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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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ATLANTA FALCONS’ NOMINEE, JOSITA HARTMAN, WINS Winner’s Organization Receives $25,000 from NFL Charities JOSITA HARTMAN, nominated by the Atlanta Falcons, is the winner of the 2002 national NFL COMMUNITY QUARTERBACK AWARD, the NFL announced today. The national NFL Community Quarterback Award honors a volunteer who demonstrates leadership and dedication in his/her hometown. The Falcons nominated Hartman, a Marietta resident, because of her commitment to the “Aid to Children of Imprisoned Mothers” (AIM). AIM will receive a $25,000 donation in Hartman’s name from NFL Charities. AIM’s mission is to inspire hope in children of imprisoned mothers and their families by providing programs and services that lessen the impact of the mother’s incarceration. AIM is a community-based agency that has a strong volunteer component which allows volunteers to provide an intergenerational approach to service delivery with programs for the children, their caregivers and their mothers in prison. For the past two years, Hartman has served as an AIM volunteer. She began as a volunteer in AIM’s after-school program, working with children in the computer lab twice a week. For the past year-and-a-half she has been a full-time program coordinator for AIM, volunteering as many as 50-60 hours a week. She oversees all volunteers, operations, and special projects while also assisting with grant writing and public speaking. Under her leadership, AIM has increased its grant funding, added a new teen program and doubled the number of children it serves. Hartman also develops new projects and activities to help the program’s children learn and grow. The NFL Community Quarterback Award, funded by NFL Charities, is a volunteer-recognition program that donates nearly $1 million to community organizations served by outstanding citizens in NFL communities. The award process begins by charitable organizations nominating notable volunteers. Throughout the NFL season, teams conduct local Community Quarterback Award competitions. In each NFL city, a committee comprised of team representatives, media and community leaders nominate 10 finalists per team who become eligible for the national title. From that group, each team names two runners-up and one Team Community Quarterback winner. The Team Community Quarterback Award winner in each city receives $10,000. The runners-up receive $2,500 and finalists $1,000 each. All awards are given in the form of donations in the names of the winners to the nonprofit organizations they serve. A national NFL Community Quarterback winner is chosen from the list of local Team Community Quarterback Award winners. NFL Charities, created in 1973, is a non-profit organization created by the member clubs of the National Football League to enable the teams to collectively make grants to charitable and worthwhile causes on the national level. Since its inception, NFL Charities has made more than $50 million in grant commitments to hundreds of organizations. # # # |