The Cincinnati Enquirer from Cincinnati, Ohio • Page A1

LORENCE LORENCE RECORDER COMMUNITY MATTERS Your Community Recorder ewspaper serving Florence and Union Vol. 20 No. 46 The Community Recorder A LL IGHTS ESERVED News 283-0404 etail advertising 513-768-8404 lassified advertising 513-421-6300 elivery 781-4421 See page A2 for additional information Contact us ART GOES TO OVIES Chalkfest takes on inema theme. 5A KITCHEN Try oven ucchini spears with omano cheese crust. 7 A In the next few days, your Community Recorder carri- will be stopping by to col- ect $3.50 for delivery of this Recorder.

Your carrier retains half this amount along with any tip you give to reward good service. I you would like more in- ormation about the junior carrier program, call the Community Recorder at 859781-4421. COLLECTION TIME Possible rivalries may develop among local police departments this year, but for a worthy cause. he first dodgeball tournament to bene- it Special Olympics Kentucky will take place at 11a.m. Saturday, July 25 at Boone County igh School.

Businesses, organizations and members of the community are invited to form teams of 6 to 8 players and get creative with a name and uniforms. All proceeds from registration and admission to the tournament will go to fund Special Olympics programs in Kent ucky. The tournament is part of the Law Enforcement Torch un, a series of annual events involving more than 85,000 officers internationally to benefit pecial Olympics programs in their communities. The annual DHL Plane Pull at the airport is a lso part of this program. think just an avenue to give back to the said Lt.

Tony Steimle of the Kentucky International Airport Police Department. to raise money and awareness, and at the same ime have a fun The mission of Special Olympics is to provide youth a nd adults with intellectual disabilities the opportunity to courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and by training and competing in a variety of ports. Local programs are run completely by volunteers, which is why fundraising from programs like the Torch Run is ital. Steimle developed the dod- eball idea last year, but his committee of officers from the airport, Covington, Boone ounty and Florence police departments able to procure a gym until this year, when Boone County High School donated theirs. Boone County has also shown support in other ways: the football team agreed to sell concessions and school resource officer Chris Combs elped obtain a bouncy-house to entertain kids.

Registered eams will be placed in a double-elimination bracket based on similarity of skill, and the ournament will be played with official National Dodgeball League dodgeballs. Winners ill receive T-shirts and bragging rights. is just a fun said Steimle. think everybody can relate to whether it be grade school or high school, I think played dodgeball in gym A for organizing a second- annual Dodge-A-Cop event, Steimle says, We (in law enforcement) care a lot about people, and this is just another way of showing he said. PROVIDED Kentucky Airport Police Lt.

Tony Steimle and Chief Scott Schwartz will participate in the "Dodge-A-Cop" dodgeball tournament to benefit Special Olympics Kentucky on July 25 at Boone ounty High School. tournament benefits Special Olympics Megan Graft Community Recorder Contributor Getting a greeting ard with a little cash tucked inside is sweet, but Cards for Causes has gone a little further. Cards for Causes, established in 2006 by Mike and Debbie Rabidoux, has donated 20 percent of each proceeds to charities around the world. getting close to heir goal of donating $1mil- lion. In July, their contributions otaled $745,792.34.

send donation checks every quarter. Of course, the ig one is the quarter ending in said Mike Rab- idioux. He expects the next heck to top $100,000. think the million is a possibility this year but a for sure next he said. grown in excess of 58 percent a year every year since been in Every time a company or in- ividual purchases cards, the customer can choose from 593 listed charities or submit a new ause.

Twenty percent of each sale is directed to that charity. Those donations add up. Mike Rabidoux calculated their donations, and based on contributions to hunger-related charities, the donations have fed 147 families of our for an entire year. date, the top causes sup- orted by their customers ave been Alliance for Lupus Research, American Cancer ociety, American Red Cross, eeding America, Habitat For Humanity International, Make-A-Wish Foundation of America, MD Anderson Can- er Center, Ronald McDonald House Charities, St. Jude Research Hospital and Wounded Warrior Project.

are very grateful for he generous support of Cards for Causes for the past 10 said Trish Smitson, re- ional chief executive officer for the American Red Cross Greater Region. Red Cross relies on the generosity of our donors to fulfill our mission of helping families and individuals start to re- over from the tragedy and evastation of he couple started the card usiness when they were inspired to help victims of Hurri- ane Katrina. We just felt compelled to do said Debbie Rabidoux. They set up the site, ww.cardsforcauses.com, and soon had an order for $10,000 cards from a law firm in New Orleans. What they had hoped would be a $1,000 contribution the American Red Cross quickly became more than a $4,000 donation.

hen they were in business. we were able to do this for Hurricane Katrina victims, we wondered who else we could said Mike Rabidoux. The site offers hundreds of cards, some exclusive designs, a nd all are customizable. hanksgiving cards are be- oming more popular, said ike Rabidoux, perhaps to beat the big crush of cards that tart arriving in late Novem- er. Cards for Causes has sent PROVIDED Mike and Debbie Rabidoux have donated more than $745,000 to charities since 2006, and hope to make that $1 illion this year.

Union couple close to donating $1million to charity Amy Scalf PROVIDED Cards for Causes, Mike and Debbie business offers options for orporations or individuals and donates 20 percent of all sales to charities chosen by customers..