Community Foundation Members Hear How Dollars Help at Annual Meeting
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Jordan Fouts-
“We thought, ‘We’re better than this, we can do better than this,’” Ot Schroeder, a KC-Ed committee member who was involved in founding the drop-out prevention initiative in 2009, said during the Kosciusko County Community Foundation annual meeting Wednesday.
The foundation has financially supported the program for three years, helping KC-Ed grow to include more high school students and enlist a dozen graduation coaches and dozens more elementary school mentors, ultimately bringing the graduation rate up to 87 percent.
“That’s huge, especially if that young man or young lady (who graduates) is your neighbor,” Schroeder said.
David Bailey, a Warsaw Community High School graduation coach, told attendees he could quote more numbers but preferred to focus on the role of relationship building in student success.
“This program is about the intangibles, what you can’t put on paper. I could put it all on paper but it doesn’t say a thing” about the relationships that develop between students and coaches and among students themselves, Bailey said. “I’m seeing them accomplish those amazing things with a little bit of a push.”
The program focuses on complete self-improvement, he said, noting working on students’ health or faith also helps other parts of their lives. He gave examples of increased attendance and dramatically improved grades among students, as well as non-academic developments he’s seen such as students supporting each other after the deaths of two parents.
“I don’t know where the kids would have gone without each other,” he said. “They came to school to see each other ... just to talk and have someone to bounce things off of.”
Foundation members were able to vote during the meeting on an area in which to award a $10,000 proactive grant, one the foundation awards where they see a need without an organization requesting the money. The categories were agriculture, civic projects, education, the environment, health, human services and recreation, as well as the option for voters to write their own ideas.
The voting results will be announced in the foundation’s November e-newsletter, according to Suzanne Light, foundation executive director.
Members also voted on foundation officers, electing Jerry Yeager as president, Jim McFadden as vice president, Rob Parker as secretary, Steve Snyder as treasurer and Light as executive director.
Yeager shared highlights from the past year, including the awarding of $1.7 million in grants, nearly 200 scholarships for higher education and more than $250,000 in medical crisis assistance.
John Elliott, vice president of 1st Source Bank in Warsaw, and Rick Helm, an attorney with Rockhill Pinnick, were recognized as members of the Philanthropy Round Table; and retiring board members Alan Alderfer, Tracy Jackson, Barbara Kissane, Jeannie Ross, Craig Tidball and Mindy Truex were recognized.[[In-content Ad]]
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“We thought, ‘We’re better than this, we can do better than this,’” Ot Schroeder, a KC-Ed committee member who was involved in founding the drop-out prevention initiative in 2009, said during the Kosciusko County Community Foundation annual meeting Wednesday.
The foundation has financially supported the program for three years, helping KC-Ed grow to include more high school students and enlist a dozen graduation coaches and dozens more elementary school mentors, ultimately bringing the graduation rate up to 87 percent.
“That’s huge, especially if that young man or young lady (who graduates) is your neighbor,” Schroeder said.
David Bailey, a Warsaw Community High School graduation coach, told attendees he could quote more numbers but preferred to focus on the role of relationship building in student success.
“This program is about the intangibles, what you can’t put on paper. I could put it all on paper but it doesn’t say a thing” about the relationships that develop between students and coaches and among students themselves, Bailey said. “I’m seeing them accomplish those amazing things with a little bit of a push.”
The program focuses on complete self-improvement, he said, noting working on students’ health or faith also helps other parts of their lives. He gave examples of increased attendance and dramatically improved grades among students, as well as non-academic developments he’s seen such as students supporting each other after the deaths of two parents.
“I don’t know where the kids would have gone without each other,” he said. “They came to school to see each other ... just to talk and have someone to bounce things off of.”
Foundation members were able to vote during the meeting on an area in which to award a $10,000 proactive grant, one the foundation awards where they see a need without an organization requesting the money. The categories were agriculture, civic projects, education, the environment, health, human services and recreation, as well as the option for voters to write their own ideas.
The voting results will be announced in the foundation’s November e-newsletter, according to Suzanne Light, foundation executive director.
Members also voted on foundation officers, electing Jerry Yeager as president, Jim McFadden as vice president, Rob Parker as secretary, Steve Snyder as treasurer and Light as executive director.
Yeager shared highlights from the past year, including the awarding of $1.7 million in grants, nearly 200 scholarships for higher education and more than $250,000 in medical crisis assistance.
John Elliott, vice president of 1st Source Bank in Warsaw, and Rick Helm, an attorney with Rockhill Pinnick, were recognized as members of the Philanthropy Round Table; and retiring board members Alan Alderfer, Tracy Jackson, Barbara Kissane, Jeannie Ross, Craig Tidball and Mindy Truex were recognized.[[In-content Ad]]
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