During a White House gathering of representatives of nonprofit programs all around the U.S., President Barack Obama praised grassroots organizations for a job well done and vowed governmental support for their efforts.

“Solutions to America’s challenges are being developed every day at the grassroots. And government shouldn’t be supplanting those efforts, it should be supporting those efforts,” Obama told over 100 members of the nonprofit community.

Obama made these remarks after the project presentations of four nonprofits – Bonnie CLAC (Car Loans and Counseling), a New Hampshire organization that helps people own fuel-efficient, reliable and low-cost vehicles; Harlem Children’s Zone, which helps children acquire a good education; Genesys Works, a Houston-based nonprofit that trains and assists low-income high school students get entry-level work in major corporations; and HopeLab, a California program that helps chronically ill young people.

Obama called on big business, foundations and philanthropists to become involved in what he calls a “new kind of partnership between government and the nonprofit sector.”

“If we work together, if we go all-in here, think about the difference we can make,” the President added.

He pledged his administration’s support for grassroots initiatives, citing two examples that have already been included in the economic stimulus package: the $650-million “What Works” fund launched by the Education Department that will be invested in high schools and communities; and a new project by the Health and Human Services Department that will send nurses and health care professionals to provide services to troubled homes.

Mr. Obama has recently signed into law a $50-million Social Innovation Fund which is managed by the Corporation for National and Community Service. This fund will provide financial support to community nonprofit organizations. He announced that White House officials, led by domestic policy adviser Melody Barnes, will comb the country in search of the “the most promising nonprofits in America” that will be awarded grants.

An article from Longmont Times-Call titled “Amgen Hands Out $175K to Agencies” describes how the Thousand Oaks, California-based biotech company Amgen donated the sum of $175,000 to nonprofit organizations in Boulder County, Colo. It gave out $25,000 each to seven charitable organizations including The OUR Center, Boulder Shelter for the Homeless, The Emergency Family Assistance Association, The Sister Carmen Community Center, Community Food Share, Aging Services Foundation of Boulder County, and HospiceCare of Boulder and Broomfield Counties.

According to Amgen spokeswoman Diana Sherman-Palmer, the company wanted to take the extra mile in giving assistance to those who need help in a time of financial crisis. Moreover, this gesture is just one of the many that the company gives through its foundation and its employees’ volunteer time.

Founded in 1980, Amgen Inc. is an international biotechnology company that is considered as the largest independent biotech firm with around 17,500 employees and revenues of $14.77 billion as of 2007. The company employs cellular biology and medicinal chemistry in curing inflammatory disorders, kidney ailments, metabolic diseases, and cancers. Its leading drugs include Epogen and Aranesp for anemia; and Enbrel — which has become one of the best-selling drugs in the market — for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.

Other drugs include Vectibix for colon cancer, Kepivance for oral mucositis, Neupogen and Neulasta for neutropenia, Sensipar for secondary hyperparathyroidism, Nplate for chronic immune thrombocytopenic purpura, and Kineret for rheumatoid arthritis.

Amgen is a blending of the company’s original name, which was Applied Molecular Genetics.

Article Source: Amgen hands out $175K to agencies

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