Irving Convention and Visitors Bureau (ICVB) executive director, Maura Gast, was elected to serve on the Texas Society of Association Executives (TSAE) Board of Directors for 2012 – 2013, and has also been named to serve on the Ethics Committee for the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE).

Members of TSAE represent more than 1,000 association professionals from Texas-based associations and societies, as well as corporations and firms that provide services to associations. Gast is one of five new appointees to TSAE’s 12-member board. Board positions are filled by nominations from the TSAE nominating committee, followed by board approval.

“I am so honored to be elected to the board of directors for TSAE. The ability to learn from and to work with leaders representing a wide range of associations will be a great joy and a great professional opportunity,” said Gast. “A convention and visitors bureau is in essence an association. In our case, we represent the travel and tourism industry in Irving – so this also serves as a great continuing education opportunity for our organization, and I look forward to it.”

 “TSAE looks for experienced industry leaders with strategic experience to help our association remain relevant,” said TSAE president and CEO, Beth Brooks. “Maura’s work with the ICVB, especially her involvement with the new convention center, is the type of experience we look for.”

ASAE's Ethics Committee strives to stimulate the expression of appropriate behaviors for association executives, the associations they represent, their volunteer leaders, and their suppliers; and identify ways that association executives can help members examine their actions in the context of their impact on society.

As a member of the ASAE Ethics Committee, Gast will serve alongside other national industry leaders to create forums where association members can examine the ethics of their actions.

“Because ethics takes such a high priority in our industry, and rightly so, I am very honored to join ASAE’s Ethics Committee and work for ways to implement a culture of ethics throughout our industry, and to put a spotlight on the great work already being done by so many on this front – here at home, and out in the industry,” said Gast.

A 21-year veteran of the ICVB, Gast was named executive director in October 2003.

Source: City of Irving

Helping Youngsters stay warm, members of the Irving-Las Colinas Rotary Club volunteer their time sorting coats and sweaters lift in IISD schools' lost and found collections from last year. Once sorted at the Salvation Army Irving, the clothing will be dry cleaned and distributed to school counselors for children in need of winter wear. Photo by John Starkey.

Irving Healthcare Foundation (IHF) recently reported to Four Seasons Resort and Club, Stemmons Foundation of Irving and Hillcrest Foundation of Dallas about cancer care results made possible by funding these organizations donated.

“I was very pleased and proud to let our donors know that we’ve kept a promise to care for more than 120 new and more complex cancer cases in Irving in the last 12 months,” said IHF President John Drake. “We have been able to honor our pledges thanks to the new, specialized treatment equipment that they helped our hospital purchase.”

Baylor Medical Center at Irving’s Cancer Center saw 138 patients in the first year of using new Image Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT) and related equipment at the Irving Cancer Center. Hundreds of Baylor Medical Center at Irving employees joined the Four Seasons Resort and the Stemmons and Hillcrest Foundations in giving $550,000 toward the purchase of this equipment. Baylor Irving then funded the $800,000 from revenues after expenses toward the total cost of more than $1.3 million.

“Our hospital is so well run by Cindy Schamp and her team that we are truly blessed to have dollars remaining after regular expenses and the rising cost of charity care,” said IHF Chairman Brian Smith. “The latest figures I’ve seen show that many hospitals in our country have no available funds left over to buy equipment or pay for staff continuing education. That’s why gift dollars from the community are exponentially important to helping a local hospital. It’s why my colleagues and I enjoy serving on the Irving Healthcare Foundation Board of Directors; we love Irving’s only nonprofit hospital and want to help it however we can.

The Irving Cancer Center team at Baylor Medical Center at Irving has used the IGRT equipment for 1,809 procedures since September of last year. This means that each of the 138 patients had 13 visits, if averaged. This is much less than previous versions of radiation therapy available in our community, which could require daily visits for up to six weeks. Medical professionals now can deliver much higher doses of radiation more exactly. The result is greater destruction of tumors while healthy tissue surrounding it is spared.

“Four Seasons Resort and Club has been a faithful corporate friend to our foundation since 1992,” Drake said. “With this current year’s $100,000 pledge for new equipment and software, it will bring the Resort’s giving to more than $2.4 million. We know that Four Seasons as a company internationally has a vision for a world without cancer. We love working with the Resort here in Las Colinas to envision an Irving without cancer, too. How great to recognize the giving of Stemmons and Hillcrest Foundations too for their role in making cancer treatment better in Irving.”

Four Seasons Resort and Club is hosting a golf tournament on Oct. 22 and a 5k and 10k race on Oct. 27 to raise funds toward its 2012 pledge of $100,000. More information is available by calling Kyle Bryson at 972-579-4392.

Source: Irving Healthcare Foundation

VHA held its “Community Day,” in which employees from corporate headquarters in Irving and at area offices across the country fan out in their communities to volunteer with various organizations, on Oct. 9. Keep Irving Beautiful (KIB) partnered with a team of twenty-three volunteers from the VHA family (including VHA, Novation and Provista) who participated in a beautification project at Irving’s Running Bear Park. The group gave over 103 hours of service by painting two pavilions, an archway and two fences in the playground area.

“This is my third year to participate, and I enjoy it so much I wish we could do it twice a year,” said LauriAnn Cash of Novation, co-leader of the KIB team. “I love to volunteer, and it’s great to work for a company that encourages community service and gives us the day to do so.”

“We are so happy that we could partner with Keep Irving Beautiful to help beautify this park,” co-leader Tami Maurer, also of Novation, added. “It’s nice to know that children and their families will be enjoying the results of our efforts today.”

Julie Schmitt of KIB was at the site with the volunteers.

“This is the fourth year we have had the privilege of partnering with the VHA group of companies for their day of service,” Schmitt said. “They are an absolute pleasure to work with every time, and we appreciate their service. We would also like to thank John Page and his staff in the Parks Department for providing all the supplies and preparing the area so that the VHA team could get started right away.”

Source: Keep Irving Beautiful