Thanks Issued for Making Grants Possible

The following guest column was submitted by Dean Jacob, President & CEO of Marion Community Foundation

Admittedly, signing $778,000 worth of checks and mailing them out to forty happy recipients is a rush.  And it was so effortless – just sign my name forty times and place the checks in forty envelopes.  That’s what I was honored to do recently on behalf of Marion Community Foundation.  And for that minimal effort, I personally have received much praise.  But any praise directed at me is definitely misplaced.

The real praise and thanks must go to the many individuals who created our twenty-one endowed funds that comprise our competitive grants program at Marion Community Foundation.  Without the generosity of the individuals who created those funds, there wouldn’t be money to hand out as part of our competitive grants program.  Without the generosity of these individuals, the 40 organizations featured in The Marion Star article last Tuesday about our grants program would not be able to run the many worthwhile programs they offer to citizens of the Marion area.

So let’s all take some time to thank the following people and the funds they created at Marion Community Foundation:

• Merle Hamilton, who created the A. Merle Hamilton Fund
• The anonymous donor who created the “C Fund”
• The children of Chester and Mildred Roberts, who created the Chester and Mildred Roberts Fund
• Child Care Choices, Inc., in Galion, creators of the Child Care Choices Fund
• James Conway and family, creators of the Conway Family Charitable Fund
• Friends and family of Dave and Anne Brown, who created the Dave and Anne Brown Family Fund
• Evelyn E. Walter, creator of the Evelyn E. Walter Foundation Fund
• Former Trustees of Marion Community Foundation who created the Founders’ Fund
• Francis and Thelma Wise, creators of the Francis & Thelma Wise Fund
• The visionaries of the Ohio MedCenter Foundation (the former Marion MedCenter Hospital), which created the Health Care Fund
• The Society for the Handicapped of Marion County, Inc., which created the Helen Cunningham Handicapped Fund
• Henry Heinzemann, who created the Henry Heinzemann Community Food Pantry Fund
• Jerry Grubaugh, creator of the Jerry Grubaugh Memorial Fund
• John O-Shea and the family and friends of Kathleen O’Shea, who created the Kathleen E. O’Shea Fund
• Kenny Martin, creator of the Kenny Martin Charitable Fund
• Mary Hollaway, who created the Mary H. Hollaway Donor Advised Endowment Fund and the Mary H. Hollaway Non-Endowed Fund
• Paul and Susan Ludwig, creators of the Paul & Susan Ludwig Charitable Fund
• The anonymous donors who created the R & C Non-Endowed Fund
• Vera McDanel, creator of the Vera O. McDanel Senior Citizens Transportation Fund
• Bob & Dorothy Wopat, creators of the Robert M. and Dorothy C. Wopat Community Fund
• The many family, friends, attorneys, accountants, and financial advisors who also played a part in the creation of the above funds

So many good people creating so much good for Marion.  And the special thing about these endowed funds is that they will continue to produce grant money virtually forever.  That’s the really cool part of endowed giving.

Our volunteer Grants Committee members (Susie Brown, Dr. Scott Yancey, Dr. Henry Heinzmann, Rev. Dan Kiger, Dr. Jim Barney, and Dr. Kim Stark) also deserve thanks for the challenging task of diligently reviewing the seventy-nine grant applications and making the difficult decisions.

Appreciation should likewise go to our local financial advisors (Merrill Lynch, Stifel Nicolaus, and Wells Fargo Advisors) and our volunteer Investment Committee members (Megan Queen, Ted Graham, Dr. Charlie Garvin, John Bartram, Tom Clark, Fred Manter, and Rex Parrott) for prudently investing our endowed funds that consistently produce significant gains, making our annual grants possible.

Kudos, also, goes to our staff.  Julie Prettyman (Program Manager), Diana Rinesmith (Office Manager), Diane Mault (Bookkeeper), and Lori Stevenson (Public Relations Consultant) put in countless hours doing all the tasks required to run a successful and large grants program.  Finally, thanks to my predecessor, Brad Bebout, for creating and upholding the trust our community has in Marion Community Foundation, which thereby encourages our many donors to establish endowed funds with us.

Unfortunately, forty-one programs and over one million dollars in requests went unfunded because we just don’t have enough money to meet all the needs.  Want to help?  Creating a named endowed fund at Marion Community Foundation is really pretty easy.  Contact Marion Community Foundation at 740-387-9704 to learn how.  I’d be honored to someday sign and send a check to a worthy organization on your behalf.

Dean Jacob, President & CEO of Marion Community Foundation