Local Product Search Now Available for All with New Wishpond Widgets

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Local Product Search Now Available for All with New Wishpond Widgets

Local Benicia Businesses Team Up for Second Annual Honey and Cheese Pairing Evening

Benicia, CA (Vocus/PRWEB) May 11, 2011

Benicias beloved Honey and Cheese Pairing Festival is an annual fundraising event where participants get to sample the finest local cheeses and honey for a good cause. This years festival will be held on Saturday, May 14th from 6 to 9pm under the shared new roof of Shirocos and Piccolo, two downtown stores that recently moved to 216 First Street, along Benicias beautiful waterfront. Tickets are $ 25 and can be purchased at the stores or online via http://ArsenalSwim.com. Donations for the tickets and all funds collected through a silent auction and other activities during the evening will be used to help support Benicias James Lemos Community Pool to keep the pool and its swim programs afloat.

The times are very challenging, noted Shirocos owner Erick Martinez. And we know this is going to be important to get this great program some badly needed funds.

The more than 200 expected participants will be provided a complimentary glass of wine and be able to bid on silent auction items. Several honey and cheese purveyors have already committed to bring their goods, so it is expected that everyone will be able to try some dynamic new combinations of sweet and savory local pleasures. Two honey companies have already indicated that they expect to harvest a few gallons of the sweet treasure right in Benicia in the days before the event, giving participants the freshest honey theyve ever tried. Music and other surprises will be offered as well. The event is restricted to people over 21.

We will be making pairing suggestions for the delicious honeys and cheeses we have coming, said Shirocos partner and local foods enthusiast Allan Shore. But one of the best aspects of this event is that people get to experiment with their own combinations. Many people dont realize the culinary potential of these simple and delicious gifts of nature.

The first honey and cheese pairing event in 2009 was a great success, and raised several thousand dollars for the Benicia Education Foundation. Since its first year, the event has had a major impact on Shore and Martinez. They have used the experience to collaborate on a book called Green Gold: Pairing the Worlds Honeys & Cheeses. It is the first publication of its kind, and will be available for purchase at the event. A portion of proceeds from book sales will be used to help the James Lemos Community Pool as well.

Shirocos features local, regional and national home and gourmet items to showcase area talents and the affordability of ideas from across the globe. Piccolo is one of Benicias finest and most contemporary womens clothing boutiques. By joining forces, Piccolo and Shirocos believe they are developing a new kind of anchor store for small towns. Both businesses are active proponents of local shopping and community involvement projects. The stores are open every day at 10am and stay open until about 7pm (or later) most evenings.

Everyone loves the fact that we have this gorgeous new location and they are looking forward to this event being a sign of more community activities to come, exclaimed Shore.

People Encouraging Parks & Recreation in the Community (PEPRC) is the supporting nonprofit and contributors will be provided the charitable nonprofit identification number upon request.

For more information on the Honey & Cheese Pairing Festival or the stores, please call Shirocos at 707-297-6452 or Piccolo at (707) 747-9321. Tickets are available at Shiorocs, Piccolo or the James Lemos Community Pool, or online at http://ArsenalSwim.com.

For more information about any of Shirocos products or services, call them at (707) 297-6452 or visit them on the web at http://www.shirocos.com; read Shirocos blog at http://artsyhipcool.wordpress.com/; become a fan on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/shirocos; and follow them on Twitter @shirocos.

About Shirocos

Shirocos is a marketplace where people can discover local gourmet food from small producers. Their home decor products are handmade, raw and one-of-a-kind. They offer a breadth of products that bring quality, style, and the trends of the day to the home decor marketplace. They strive to create a unique product line that meets the needs of local retail customers, and products that create a desire in the customer to make their home a unique expression of themselves. Shirocos is artsy, hip, cool.

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Local Benicia Businesses Team Up for Second Annual Honey and Cheese Pairing Evening

Corus360 Cares and The GA Compassion Project support a Local Elementary School with Help Ted Run! Campaign

Atlanta, GA (PRWEB) February 27, 2012

With the success of their Warm Hands, Warm Hearts holiday project, Corus360 Cares and The Georgia Compassion Project have teamed up again to help the students at Stripling Elementary school in Norcross, GA.

Corus360 Cares and The GA Compassion Project have dedicated their Spring 2012 fundraiser, Help Ted Run!, to improving the playground at Stripling Elementary. For this fundraiser, Corus360s VP of Professional Services, Ted Pappas, has committed to run to and from Corus360s corporate office every morning and evening instead of driving his car to work. This is approximately 12 miles per day.

Help Ted Run! launched at the beginning of February and will continue into March. Help Ted Run! will culminate with Teds participation in a 100 mile one day run at the end of March.

All money raised from this campaign will be used to buy new playground and P.E. equipment for Stripling Elementary. This includes new jump ropes, basketballs, basketball hoops, swing set, structures for shade, and black top games.

Corus360 Cares and The GA Compassion Project are dedicated to keeping Stripling students active by ensuring they have the necessary resources for fun, healthy play, said Ted Pappas.

Mr. Ted my family donated money and I am excited to see what new equipment we will get even if its a jump rope. I want to say thank you for doing this, said 4th grade student, Stripling Elementary.

Corus360 Cares and The GA Compassion Project are asking for flat donations or a pledge per mile that Ted runs. Donors can follow Teds journey and keep track of his miles on his blog at http://www.helptedrun.wordpress.com.

About Corus360

Corus360 is a technology consulting and solutions company with more than 10 years of success delivering infrastructure solutions, recovery and consulting services that help organizations reduce costs, increase efficiencies and maximize productivity. We specialize in best of breed infrastructure solutions, IT management consulting, application development, Data Center technologies, disaster recovery, managed services and enterprise applications. For more information, visit http://www.corus360.com.

About The GA Compassion Project

The Georgia Compassion project is designed to fulfill two objectives in the growth and personal development of children and adults in distressed situations. The two objectives are Compassion and Movement. When people find themselves in these situations, it is common for them to experience hopelessness. It is the Georgia Compassion Projects goal to attack hopelessness directly. Our not-for-profit will accomplish this by providing children and adults with the opportunity to experience the small incremental wins in life that they may not experience normally.

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Corus360 Cares and The GA Compassion Project support a Local Elementary School with Help Ted Run! Campaign

Working Together to End Hunger: Local Leaders Take on CalFresh Challenge

San Diego, CA (PRWEB) September 07, 2012

An alliance of anti-hunger groups – The San Diego Hunger Coalition, Feeding America San Diego, Hunger Advocacy Network, North County Community Services Food Bank, San Diego Food Bank, Super Food Drive and 2-1-1 San Diego – will be hosting the CalFresh Challenge. The Challenge tasks participants to live on an average of $ 4.31 per day for one week, September 9th to September 15th. By completing the CalFresh Challenge, participants will better understand the difficulties of trying to eat on a small budget and the value of CalFresh (formerly known as food stamps) for low income people.

The experience is not simply to see how cheaply one can eat, says Jennifer Tracy, Executive Director of the San Diego Hunger Coalition, but to reflect on the choices for eating healthy, the psychological impacts of having limited access to food, and what it might be like to face this experience for months and even years.

To help promote September as Hunger Action Month, leaders from all of San Diegos anti-hunger groups will be participating. Community members are also encouraged to also take part in the challenge. Participants can register to participate and share their experiences, pictures and videos on the CalFresh Challenge blog: http://www.calfreshchallengesd.wordpress.com .

The Food Stamp Challenge was started in 2007 when four members of Congress decided to live for one week on an average food stamp budget of only a couple dollars a day. The goal then, as now, is to raise awareness and understanding about the challenges faced by millions of Americans receiving CalFresh benefits and the indispensable value of the program.

In the middle of the recession in 2010, Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) the federal name for CalFresh, helped maintain 3.9 million Americans above the poverty line, including 1.7 million children and 288,000 seniors. SNAP can serve as a responsive safety net in times of unemployment and recession, expanding to meet the needs of struggling Americans and automatically contracting as the economy improves, states Tracy.

The CalFresh Challenges ultimate goal is to develop a unique perspective and first-hand experience of the program, which then can be used to mobilize support for a program that has historically garnered bipartisan support and proven itself as an efficient and tremendous safety net for millions of Americans.

About the San Diego Hunger Coalition (SDHC)

SDHC strives to eliminate hunger by collaborating with individuals and organizations that provide services to those in need, educating the public about hunger and advocating at local, state and federal levels. The San Diego Hunger Coalition (SDHC) leads collaborative initiatives and public policy advocacy activities to reduce hunger and increase participation in Federal nutrition programs in San Diego County. SDHC is the lead organization providing CalFresh outreach training and support to more than 45 community-based organizations (clinics, food pantries, churches and social service agencies) working with low-income communities throughout San Diego County. For more information, visit http://www.sandiegohungercoalition.org.

About Feeding America San Diego

Established in 2007, Feeding America San Diego is San Diegos largest distributor of food, more than 21.5 million pounds within the last year, and the only Feeding America affiliate in the county. FASD works closely with over 160 partner agencies, local school districts, corporate partners and a network of volunteers to serve 73,000 children, families and seniors in need each week. Devoted to feeding the hungry, advocating for a sustainable future, and educating the community, FASD is committed to building a hunger-free and healthy San Diego through innovative programs and collaborative partnerships.

About North County Community Services

North County Community Services (NCCS) is committed to improving the health and well being of North County residents by educating young children, supporting working families, feeding the hungry and ultimately creating opportunities to improve the quality of life for incomequalified residents of Northern San Diego County. We support this mission by providing Early Childhood Education to children of incomequalified families at our seven Child Development Centers and by feeding hungry North County residents through the outreach efforts of North Countys Food Bank. http://www.sdnccs.org/

About Hunger Advocacy Network (HAN)

The Hunger Advocacy Network (HAN) is a collaborative of San Diego hunger stakeholders who conduct state-level anti-hunger / food security advocacy. HAN partners annually develop a food security-focused legislative agenda to support through year-long advocacy activities. Within their first year of development, HAN has acquired 16 reputable partners, successfully advocated for four state bills, coordinated a legislators breakfast and engaged in a variety of advocacy events. http://www.hungeradvocacynetwork.org or call (858) 637-3032.

About SuperFood

Working with partner organizations, SuperFood Drive educates the community about the health benefits of eating nutrient-dense SuperFoods and works to ensure the accessibility of healthy food to all people, especially those in need. Our vision is to transform local food drives, national food banks and global humanitarian aid into providers of nutrient-dense non-perishable SuperFoods. By educating both the givers and receivers of non-perishable SuperFood items, we promote health and well-being to individuals and their communities.

About Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank

Established in 1977, the Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank is a critical component to the welfare of San Diego County, providing food to people in need, advocating for the hungry and educating the public about hunger-related issues. Through a combination of government programs and partnerships with over 350 San Diego County nonprofit charities, the Food Bank is a central repository and distribution point for government and donated food. In FY2011-2012 the Food Bank distributed 18 million pounds of food to individuals, families and a network of nonprofit organizations that work to alleviate hunger throughout the county. Visit the Food Bank at http://www.sandiegofoodbank.org

About 2-1-1 San Diego

Every hour of every day, someone in San Diego County searches for services, from food assistance to substance abuse treatment, housing or financial assistance. With thousands of health and human service programs, finding help can seem insurmountable. 2-1-1 can help. Serving the entire population of our region, 2-1-1 San Diego connects people with community, health and disaster services through a free, 24/7 stigma-free phone service and searchable online database. Using the power of technology and innovation, we connect people to the help they need. To complete a CalFresh application over the phone or access other community services, dial 2-1-1. For more information about 2-1-1, visit our website at http://www.211sandiego.org to learn more.

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Working Together to End Hunger: Local Leaders Take on CalFresh Challenge

ITX Design Teams Up with Local Churches to Offer Discounted or Free Hosting to Churches in Need

(PRWEB) August 16, 2012

ITX Design, a Christian owned web host in Fredericksburg, Virginia has teamed up with local churches to ensure they have a website. Most churches receive a 35% discount and company spokesperson Paul Schoolfield stated, “We are excited to give back to the community and it’s our goal that every church have an online presence. If the church is unable to afford hosting we would be glad to host their site for free”.

The heavily discounted packages are part of ITX Design’s standard web hosting plans and they include Cpanel and other popular website tools. Surprisingly, these plans even include 24/7 technical support and a full support team that’s ready to assist.

ITX Design recently worked with Encounter COG (Church of God) in Northern Virginia to launch a new website. The newly designed website was built in just a few days using WordPress so church members can easily login to make changes daily. Over the next couple of weeks they are working together to launch a live sermon streaming service so church members or visitors can listen to the weekly sessions online.

Web Hosting Review of ITX Design.

ITX Design Teams Up with Local Churches to Offer Discounted or Free Hosting to Churches in Need

Does a New Trend Bring New Hope for Old Businesses? Controversial Survey Shows that Online Shoppers Spend the Bulk of their Money with Local Retailers

Perth, Western Australia (PRWEB) September 17, 2012

Recently, Telstra surveyed over 800 Australians about their online shopping habits. The survey produced some surprising results. Up to now, prevailing wisdom has indicated that online shopping is dominated by huge national and international chains. Often, this opinion has demoralised small businesses, and has made them feel as though they dont have the resources to compete with the big box retailers.

This survey, though, could be a game-changer for smaller, local, bricks and mortar businesses. According to the survey, nearly 70% of online buyers make their purchases from local retailers. The research also showed that 89% of those who bought online also made purchases in-store, and almost one out of three purchased goods are from the same retailer from whom one had purchased online.

Retail industry executive Gareth Jude of Telstra feels that the report should provide a lot of hope for bricks and mortar retailers. Jude cited the survey as being the first to focus solely on a market segment known as omnishoppers. This segment uses both the web and mobile phones for research, selection, and purchasing.

According to Jude, What customers really want is not either a physical store or onlinethey want a blended experience Its only the bricks and mortar retailers that can give them that. Of all the omnishoppers surveyed, close to 70% of their money went to Australian sites. The average shopper in the survey spent close to $ 2200 shopping online.

Kirk OConnor, Director of Development for Spanky Media, a Perth website designer and developer, is very enthusiastic about the ramifications of the survey: This survey should give hope to every local bricks and mortar business in Australia. A lot of small shops didnt make it through the last few years, but those that did should be excited about this survey.

According to OConnor, small business owners may think they cant compete with big business, but they can provide a more complete experience than a large international company can. Australian shoppers can do their research online, and then come into the local store to see or try out the merchandise. Usually, smaller shops have someone there to answer questions in person, and are always happy to do so.

OConnor outlined what small businesses should do to take advantage of this trend: If you dont have a website yet, have us develop one for you, even if its a simple WordPress website. If you have a website and have neglected it, start paying attention. Finally, you must have your website optimised for mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets.

OConnor concluded, The numbers dont lie. Consumers may shop online, but many of them still want to talk to a human being face to face before buying. Local businesses with great websites give online shoppers the best of both worlds.

Spanky Media is a Perth website development company that can help your small business maximise its revenue by bolstering your online presence. Services include website design, mobile website development, social media marketing, and Facebook brand pages. More information is available at their website: http://www.spankymedia.com.au/ or call them at 1300 729 261.

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Does a New Trend Bring New Hope for Old Businesses? Controversial Survey Shows that Online Shoppers Spend the Bulk of their Money with Local Retailers

ITX Design Joins Forces with Local Church Leaders to Offer Christian Based Web Hosting

Fredericksburg, Virginia (PRWEB) November 09, 2012

ITX Design announced a recent initiative to team up with local churches offering heavily discounted or free hosting to churches in need. Many local churches that can’t afford hosting are able to host their website for free and others receive up to 35% off.

ITX Design, a Christian owned host provider in Fredericksburg, Virginia has teamed up with local churches to ensure they have a website. Most churches receive a 35% discount and company

CEO Paul Schoolfield stated, “We are excited and proud to give back to our community and it’s our hope that every church have a professional online presence. If the church is unable to afford hosting we are pleased to host their site for free”.

The heavily discounted packages are part of ITX Design’s standard business hosting plans which include CPanel and other popular website tools. Surprisingly, these plans even include 24/7 technical support and a full support team.

ITX Design recently worked with Encounter COG (Church of God) in Northern Virginia to launch a completely overhauled website. Their expertly designed finished product was built in just a few days using WordPress, primarily so church members could easily login and make needed changes on a daily basis.

Over the next few weeks, ITX Design is working hard to launch live sermon streaming services so church members or visitors can listen to the weekly sessions online.

For the last decade, ITX Design has been a top tier international and domestic web hosting and domain registration provider. They also provide dedicated servers, shared web hosting, and domain registration for small businesses including server hosting, WordPress hosting, reseller hosting, dedicated servers and many more solutions for individuals, organizations and businesses.

All of ITX Designs customers enjoy 24/7 live support, and a money back guarantee. ITX Design has been reviewed extensively, and been defined as one of the most trusted service providers in this industry. Over the course of the last 10 years, ITX Design has won many prestigious awards establishing it as a leader in the industry.

To learn more about ITX Designs many web based products and services, simply visit http://itxdesign.com/

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ITX Design Joins Forces with Local Church Leaders to Offer Christian Based Web Hosting

New Jersey Web Developers Empower Local IT Services Business by Providing Them with Powerful CMS Capabilities.

Paramus, NJ (PRWEB) October 24, 2012

With the recent launch of a new website for TwinState, New Jersey website design company, Dotcomweavers continues on its mission to empower companies in the Tri-State area by better equipping them do business online. TwinState, a national leader in delivering award-winning IT and Communications solutions and support, was looking to take their business to the next level online, but wasnt quite sure were to turn. Their partnership with Dotcomweavers allowed them to receive a feature-packed and easy to manage website, backed by a known, trusted, and reliable content management platform.

Prior to the re-launch of the website, TwinState was burdened with an extremely basic website, without any CMS (Content Management System) capabilities whatsoever. In order for them to make changes and/or updates to the website, they were required to undertake the cumbersome process doing the coding manually through Dreamweaver, a website editing tool. This severely tied down their efficiency in getting updated news and marketing communications out to clients and visitors on their website.

The web development team at Dotcomweavers was able to convert the old, static TwinState website into a fully functional, dynamic website built using WordPress as the CMS. The robust content management system that the new website is built on is one of the trademarks that the web developers at Dotcomweavers offer to their clients. The CMS makes it easy to update content to the website efficiently and with no need for a dedicated web administrator. TwinState can easily add, edit, and update the content on their website within minutes.

Moreover, they also now have the capability to customize and refine their website without any in-depth technical knowledge. With just a few clicks, TwinState can customize the look, feel and functionality of their website to meet their unique specifications. With the new CMS, TwinState can now extend and refine their site as they continue to grow and their online needs evolve. At the end of the project, they received a simple set of instructions from Dotcomweavers web design team, now they are able to fully manage and edit their site without any need for an outside web developer.

Also included in the newly installed WordPress CMS is a blogging platform that provides a good source for recurring visits. The blog content provides visitors with fresh new content, keeping them updated on the newest and latest from TwinState.

Dotcomweavers also provided some much need consultation on SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and SEM (Search Engine Marketing) after the CMS was put in place. The WordPress platform has several SEO friendly features and plug-ins that allow users to easily ensure that the page titles, URL’s, Meta tags, internal links etc. are all related to their targeted keywords; greatly increasing their chances of appearing higher in search results. TwinState is now able to better optimize their pages to rank higher in the search engines so that old and new clients can easily find them online. Dotcomweavers also converted all of TwinStates newsletters, from PDF to HTML. This now enables the search engines to better pick up and identify target keywords in those documents.

Lastly Dotcomweavers also assisted TwinState in the installation and configuration of several third party applications into the website. One of the third party applications integrated into the site, VMware, is the leading virtualization application in the industry. The virtualization application serves as an essential catalyst for cloud computing and allows users to build and run robust cloud applications and supply end-user computing as a cloud-based service.

About TwinState

TwinState, http://www.twinstate.com, is a national leader in delivering award-winning IT and Communications solutions and support. They have been providing network and communications solutions, regionally and nationally, for over 42 years. They provide customized solutions are delivered and supported by highly trained professionals who average over 20 years each of experience.

About Dotcomweavers

Dotcomweavers Inc. is a Paramus, New Jersey-based web development company that focuses on advancements in Internet technology to provide attentive service and solutions for cutting-edge businesses in New Jersey and New York: web development, website design, e-commerce and internet marketing (SEO).

Visit http://www.dotcomweavers.com or call (888) 315-6518 for more information about New Jersey website design and web development services provided by Dotcomweavers.

New Jersey Web Developers Empower Local IT Services Business by Providing Them with Powerful CMS Capabilities.

Michigan Oral Health Coalition Issues Community Mini-Grant Program Seeks to Help Fund Local Coalitions to Address Access to Oral Health Services

Lansing, Michigan. (PRWEB) December 20, 2012

The Michigan Oral Health Coalition is taking another major step in its statewide action plan to address access to oral health services. The Coalition is currently accepting applications from community-based organizations across Michigan for its 2013 Community Mini-Grant Program. An application deadline of January 4, 2013 has been set with four grants to be awarded later in the month.

Support for this grant program is provided by the Michigan Oral Health Coalition, through the Oral Health 2014 Initiative of the DentaQuest Foundation. The Michigan Oral Health Coalition looks to inspire communities to create networks of innovation, advocacy and leadership to improve the oral health of residents. These community networks will align data and resources, and create effective approaches to prevent and manage oral disease that can be replicated.

Through the 2013 Community Mini-Grant Program, the Michigan Oral Health Coalition will assist communities in developing local coalitions. The coalition approach allows the community to find solutions to health problems and determine which solutions will work best.

Oral health is an essential component of comprehensive health care, said Karlene Ketola, Executive Director of the Michigan Oral Health Coalition. We are excited to see what develops as we engage Michigan communities to embrace the challenge and opportunity of addressing oral health disparities in their communities.

For a complete grant application and guidelines, visit http://mohc.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/2013-community-mini-grant-program2.pdf.

About the Michigan Oral Health Coalition

Michigan Oral Health Coalition is a non-profit whose mission is to improve oral health in Michigan by focusing on prevention, health promotion, oral health data, access, and the link between oral health and overall health. With more than 125 members, the Coalition is comprised of primary care clinicians, oral health clinicians, dental benefit providers, advocacy and provider organizations, state and local government officials, and consumers working together to improve oral health in Michigan.

Michigan Oral Health Coalition Issues Community Mini-Grant Program Seeks to Help Fund Local Coalitions to Address Access to Oral Health Services

Local Search Marketing Myth? Programmer Provides New Information

Mesa, AZ (PRWEB) October 25, 2012

While many marketers and small business owners struggle to keep up with the constant changes in Google’s local search program- an enterprise level programmer provides a contrarian local leads marketing blueprint.

Matt Da Cruz shared in a recent webinar, “As a programmer and manager for a multi-million dollar call center, I see most local search efforts being wasted on lack of knowledge.”

With technical infrastructure shifting around inside the Googleplex with Google Places and Google Plus merging, Da Cruz believes many local marketers get distracted from what is really important- collecting and selling local leads.

Da Cruz added, “Website Silo Architecture and the precise Google local citation strategy that we teach makes it easy to rank for local keywords, but knowing what to do with a large volume of leads is how most people fall down.”

Network Empire Software company has noticed an increase of help desk requests around the area of local search marketing. Questions are about WordPress themes and plugins, SEO strategies, Google rules and regulations and much more.

The Network Empire Team responded to these overwhelming number of local marketing ‘help desk’ questions by creating a Local Leads webinar that ended up turning into a full blown e-learning course by popular demand.

Network Empire CEO Sue Bell also revealed another reason for the popularity of the Local Leads Empire course. “The majority of Google search engine result page has become a virtual local directory, and people don’t know how to handle it. This course and software is a hedge against these updates.

Local Search Marketing Myth? Programmer Provides New Information