Thanks for 25 years of service

To the editor:

January 4, 2018

In 2017, the Wabash Valley Community Foundation celebrated 25 years of service in the Wabash Valley. We are fortunate to have spent this past quarter century guiding the charitable efforts of community-minded individuals, as well as partnering with non-profit agencies focused on improving the quality of life within our communities.

Since our formation, over 9,500 donors have chosen to partner with the Community Foundation in local philanthropy.

It is thanks to their generosity that the Community Foundation and its affiliates, the Clay County Community Foundation and Sullivan County Community Foundation, have collectively awarded over $20 million in grants and $5.5 million in scholarships.

Each gift made to the Community Foundation over the course of 25 years has helped transform our communities through grant funding for programs and projects and has made it possible for students to receive scholarships to further their education.

To celebrate this milestone and say thank you to the Wabash Valley, the Community Foundation awarded twenty-five $1,000 anniversary grants weekly beginning July 7, 2017.

More than 100 applications were received from non-profit agencies in Clay, Sullivan and Vigo counties detailing how a gift of $1,000 could make a significant impact on those they serve.

Two weeks ago, the Community Foundation awarded the last of its 25th Anniversary Grants. This award was the culmination of a 25-week-long endeavor in which we provided $1,000 gifts to benefit youth, seniors, arts & culture, animals, environment, historical preservation and community improvements.

Congratulations to the 25th Anniversary Grant recipients!

However, the role of the Community Foundation is much greater than these 25 grants. The Community Foundation will continue this year and next and on into the future to provide grants supporting new and important programs.

The Community Foundation will continue to make annual distributions to support charitable organizations identified by the donors and creators of specific funds. The Community Foundation will continue to provide scholarships helping both traditional and non-traditional students seek education to build a better future.

The past 25 years of achievement is due to the great generosity of individuals, families and corporate donors. The gifts given to the Community Foundation were added to permanent and lasting endowment funds that have benefitted the community repeatedly in the past and will continue to do so in the future.

A special note of appreciation must go out to Lilly Endowment Inc., for its great generosity and the opportunity for our three counties to participate in its GIFT initiative. The Wabash Valley Community Foundation likely would not exist without the Endowment’s most generous challenge grant opportunities.

Further, the growth of the Wabash Valley Community Foundation would not have occurred without the generous contributors in Clay, Sullivan and Vigo counties who have permanently supported their charitable priorities through the Community Foundation.

The Wabash Valley Community Foundation and its affiliates, the Clay County Community Foundation and Sullivan County Community Foundation, have been led throughout the years by dedicated community leaders.

Those individuals have given of their time, their talent and their treasures to assure that the Community Foundation serves its three counties, and the many communities within those counties, to the best of its ability.

Once again, the Community Foundation thanks all of you who live and work in Clay, Sullivan or Vigo counties for allowing us to serve as your partner in philanthropy!

We look forward to working with you to give where you live over the next quarter century and beyond!

Beth Tevlin, Executive Director, Wabash Valley Community Foundation

WABASH VALLEY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION IN CLAY COUNTY

Over the course of the Wabash Valley Community Foundation awarding $1,000 per week as part of its 25th Anniversary Grant Program, the following organizations in Clay County were included:

• Clay County Parks Association to purchase and install playground equipment at Craig Park

• Center Point & Community Volunteer Fire Company to replace 30-year-old tables and chairs used for community events

• Clay County Historical Society to install an interurban rail at Bicentennial Legacy Park;

• Kiddin’ Around Goat Club to provide electrical and lighting supplies needed for its barn expansion, as well as the purchase of a show dryer