Last week, a gathering of over 120 friends of your Community Foundation came together at the historic Indiana Beach Ballroom to highlight 2022, celebrate 25 years of strengthening and transforming White County, and share good news for the future of our community.
Each guest was presented with a copy of the Foundation’s 2022 Annual Report, which highlighted many exciting initiatives and programs happening around the county, including ten new funds established last year and over $356,000 in grants that beautify our downtown spaces, enrich our children’s schools, expand resources to our vulnerable populations, plus so much more.
Our guests were welcomed by 2022 Governing Council President, Dave Winings who introduced our current and former governing council members, as well as some founding contributors, each who help shape the Foundation, and whose visions and philanthropic dollars shape our community. Winings also highlighted last year’s community conversations and how that information, pooled together with county-specific data, provided an opportunity for CFWC to immediately take action in response to some of what was learned.
Two proactive grants were awarded last year to White County United Way’s Community Navigator program and to Valley Oaks Health to expand people’s access to critical resources in the community.
Additionally in response to our community conversations and data collection, we launched a new Youth Philanthropy Council. This group of 26 high school students representing all four county schools are charged with identifying needs in their school communities and awarding grants to make a difference. We were thrilled to honor the inaugural council and their guardians at our Annual Report to the Community this year.
YPC School Chair, Jim Annis introduced each of our YPC Members and invited the leadership team to announce their first ground of grant recipients that support North White School Corporation, Tri-County School Corporation, Twin Lakes School Corporation, and Frontier School Corporation. An inspiring group of students, for certain.
The evening continued with more exciting announcements in celebration of our 25th anniversary. Thanks to a dedicated community, we surpassed our goal of raising $25K by our 25th Anniversary in May to help fund a special anniversary grant. Together with the matching funds from a generous donor, we announced the recipient of the $50,000 “What’s Your Legacy?” Grant at our celebration.
The Boys & Girls Club of White County will use the funds to bring life back to their In-MAC Design & Innovation Studio (IN-MaC= Indiana Manufacturing Competitiveness Center), providing elementary and middle school students with exposure to the foundations of STEM, manufacturing, career training, and soft skills. Not limited to just Club members, the state-of-the-art studio will be available to inspire homeschooled groups and other youth serving organizations in the region.
To end the evening, Director Lucy Dold shared the Community Foundation’s plans for the coming years. In continued response to the community conversations, the Community Foundation will spend the next five years focusing our efforts toward addressing mental wellness in our community. With this, the announcement of a new grant opportunity was shared with our community at our celebration: Mental Wellness Grants will be offered through the Community Foundation, with $50,000 available to award in its first year. Log on to www.cfwhitecounty.org to learn more about this grant.
Since 1998, over $5Million has been awarded to uplift the White County community through the philanthropic vehicle of the community foundation. Thank you for making this milestone such a special one. We look forward to continuing to serve and strengthen our community for the next twenty-five years and beyond.
To learn more about uplifting your community together, reach out to Lucy Dold at (574) 583-6911 or log on to www.cfwhitecounty.org.