road Home
Latest Program Statistics
As of August 11, 2008
Total applications recorded: 185,106 (final)
Initial appointments held: 166,093 (final)
Eligible applicants: 155,436
Elevation only: 6,329
Sold home prior to application: 5,094
Benefit options selected: 142,324
Option 1 - 124,485
Option 2 - 10,085
Option 3 - 2,851
Decline benefits - 2,182
Delay benefit selection - 2,595
Completed applications: 131,154
Closed - 116,313
No Funding/Zero Awards - 12,659
Declined awards - 2,182
Total amount of awards disbursed: $6.8 billion*
Average award disbursed: $58,876*
These numbers are reported as of August 7, 2008.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Highly traumatized children living in war-torn Kosovo experienced significant reductions in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) when treated with a comprehensive, non-drug model developed by The Center for Mind-Body Medicine (CMBM), according to a new study published online in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. The new study, “Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Post-War Kosovar Adolescents Using Mind-Body Skills Groups: A Randomized Controlled Trial,” is the first randomized controlled trial of any intervention with war traumatized children.
The study demonstrates that CMBM’s mind-body techniques, including biofeedback, meditation, guided imagery and self-expression (in words, drawings, and movement) produce lasting changes in levels of stress, flashbacks, nightmares and symptoms of withdrawal and numbing in adolescents living in a region of conflict.
Eighty-two Kosovo high school students participated in the study, all of whom met PTSD criteria as measured by the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire. Teachers trained in the CMBM mind-body model offered the 12-session program in small, supportive educational settings.
After participating in the three-month long program, the number of students having symptoms was dramatically reduced from 100% to 18%. The reduction was maintained at a three-month follow-up. The improvement was significantly greater than a control group of non-participating students. CMBM’s founder and director, and the study’s lead author, James S. Gordon, MD, describes the approach in his new book, Unstuck: Your Guide to the Seven Stage Journey Out of Depression.
“This study provides scientific evidence for the efficacy of a model taught to almost 3,000 health and mental health professionals and educators worldwide,” said Dr. Gordon. “CMBM’s approach is educational and powerfully effective and can be taught and used by people of all ages on their own. We’ve used this small group model to give tens of thousands of children and adults practical tools that help them feel better quickly, and we’ve taught them to use their intuition and imagination to solve problems. Our approach is proving highly acceptable to populations which do not want to be given medication, and have no access to a doctor or therapist.”
This mind-body model is being used to treat war-traumatized populations in Israel and Gaza as well as in post-Katrina southern Louisiana. It is also widely used with depressed people and those with chronic illness in the US, and has been incorporated as a stress reduction program for students in a dozen US medical schools. Charter Schools
EdisonLearning™, the a partner to public school districts and communities, is expanding its network to more than 100 schools adding three new charter schools in Louisiana.
The addition of Capitol High Academy for Boys and Capitol High Academy for Girls in Baton Rouge and the Intercultural Charter School in New Orleans gives EdisonLearning a total of four partnership schools in the state. The Andrew H. Wilson Charter School, located in the Broadmoor neighborhood of New Orleans, opened in 2007 and was recognized this year by the Happy Hearts Fund with a donation of educational technology equipment in only its second year of operation.
Glazer's
Southern Wine & Spirits of America, Inc., the Nation’s Leading Wine and Spirits Distributor and Control State Broker with a tradition of service of excellence since 1968, and Glazer’s Distributors, one of the country’s largest wholesale distributors of wine, spirits and malt and founded in 1909, are pleased to announce the formation of Southern/Glazer’s Distributors of America. According to the two companies, this new national strategic joint venture for wine and spirits will cover the 38 states that represent more than 80 percent of the total Wine and Spirits volume in the United States.
Commenting on the new venture, Harvey R. Chaplin, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Southern Wine & Spirits of America, Inc., and Chairman of the new venture, said, “I have known the Glazer Family for 50 years and they are people with the utmost integrity and who have a great passion for the business. The strategic joint venture of our two leading organizations – each with a great history – will create the most capable and effective U.S. Distributor network in the business, fortified by the combined efforts of the team members of both our companies.”
Bennett Glazer, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Glazer’s Distributors, and Vice Chairman of the new venture, said, “As we celebrate our 100th year of business next year, the joining together with Southern Wine & Spirits allows our company to progress to the next level. We are excited by the enhanced prospects for growth for both companies and believe there will be considerable benefits for all stakeholders involved.”
Mr. Glazer added, “My family and I are extremely excited to be working side by side with the Chaplin Family and Southern Wine & Spirits, whose reputation for forward thinking and strategic foresight is so similar to ours.”
Wayne E. Chaplin, President and Chief Operating Officer of Southern Wine & Spirits of America, Inc. and who will serve as Chief Executive Officer of the new strategic joint venture, said: “The combination of the resources of our two great companies will bring greater scale and synergies to the marketplaces we serve and, therefore, allow us to be better partners to both our Suppliers and our Retailer customers. Given the highly competitive landscape at the distributor level and the ever more consolidated marketplace at the Supplier tier, we believe the time is right for a more National-type Distribution Footprint. Together we expect to be able to create significant value for all tiers of the beverage alcohol industry. We are confident that greater value will be created by simplifying the way to market for suppliers, creating lower go-to-market costs via our new arrangement, and improving our National on- and off-premise account penetration.”
Mr. Jerry Cargill, who will serve as the new President of Southern/Glazer’s Distributors of America, said: “Both companies on their own have an incredible amount of momentum. This combination will only accelerate through the adoption of best practices gleaned from both organizations, creating the most dynamic strategic joint venture in the industry. In addition, our talented team members from both companies will continue to serve the same customers who have come to rely on our superior service over the years.”
Referring to the current and future roles of their respective team members at each company, both Mr. Wayne E. Chaplin and Mr. Cargill emphasized: “With the establishment of Southern/Glazer’s Distributors of America, our two companies will create an historic management and operations services venture. This new strategic joint venture will draw upon the experience and expertise of two of the country’s leading distributors. Southern/Glazer’s Distributors of America will have increased capabilities to better serve suppliers and customers and will be well-positioned for future success. Both companies have exceptional teams of talented and experienced associates. We are both extremely excited to work with Melvin A. Dick, who will serve as Senior Vice President of the new venture.”
Mr. Dick said, “I look forward to working hand in hand with the Glazer team to help create the greatest wine and spirits distribution company in the United States.”
Brad Vassar, the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Sales and Marketing of the new venture, added: “I am thrilled to work alongside Mike Maxwell, who will serve with me as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Operations, and plan on bringing the National scope of our two organizations together. We both realize that the key will be local execution for our supplier partners and that part of the organization will be benefited by the focus of bringing the best elements of both companies together. This strategic joint venture will create an organization capable of delivering the highest standards of sales, operations and service excellence in the industry to each and every critical sales channel we are dedicated to serving on behalf of all our supplier partners; we will know we are successful when this transition is seamless to our customer base.”
Mr. Maxwell further added: “The national synergies and economies of scale of our new company will allow us to better compete in the highly competitive and ever-changing industry landscape in the United States. Brad and I will lead a dedicated team that will include Lee F. Hager and Cary Rossel, the two new Co-Executive Vice Presidents and Chief Administrative and Accounting Officers of the strategic joint venture – that will oversee the integration of the two organizations.”
To guide the strategic venture in its ability to maximize its resources and create more value that will, in turn, enable it to invest heavily behind its people, its brands and its operating infrastructure and systems, the venture will be establishing the office of Chief Financial Officer. That office will be led by both Mr. Steven R. Becker, the new Co-Executive Vice President/Finance along with Mr. Rossel; Mr. Hager will also serve in this office in his capacity as Co-Chief Accounting Officer.
The new venture will have a footprint covering 38 states, of which 17 will be Control State markets. The total customer base of Southern/Glazer’s Distributors of America will be approximately 300,000 accounts nationwide, supported by 18,000 associates. The strategic joint venture will create the largest distributor of wine and spirits in the United States.
Mr. Harvey R. Chaplin and Mr. Glazer said: “The reality of creating the strongest leadership team behind Wayne and Jerry and Brad and Mike will give us the ability to execute for our supplier partners and realize the potential that exists for our brands and our strategic joint venture. This new strategic relationship will be backed by a powerful association of two exceptionally successful companies coming together to create the foremost Distributor in America, one that will help us compete more effectively and provide better stability for our employees and suppliers for the future.”
This new strategic joint venture will not include the states of Illinois and Arizona, or Glazer’s malt beverage business. Closing of the transaction is subject to certain regulatory clearances.
