President's Post: Connecting in innovative ways
Published: November 1, 2016 by Gail Richards, president and CEO
Hi all! I know you know that we connect people who care with causes that matter so I just wanted to give you an idea of how we have done that this year! As you also know, we are celebrating our 25th year as a community foundation in Johnson County, and we’ve been having fun making new connections in innovative ways.
The Color the County Mural program has been completed for the town of Bargersville and the cities of Franklin and Greenwood. This project connected our foundation with the community through arts and culture. We had more than 800 people in the three areas come out and help paint their town or city…and all three look fabulous. I extend a huge thank you to everyone who shared in our vision of bringing public art to local communities. And we can’t thank the officials from the county, town and cities enough who helped us plan and execute the murals and of course the local artists who are now showcasing their talents on the sides of Johnson County buildings. We hope to be able to continue this program in 2017!
The 25 Days of Giving program – that we liken to Publisher’s Clearinghouse-type awards of $1,000 to 25 deserving causes (including $250 mini teacher grants) – has been so much fun. To see the faces of the well-deserving organizations and individuals as they receive a no-strings-attached grant is amazing. Normally grants are awarded for specific programs and grantees have very little discretion on how to use the money. And we still have more to give before the end of 2016!
And finally our intern, Cayman Jarvis, has been “loaned” out to various nonprofit organizations across the county for the Foundation’s 25 Days of Sharing program. If an organization has an emergency need or short-term project to accomplish, Cayman has been their man.
I guess in closing I am just thankful that you have been so supportive of JCCF over the past 25 years, supportive of the activities we have provided for the community this year, and hopefully the support you provide to us over the next 100+ years.
There is no way that we could have reached almost $25 million in assets, that provide over $1 million per year in grants and scholarships, without your support!
