philanthropy in our community
FALL 2011
Literacy 2030 Initiative Taking Shape
enrich enrich Working together to change lives, and our Midlands community, through a goal of 100 percent literacy. That’s the goal of the Foundation’s new
At the end of the five-to-six month
Ellen Hinrichs, director of community
planning process, we will have a regional
philanthropy “and Literacy 2030 strives
literacy plan based upon two reports
to engage the entire community in
produced by Literacy Powerline. The asset
this process. Reaching 100% literacy
mapping and benchmarking report will
can only be achieved through 100%
outline what literacy services are available
community engagement.”
initiative, Literacy 2030. Literacy service
in each county and what services are
providers, educators, business leaders,
missing. This report will also benchmark
we work towards completing the literacy
legislators and passionate volunteers are
steps along the journey to 100% literacy
plan for our region and take our first steps
determined to break the intergenerational
by 2030.
toward 100% literacy by 2030. If you plan
cycle of low literacy in our state.
Literacy 2030 unites these stakeholders
A funding analysis report will enable
We invite you to join us each month as
phphilanthropy i l anth r opy i ninoour ur c ocommunity m m u n ity
to attend any of the remaining meetings
organizations to view funding sources
below, please RSVP to literacy2030@
under an admittedly aspirational and yet
for all organizations and also determine
yourfoundation.org at least 24 hours in
important goal—reaching 100 percent
what additional funding opportunities
advance. All meetings are held from 9:00
are available. A third study will come
am to 1:00 pm at the Heyward Career
by the year 2030—and works to connect,
from The University of South Carolina
and Technology Center located at 3560
equip and support them for the journey.
School of Library and Information
Lynhaven Drive in Columbia.
The new website, www.literacy2030.org,
Science. This economic impact statement
will serve as a central hub for the initiative
will focus on the impact illiteracy creates
throughout the process.
in the Midlands.
• • • •
SPRING 2009 5, ofNo. 1Carolina literacy in the Vol. Midlands South
The Community Foundation believes
The indicators for how we measure
in the power of collaboration to change
the success of Literacy 2030 throughout
lives. By gathering the varied spectrum of
the next 19 years will be outlined in
literacy nonprofits around one common
these reports. The research will help us
goal, we improve organizational
to determine ways to strengthen what
efficiency, grow community awareness and
is working, fill in the gaps of what is
transform lives in the Midlands.
not working and focus on next steps to
The first step is to undertake a regional
bring us to 100% literacy. These reports
planning process that will bring the
will assist us on the journey to improve
community together to address an issue so
the literacy rates in the Midlands, thus
large that no one organization can solve it
positively impacting our education system,
alone. The Foundation has brought in the
our economic future and the stability of
national organization Literacy Powerline to
our state.
SPRING 2009 Vol. 5, No. 1 assist in this process.
inside
Thursday, November 17th Thursday, December 15th Thursday, January 19th Thursday, February 16th
philanthropy in our community
“Literacy is a community issue,” said
Arts Abound in Orangeburg
page 2
The Ripple Effect
page 3
President’s Letter
page 3
Philanthropy Week
page 4
Honoring Our Champions
page 5
Regional Affiliate Updates
page 6
We are a nonprofit organization serving 11 counties in the Midlands by distributing grants and scholarships and linking the resources of donors, nonprofits and community leaders to areas of need. Join us on Facebook for the latest news Our page is public, so you don’t have to join Facebook to view it.
FEATURED FUND
Arts Abound in Orangeburg Talk about being a one-stop
and encourage the community
local merchants and artists.”
shop for all things art! The
to participate in and enjoy the
Later in the month, the Fine
Orangeburg County Fine Arts
arts,” states Executive Director
Arts Center will unveil the annual
Center has so many things to
Elizabeth Thomas. “Our programs
Festival of Mayors’ Wreaths.
offer and exists to provide a
are as affordable as possible so
Every year, the Center asks
thriving arts community for
that we are accessible to all the
each municipality in the county
the enrichment of the citizens
citizens of Orangeburg County.”
to create a wreath that reflects
of Orangeburg County. The Fine Arts Center was
One way in which the Center
their city or town. On November
is supported is through the
21, the lights will be turned on
established in 1984 as a 501(c)(3)
annual Silent Auction and Wine
in the gardens and the wreaths
nonprofit located in the Edisto
Tasting. November 7 marks the
will be on display for bidding.
Memorial Gardens in downtown
14th year of this event which
In addition, the S.C. State
Orangeburg. Today, the facility
raises money to help support the
Concert Choir will perform.
boasts a spacious lobby, gift
mission of the Fine Arts Center.
area, classrooms, the Lusty Art
“The auction is a great
As you can see, the Orangeburg County Fine Arts
Gallery and a small theatre
opportunity to get a head start
Center is truly the arts hub
space. In addition, the Terrace
on your holiday shopping,”
in Orangeburg County. To
Garden overlooks the Edisto River
remarks Elizabeth. “The $10
learn more about what the
from the east side of the building.
admission includes wines
organization has to offer or
A truly unique community
provided by Piggly Wiggly and
how can you get involved,
resource, the Center provides
offers access to a host of auction
visit www.ocfac.net or
a wide variety of art education
items and gift certificates from
call 803.536.4074.
programs for children and adults, features a range of artistic exhibitions and activities, and presents many cultural events throughout each year. The gallery showcases the artwork of local artisans. The two classrooms offer adults and children a variety of options including painting, drawing, dance, photography, mosaics, pottery and sewing. The stage area hosts plays, concerts, recitals and book signings. The organization also provides meeting space for local arts groups. Perhaps you would like a lesson in woodcarving, quilting, the piano or creative writing — you’ll find all of these within the Fine Arts Center. “We are here to promote
Orangeburg County Fine Arts Center
Board of Trustees Scott R. Adams John Baker J. Mac Bennett Sharon W. Bryant R. Jason Caskey Chris D. Christiansen Aubria Corbitt Susan Kenney Cotter Michael C. Crapps
Rita Bragg Cullum Judith M. Davis, Vice Chair Eric M. Elkins L. Marion Gressette III Henry B. Haitz III C. Carroll Heyward David G. Hodges Jackie Howie
Bruce W. Hughes, Secretary/Treasurer D. Michael Kelly Ellis M. Knight Ted O. McGee Jr. Catherine R. Monetti Linda O’Bryon David Peterson John C. Pollok page 2
Barbara Rackes Ben Rex George W. Rogers A. Eugene Rountree Terry K. Schmoyer Jr. Martha Scott Smith Nancy Spencer J. Hagood Tighe, Chair Susie H. VanHuss
The Ripple Effect of Philanthropy In early 2010, Helen Clay became the Foundation’s youngest fund-holder when she established the Helen’s Hugs fund with a goal of building teddy bears year-round for children at the Palmetto Health Children’s Hospital in Columbia. Since then, Helen has raised almost $27,000 from family, friends and local businesses, allowing her to build more than 1,000 bears. These bears have been delivered to patients of the Children’s Hospital where they have brought smiles to the faces of many sick children. This story began several years prior when Helen was in the hospital and received a box filled with toys and treats from a young teenage boy. When Helen found out that the teenage boy had also once been in the hospital and now put together gift boxes for other hospitalized children, she was greatly touched and inspired to follow his example. Just as Helen was inspired by this young man, a young girl named Catherine was recently inspired by Helen. While she was in the hospital, Catherine received one of Helen’s bears. Each bear comes with a note explaining whom the bear comes from. Catherine told her mother, Carrie, that she wanted to do something to give back as well. “When I found out that it was Helen who gave me the bear, I decided that I wanted to do it too,” said Catherine.
Helen & Catherine with a few of the bears they built. “I thought it would be nice if I raised money and helped her.” So for her ninth birthday, instead of asking for presents for herself, Catherine asked for money so she too could build bears to give away. She collected more than $120 for the cause. Over the summer, we received a call from Carrie explaining the situation and asking if Helen would be interested in having Catherine join her for one of her builds. Helen was thrilled by the idea and one recent Saturday morning the girls and their mothers met at the Build-A-Bear Workshop®. Together they talked, shared stories and built bears. “I can’t believe that Catherine would use her birthday party to raise
money for other children,” said Helen. “It encourages me to continue doing what I’m doing, because it makes me realize that it’s making a difference for those kids.” “We are thrilled to help share this story of how one person’s actions can inspire a ripple effect,” said Kristin Williamson, manager of the Talk About Giving program at the Community Foundation. “The compassion shown by both Helen and Catherine is an inspiration to us. We hope that this experience can be used by parents and others in our community to teach children the importance of philanthropy.”
Letter from the President When I was growing up, the arrival of fall heralded the return of fresh baked pies in our house. Apple, pumpkin and pecan, the smells and flavors brought my sister and me running to the kitchen. We were always amazed at the bounty of ingredients needed to create our favorite dessert. The board and staff of the Foundation often discuss how we can increase the philanthropic pie in the Midlands. While reading this newsletter, it occurred to me that the bounty of ingredients required to make a philanthropic pie are featured in this edition. The inspiration provided by Helen Clay and the winners of the 2011 Best of Philanthropy awards adds the tantalizing spices that bring folks running to support the needs of others. The grants provided by our affiliate groups sweeten their communities by funding needed projects. The collaborative efforts of the Literacy 2030 team come together to create a supporting crust for this challenging initiative.
JoAnn Turnquist
The citizens of the Midlands of South Carolina provide a harvest of goodwill and charity — neighbors helping neighbors and individuals and organizations helping those in need. As we enter the season of Thanksgiving I offer my thanks to each of you for the gifts of time, treasure and talent that you share every day. Together, we are increasing the philanthropic pie in our communities.
PHILANTHROPY page 3
During the week of November
their organization is eligible
13-19, 2011, we will join more
to receive matching funds. For
than 700 community foundations
complete details, please visit our
across the country in celebrating
website at yourfoundation.org.
Community Foundation Week. For more than 20 years, the effort has raised awareness about the importance of philanthropy and the role community foundations play in increasing charitable giving in order to address the issues facing our communities. As the promotion of philanthropy is a part of Central Carolina Community Foundation’s mission, our celebration will not be focused on the work we do. Instead, we will celebrate Philanthropy Week by honoring all forms of charitable giving in the Midlands. One way we will honor the nonprofit community is a matching gift opportunity that will be provided to the nonprofit agency funds managed by the Foundation. Our agency partners support a broad range of needs in our community including human
2011
November
13-19
We will also participate in the Association of Fundraising Professional’s National Philanthropy Day® on November 17, 2011. This day spotlights the entire spectrum of services provided by the Midlands nonprofit community and recognizes the profound impact that philanthropy has on the fabric of society. New this year, the Foundation will hold a Grant Giveaway via our Facebook page culminating during Philanthropy Week. Any 501(c)(3) nonprofit that serves one or more of the 11 counties
Monday, November 14
in our service area is eligible to be nominated. First prize will be
Carolina Children’s Home, Cultural Council of Richland and Lexington Counties, and Southern Interscholastic Press Association
Wednesday, November 16 Family Connection of South Carolina, Palmetto Place Children’s Emergency Shelter, and South Carolina Philharmonic Orchestra
$1,000, second prize $500 and third prize $250. Please refer to the official contest rules on our
INVESTING
Celebrating Philanthropy in the Midlands
website for nomination guidelines. We are proud to be a part of a community that demonstrates commitment and creativity in order to find new and better ways way to improve the lives of our neighbors in need. Please
Friday, November 18
visit our website and Facebook
and animal welfare. Those that
Children’s Chance, Glenforest
information about all the activities
have selected to participate
School, and The Montessori
surrounding Philanthropy Week.
are listed here on the day that
School of Camden
services, education, the arts, children’s residential services
page where we will be posting
We would love to see others in the community get involved with Philanthropy Week. Maybe your family has a picture of you supporting your favorite charity. Perhaps you want to hold a food or clothing drive at your school, or maybe your company would be willing to match donations made to charity by employees that week. If your PTA, church group or civic club is looking for a speaker about philanthropy, contact us. We’d be happy to come talk with you about our Talk About Giving initiative which aims to encourage family conversation about philanthropy. However you choose to get involved, we want to know about it so that we can share it with the community during Philanthropy Week. Contact Tonia Cochran at 803.254.5601 x329 or tonia@yourfoundation.org if you would like to participate, share your story or find out more.
The Staff JoAnn M. Turnquist | President & CEO x323 Jo Bull | Chief Operating Officer x326 Tonia E. Cochran | Director of Marketing & Communications x329 Edward E. Conroy, CPA | Chief Financial Officer x325
Contact Us
Ellen Shuler Hinrichs | Director of Community Philanthropy X322 Veronica L. Pinkett-Barber | Program Officer x331 Kelly Rogers | Staff Accountant X330 Kristin W. Williamson | Interactive Marketing Manager x328
2711 Middleburg Drive, Suite 213 | Columbia, SC 29204 803.254.5601 | 803.799.6663 (F) | info@yourfoundation.org | www.yourfoundation.org page 4
The Community Foundation and Columbia Metropolitan Magazine partnered once again to present our Best of Philanthropy Awards: Honoring Our Community Champions at the Foundation’s recent annual celebration. These awards honor ordinary people in our community who make giving back a priority for themselves, their family or their business. More than 200 people joined us on September 16 to celebrate the philanthropic endeavors of our Community Champions. Each winner was presented with an award and given the opportunity to grant a $500 donation to the charity of their choice in our 11-county service area.
2011 Community Champions: Local Business Champion - Kristian Niemi,
Gervais & Vine and Rosso Trattoria Italia
Individual Champions (tie) - Julia Colson and Cheri Brown Thompson
Student Champions (tie) - Morgan Polans and Gigi Shevchik
Group Champions - Gilbert Elementary School Relay for Life Team These Community Champions use their time, treasures and talents to improve the lives of others in our community. They don’t seek recognition for what they are doing; they do it simply because they believe it’s the right thing to do. As their stories show, philanthropy comes in many forms and sizes. The winners were profiled in the September Columbia Metropolitan Magazine. If you haven’t read the article, we encourage you to buy the issue. In addition to our Best of Philanthropy Awards, we also presented the 2011 David W. Robinson Catalyst Award. The Catalyst Award, created in memory of Mr. Robinson, recognizes organizations in our 11-county service area that have exemplified leadership, creativity, vision and commitment in addressing critical community issues.
Photos courtesy of Bob Lancaster.
Family Champions - Ken and Lisa Kasper
Left to Right from Top: Ken Kasper, Lisa Kasper, Kristian Niemi, Cheri Brown Thompson, Julia Colson, Gilbert Elementary School Relay for Life Team, Gigi Shevchik, Morgan Polans
The 2011 recipient of the Catalyst Award is Healing Species. The Healing Species’ proven-effective and evidencebased program intercepts crime and violence through a unique 11-week compassion and character education curriculum implemented with rescued dogs. “Honoring these individuals and organizations by celebrating their gifts of time, talent and treasure is a wonderful way to fulfill our mission to promote, facilitate and increase philanthropy in the Midlands,” said President & CEO JoAnn Turnquist. “We look forward to continuing these awards at our annual celebration each year.” Visit our Facebook page for more photos.
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Photo courtesy of Tim Consway.
ENGAGING OUR COMMUNITY
Honoring our Community Champions
Elizabeth Boles, Cheri Brown Thompson and Adele Little from Healing Species.
PRSRT STD US Postage PAID Columbia, SC Permit #535 Central Carolina Community Foundation 2711 Middleburg Drive, Suite 213 Columbia, South Carolina 29204
Regional Affiliates Update Four communities within our 11-county service area created regional endowments to better serve the needs of their local area. These publicly supported endowments allow neighbors, leaders, citizens, family and friends to provide for each other and their future together as a community. A board of local community advisors provides leadership over the resources for the nonprofit organizations in their targeted areas.
Orangeburg Calhoun Community Foundation
The Kershaw County Endowment recently awarded five grants to local organization serving Kershaw County. Recipients included: Food for the Soul Kershaw County, Girl Scouts of South Carolina Mountains to Midlands, Harvest Hope Food Bank, Sistercare Inc. and The Upton Trio. “We are pleased to be able to award funding to such diverse and dedicated organizations that enrich Kershaw County and further the mission of the Kershaw County Endowment,” said Endowment Chair Pauline W. Lampshire. The 10-member Endowment Board also recently welcomed a new member, Gracie L. Adamson from Cassatt, South Carolina.
Last month, OCCF participated in the Orangeburg County Chamber’s Face2Face Business EXPO 2011. “It was great to see the Orangeburg Calhoun Community Foundation sharing their story with more than 500 businesses at the Face2Face EXPO,” said Chamber President and OCCF Board Member David L. Coleman. “I am confident that the more people know about OCCF, the more willing they will be to support its mission.” OCCF also awarded grants this month to nine organizations. Recipients include: Elloree Heritage Museum & Cultural Center, Girl Scouts of Eastern South Carolina, Harvest Hope Food Bank, Healing Species, Orangeburg Adult Literacy Council, Orangeburg Area Boys and Girls Club, Orangeburg County Library, Orangeburg-Calhoun Free Medical Clinic and The Walker Foundation.
For more information, visit kershaw.yourfoundation.org.
For additional information, visit oc.yourfoundation.org.
Kershaw County Endowment
ON THE WAY page 6