Newsletter summer 2012

Good Works PEOPLE

PLACE

SUMMER 2012

PROSPERITY

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

“Everything you do matters … behave accordingly.”

— Gloria Steinem at the 2012 Power of the Purse

I was inspired, along with 1,000 or so fortunate attendees, by feminist icon Gloria Steinem’s keynote address at the 8th Annual Power of the Purse luncheon on May 21. She remains fearless and passionate, and her comments contained lessons and nuggets of wisdom. In the office, we have been quoting the one above as it is applicable to both our lives and our work. What we do matters for Western North Carolina. In that spirit, I am pleased to share our latest news with you.

We couldn’t do what we do without our fundholders, nonprofit partners, co-investors and collaborators. Thank you for the trust you place in us.

CFWNC implemented a new way of working last year, with partnership and collaboration at its core and focus and impact guiding our work. For the next several years, we are concentrating our efforts on People in Need, Food and Farming, Early Childhood Development and Preserving Natural and Cultural Resources. This intentional focus is paying measurable dividends to our communities and this newsletter reports on

grants in these areas. You will also read about $360,000 in scholarships to aspiring young scholars across Western North Carolina, more than $250,000 in grants from Women for Women to support economic security for women and girls, environmental grants from the Pigeon River Fund, the first Janirve Legacy Grants and much more.

Our goal is to enrich lives and communities in Western North Carolina, while honoring the charitable wishes of generous donors who create funds with us. It is a joy and privilege to invest in so many innovative and hardworking organizations and to help deserving students pursue their educational goals. I know you will be inspired by their stories.

Senior Program Officer Beth Maczka left CFWNC in June to lead the YWCA of Asheville. Beth contributed much to the Foundation during her tenure. She was a consistent and passionate voice for social change and led the Women for Women grant process and the Early Childhood

Elizabeth Brazas, CFWNC President

Development focus area. Her skills and experience make her an ideal choice for the YW’s next phase. We will miss her contributions but congratulate her on her appointment.

We are excited that Philip Belcher will be joining our staff in August as Vice President of Programs. An attorney and foundation executive, Philip served as President of the Mary Black Foundation, a private foundation working to improve the health and wellness of the people and communities of Spartanburg County, South Carolina.

Formerly the Associate Director of the Health Care Division of The Duke Endowment, Belcher is a graduate of Converse College (MFA, Creative Writing), the Duke University Continued on page 6

Early Childhood Development Focus Area

ECD Funds Reach Out and Read Expansion in WNC

Photo courtesy of Reach Out and Read.

Reach out and Read prepares young children living in low-income communities to succeed in school by partnering with doctors to prescribe books and encouraging families to read together. CFWNC’s first Early Childhood Development (EDC) Focus Area Grant provided $25,000 to expand the program to 3,500 children living in poverty in Western North Carolina.

“We are working closely with donors who share our passion for meeting needs in the region,” said Elizabeth Brazas. “In this case, we were able to reach out to fundholders who care about Early Childhood Development and they co-invested with us. We are grateful to an anonymous donor and the Dogwood Fund, both of which made significant grants to support Reach Out and Read.”

“Early exposure to books and the satisfaction that results when parent and child read together form the basis for future learning,” said Callee Boulware, regional director for Reach Out and Read. “Recent studies have shown that giving books to infants and toddlers changes parental attitudes and behaviors toward reading aloud and improves child language outcomes.”

Approximately 35% of children entering kindergarten today lack the basic language skills they will need to learn to read, and many will face educational hurdles as a result. A majority of these children often have no basic book handling skills, little experience with the printed word and no positive associations with books and reading. The landmark Hart-Risley study estimates that children from low-income families hear as many as 20 million fewer words than their more affluent peers before the age of 4.

Reach Out and Read builds on the unique relationship between parents and medical providers to develop critical early reading skills in children, beginning at 6 months of age.

Reach Out and Read targets doctors and medical practices serving families struggling with intergenerational poverty whose children may not be prepared to enter kindergarten. By partnering with primary care providers, participants reinforce literacy from the earliest possible age. Doctors have unparalleled access to children, especially in their early vital years. Almost 96% of children see a health provider annually, while less than 1/3 are enrolled in a childcare setting.

Continued on page 4

Food and Farming Focus Area

TRACTOR Project Up and Running

The equipment, bought in April and available to farmers for $20 a day, was in use almost immediately. “This equipment helps farmers get their crops into the ground,” explained Tres Magner of the Yancey County Cooperative Extension. “A farmer’s time is his money, and most small farmers would not be able to purchase specialized equipment that is used only a few times a year. With this machinery, we are saving labor and enabling them to try new crops.”

Photo courtesy of Harty Farms.

The Community Foundation launched its Food and Farming Focus Area with a grant to TRACTOR (the Toe River Aggregation Center and Training Organization Regional), an alliance between Mitchell and Yancey counties addressing challenges facing small farmers. The $25,000 grant, from CFWNC, the Foundation for Mitchell County and the Yancey Foundation, purchased key field equipment necessary for small and transitioning farmers.

Rick Harty of Harty Farm

Mitchell County farmer Rick Harty of Harty Farm, located between Red Hill and Tipton Hill on Big Rock Creek, leased the equipment to plow his fields and prepare for a broccoli trial. “We’re working with cooperative extension to try about a dozen varieties of broccoli to see if the mountain temperatures might be cool enough for a longer growing season. The heat of the summer can be too hot for a good head and it often goes to seed,” he explained. “With the plastic mulcher, we created raised beds lifting the soil six or eight inches so it can drain and the roots don’t stay wet. The mulcher also lays a drip tape for irrigation and brings soil up onto the plastic sheet. All of this means that I don’t have to do so much weeding.”

Currently Harty Farm produces mushrooms, honey, strawberries, greens and other vegetables. “The TRACTOR efforts definitely help,” said Harty. “The Farmers Markets Continued on page 6

Haywood Farm to School Program Funded CFWNC and the Fund for Haywood County made a $22,200 grant to support a collaborative Farm to School project designed to address concerns about nutrition and health and the disappearance of small farms. The funds will support the Farm to School program at five Haywood County Schools: Bethel Elementary, Jonathan Valley Elementary, North Canton Elementary, Riverbend Elementary and Waynesville Middle School.

The Farm to School program supports farmers by increasing sales and diversifying markets, while providing better nutrition and food awareness for students, teachers and staff. In addition to local healthy food served in cafeterias, the program includes farm

field trips, cooking demonstrations, nutrition education and school gardens. The project will serve approximately 3,000 students and staff at the five school sites, comprising nearly 40% of Haywood County Schools’ enrollment. More than half of the students qualify for free or reduced lunch and, during the 2010-2011 school year, 39% of Haywood County students were classified as obese.

The success and sustainability of the project is tied to a homegrown and strategic approach that engages stakeholders across the food chain from farmers and buyers to teachers, parents and children. “Farm to School programs are gaining national attention, and it is fitting that we support these efforts in Western North Carolina,” said

Elizabeth Brazas. “This program has strong leadership, is deeply collaborative, can be replicated and builds connections between local agriculture, economic development, health and the environment.”

Project collaborators are NC Center for Health & Wellness at UNC Asheville, Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project, Haywood County Schools, Buy Haywood, NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the UNC Asheville Foundation.

Other funders include the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation of North Carolina and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

Learn more: growing-minds.org.

$25,855 Awarded to Carolina Ground restaurants. Grant funds will be used for staff support while the recently launched mill builds sales and expands its network.

Photo courtesy of Carolina Ground.

The idea for Carolina Ground occurred to miller and general manager Jennifer Lapidus after the price of wheat spiked by as much as 130 percent in 2008. At that time, local bakers were getting most of their flour from the Great Plain states, more than 1,000 miles away. Through local grain commerce, Carolina Ground will offer WNC farmers and bakers an opportunity to become more sustainable and allow long-term relationships to be established. Consumers will benefit as well, through more stable retail prices for wheat products and a reduction in the carried-over cost of food transportation.

Jennifer Lapidus with Carolina Ground’s Osttiroler stone-burr grist mill.

CFWNC recently awarded $25,855 to Carolina Ground, an initiative of the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association. Carolina Ground is a small-scale grain milling operation in Asheville connecting North Carolina grain producers with bakeries and

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With community support, Carolina Ground was able to launch with very little debt.

The capital needed for equipment and build out was raised through ten private investors and an online Kickstarter campaign, resulting in $18,000 from 307 individuals to match a cost-share grant. When faced with unanticipated delays and cost overruns, Carolina Ground garnered the first of two WNC Slow Money loans, low-interest loans

from individuals, enabling them to begin milling in April.

Currently, Carolina Ground supplies Annie’s Naturally in Sylva and Asheville, West End Bakery in West Asheville, Flat Rock Village Bakery in Flat Rock, Wildflour Bakery in Saluda, Wake Robin Breads in Marshall, Farm and Sparrow Breads in Canton and Loaf Child Breads in Marshall. Carolina Ground will reach out to bakers selling at local markets to encourage the use of local flour and products.

“Our food and farming initiative has several goals including revitalizing a NC-based food economy, supporting the profitability of local farmers and encouraging the development of a food system that values local food and offers employment opportunities,” said Elizabeth Brazas. “With our Focus Area grants, we are looking at the big picture and the long term. The Carolina Ground project meets several of our criteria, will help farmers, restaurants and bakers thrive and is slated to be self-sustaining by January 2013.”

Learn more: carolinafarmstewards.org.

Power of the Purse

Gloria Steinem Addresses Sold-Out Crowd at the Power of the Purse $90,000 Raised for the Women’s Fund

The afternoon also included the announcement of $252,000 in grants to nonprofits addressing economic security for women and girls in Western North Carolina made by the Women for Women giving circle. Since 2006, the Women for Women giving circle has made grants totaling more than $1.75 million.

Photo by Michael Oppenheim.

Keynote speaker Gloria Steinem addressed a sold-out crowd of 1,100 at the 8th annual Power of the Purse luncheon on May 21. Speaking to the large and enthusiastic crowd, Steinem was eloquent and funny in a wide-ranging talk followed by questions from the audience. She began by reminding attendees that “what is important about today is that you can change tomorrow.” In the course of her remarks, she addressed the future of the Women’s Movement, pay equality, parenting, distribution of wealth, North Carolina’s Amendment One and much more.

Gloria Steinem speaking at the Power of the Purse luncheon.

The 2012 grant recipients are: • Burke County Public Schools/Family Connections $47,000 awarded for an 18-month project, Step Up for Teens, which focuses on 12th-grade pregnant or parenting students and continues for six months after high school to help participants pursue education and job placement.

• Just Economics - $50,000 awarded for two years to hire a community organizer for Voices for Economic Justice, which trains low-income women to advocate on their own behalf, particularly for “living wage” jobs.

Funding will support activities in Buncombe County and expansion into Transylvania County.

Photo by Michael Oppenheim.

• Centro de Enlace - $55,000 awarded for a two-year project called ¡Edúcate! serving Latina women in Yancey County, a designated Tier 1 (highest need) area.

The program will improve economic security for Latina teens and mothers through a multi-generational model including weekly tutoring sessions, mentoring, financial planning, empowerment and relationship coaching, meetings with parents and overnight visits to colleges.

Sharon Bell, Denise Poley, Gloria Steinem and Speaker Sponsor Phyllis Patton

• Mountain BizWorks - $50,000 for one year to expand Empowering Latinas Through Business and Credit Building, which provides customized business coaching and loans to start or grow businesses. Participants come from Buncombe, Henderson, Polk and Transylvania counties.

Photo by Michael Oppenheim.

• Mountain Area Child and Family Center - $50,000 for two years for the Mothers on the Move program serving Buncombe County. The project provides comprehensive support, case management and free or low-cost child care to allow low-income mothers to pursue educational and professional goals.

Elizabeth Brazas, Mardi Letson, Elizabeth Turner of Centro de Enlace, Gloria Steinem and Women for Women Grants Chair Carrie Keller

Power of the Purse is CFWNC’s annual celebration of women’s philanthropy that brings a powerful female speaker to Western North Carolina and this year raised nearly $90,000 for the Women’s Fund Endowment. The 2013 speaker and date will be announced very shortly.

“What is important about today is that you can change tomorrow.”

— Gloria Steinem

Photo courtesy of OnTrack.

“Women for Women was launched in 2005 to enable women to combine their philanthropic resources, time and talents to make a more meaningful impact in our community,” said chair Mardi Letson. “Our giving circle continues to work towards that goal by supporting programs and advocacy efforts that both address the root causes of poverty and have the potential to make a longterm difference. We are proud of our record, but every year there are worthy projects we cannot fund. New members are always welcome.” Information about joining Women for Women can be found at www.cfwnc.org.

OnTrack Financial Education and Counseling presented Women for Women with its Extra Credit Award at the 11th Annual Financial Literacy Awards Luncheon on May 18.

In 2010, Women for Women awarded OnTrack a multi-year grant that enabled them to launch the Women’s Financial Empowerment Center, build the program, solidify outcomes and expand into rural counties. More than 500 women have participated in 785 education sessions addressing budgeting, saving, credit and housing. For additional information about OnTrack or the Women’s Financial Empowerment Center, visit www.ontrack.org.

From left: Beth Maczka of CFWNC, Mardi Letson, Becky Lehman and Jennie Eblen of Women for Women and Celeste Collins of OnTrack..

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People in Need Focus Area

$694,000 in Grants to People in Need

Photo courtesy of CHC.

First Janirve Legacy Fund Grants Announced

CHC volunteers make necessary repairs to a home in Madison County.

In May and in partnership with the Janirve Legacy Fund, our affiliate funds, fundholders and co-investors, CFWNC announced grants totaling more than $694,000 supporting nonprofits across 18 counties in Western North Carolina who serve some of the region’s most economically-disadvantaged people.

“In the first grant cycle for our People in Need focus area and with the Janirve Legacy Fund, we are honored to carry on the important work of the Janirve Foundation supporting nonprofits that provide critical services to disadvantaged people across the mountains,” said Elizabeth Brazas. “These grants address access to health care, hunger, job skills and much more. Our impact was greatly increased by the generous fundholders, partners and affiliates who chose to co-invest with us.”

“Clearly the need is great. We had 122 nonprofit organizations submit letters of intent with 45 invited to apply,” said Brazas. “We were able to fund 32 grants. As our economy continues to challenge families, it is important that nonprofits serving vulnerable populations are able to expand successful programs, open clinics, build affordable housing, launch training programs and do what they do best.”

A $25,000 grant to the Madison County Housing Coalition (CHC) will allow the organization to develop internal staff capacity to process clients on a year-round basis and to recruit and train local volunteer repair crews. The grant also means that CHC is better poised to make urgent repairs to those in need on a timely basis.

“We are ecstatic,” said CHC Executive Director Rick Molland. “This will enable us to recruit local volunteers so that when critical projects come up, we can mobilize volunteers to solve problems quickly.”

In operation since 1999, CHC creates links between community volunteers and residents in need of home repair and rehabilitation in Madison County.

“We recognized there was a problem and were able to coordinate the work done by mission groups that come into our community,” said Molland. “Their goal is to bring hope and security to people who are low-income or disabled, so we act as a matchmaker in many ways.” In 2011, CHC helped more than 50 clients with repairs ranging from roofing to building ramps. CHC was also recently awarded a grant from the Asheville Regional Housing Consortium to develop affordable housing in Madison County.

“CFWNC acts as a matchmaker in some ways too,” said Brazas. “We work with our generous donors to match their philanthropic interests to vetted and impactful projects in the region. It takes all of us working together to truly make a difference.” In addition to CFWNC’s affiliates, funds that helped support this grant cycle are the Gretchen Batra Fund, Connestee Falls Endowment Fund, Gerald R. and Cornelia C. De Land Fund, Dogwood Charitable Endowment Fund, Sycamore Fund, Clementine W. Gregory Fund, Little Acorn Fund, Lipscomb Family Foundation Fund, Jenifer Morgan Charitable Fund, Oliver Family Fund, Penny Fund, Peterson Endowment Fund, Walnut Fund and an anonymous endowment fund.

Learn more: chcmadisoncountync.org

Reach Out and Read continued from page 1

Photo courtesy of Ed Riester, Asheville Track Club.

“One of the most rewarding aspects of this program is watching the expression on the child’s face when they get a new book, and the delighted look on their parent’s face when the child waves the book at them,” said Dr. Paul Trani, a pediatrician at Blue Ridge Community Health Service and Reach Out and Read board member. “We have been a ROR site for approximately six years and have seen a growth in reading as well as verbal learning skills in our clinic’s youngest children, each of whom receive a book at well-child exams up to and including age 5. Reach Out and Read is easy to implement, and I would love to see it in pediatric and family practice offices across Western North Carolina.”

Currently, there are more than 40 medical practices in North Carolina on the waiting list for Reach Out and Read. Funding is the only obstacle to bringing more practices into the program. Reach Out and Read is endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics and has changed the culture of pediatric primary care by incorporating literacy and early reading skills into the definition of child health.

“Reach Out and Read has a track record of success and addresses the causes rather than the symptoms of the problem,” said Brazas. “If we do not work to ensure that children in Western North Carolina enter school prepared to succeed, we will never be able to improve literacy levels, break the cycle of poverty and give children the chances that they deserve.”

If you would like to support Reach Out and Read or would like to hear more about our Early Childhood Focus Area, contact Sheryl Aikman (aikman@cfwnc.org or 828-254-4960).

Learn more: reachoutandread.org.

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Second Annual Ramble Run Benefits The Women’s Fund On May 12, hundreds of runners participated in the Ramble Run 5K and 12K races at Biltmore Park, which benefited the endowed Women’s Fund. A check for $2,500 was presented to Vice President of Development Sheryl Aikman by John Blexrud, the Asheville Track Club President. CFWNC is grateful to the runners, Asheville Track Club and race sponsors!

Scholarships

CFWNC Awards $364,450 in Scholarships School of Science The Community Foundation and Mathematics, a recently approved two-year residential scholarships totaling high school in $364,450 to 94 students Durham. “I am still from Western North Carolina. yearning for more The Foundation administers research, more openapproximately 60 scholarship ended questions, funds, about 40 of which and especially, run a spring cycle offered more science,” said to high school seniors each Bernard-Citer. “I year. Our scholarships are will therefore be open to North Carolina majoring in some residents who are public sort of science at high school seniors, who UNC-CH, possibly attend the NC School of double majoring Science and Mathematics or Adele Bernard-Citer, recipient of the Irving with a humanities the UNC School of the Arts Jacob Reuter Award counterpart, and High School or who study fulfilling pre-med requirements--I’m curious in a home school registered with the North to see where these plans will take me. My Carolina Division of Non-Public Education. recent interests span from Neuro-Economics There are programs open to private high to genetics to eating disorders. These school students in Buncombe County and specific interests stemmed from taking a a few programs open to students already in neuroecon seminar, AP Biology and being college or who are employees or children of in a mentorship at Duke University doing employees of certain area corporations. anorexia nervosa research. Also, I am looking forward to joining the ethics bowl team at Top recipient Adele Bernard-Citer was UNC, participating in Club Cross Country awarded the prestigious Irving Jacob and either pursuing the research I did last Reuter Award, valued at $48,000 over year through the UNC Integrative Medicine four years. This scholarship recognizes department or finding a new research exceptional academic performance coupled topic. I plan to continue studying cello with significant school and community and am currently pondering the possibility involvement. Five other finalists in this of Mandarin Chinese or continuing with competition – Nathaniel E. Broadhurst Spanish.” of North Buncombe High School, Chloe M Hamilton and Edgar “Taylor” Morris of “The students we talked with are an Charles D. Owen High School, Christina R. interesting group, who want to pursue Maxwell of A.C. Reynolds High School and careers in a variety of fields including Allen T. Worth of Asheville High School – forensic science, digital art, communications, each received a one-time award of $1,000. medicine, veterinary medicine and aviation,” The Irving Jacob Reuter Award, funded by said John Fleming, Chair of the WNC the Janirve Foundation through CFWNC, Regional Scholarships Committee. “They is offered to public high school seniors in come from both intact and very challenging Buncombe and Madison counties. family situations. Their academics are phenomenal, and many have overcome Bernard-Citer is a rising freshman at the huge obstacles and adversity with energy, University of North Carolina at Chapel enthusiasm, focus and dignity.” Fleming Hill where she will be part of the Honors revels in the deeply rewarding position Program. She attended the North Carolina

that enables donors and The Community Foundation to support deserving students facing financial obstacles. “We are investing in bright, humble, focused, high-achieving students, and our community will be much better off as a result of this well-deserved help.”

Many scholarship donors chose to start an endowment to honor a loved one, alma mater, community or profession. Our development staff will be happy to discuss options and provide information, upon request.

I am a simple country boy who lives on a small sheep farm with my dad and my sister in a small rural area called Sunshine in Bostic, NC. When I was five years old, my family borrowed my first lamb to raise and show. I have been raising and showing lambs for the past twelve years.

Farming consists of long days of sweat, hard work and early mornings but if it were not for the lambs, I would not be the man I am today.

Raising lambs has taught me responsibility, dependability and management. I decided when I was eight years old that I wanted to be a large animal veterinarian. My dad told me to write on a piece of paper, “I want to go to NC State and be a large animal vet” and hang it on the refrigerator. That piece of paper helped keep me focused on my goals for 10 years and now I am attending NC State.

I am proud to be a recipient of a Community Foundation scholarship and am grateful to the Foundation for helping me achieve my dream.

— Adam Lawing

Making a Difference

Pamela S. Gerden Fund to Benefit Haywood County Nonprofits Pam Gerden was known as the “running lady” in Maggie Valley, where she moved after a peripatetic life in Colorado, California and Arizona.

Her twice daily jogs up and down the main street were familiar to locals. She will now be remembered for her generosity to her adopted hometown and to three charities she chose to benefit in perpetuity through an endowed fund at The Community Foundation.

The endowed Pamela S. Gerden Fund benefits the Friends of the Haywood County Public Library, the Voices in the Laurel children’s choir and the Good Samaritan Clinic of Haywood County in equal shares. Each organization will receive about $22,000 this year, and annual distributions every year going forward.

Ms. Gerden was a relatively recent transplant to Maggie Valley, having lived there about 15 years. She grew up in Chicago and was educated at Middlebury College in Vermont. Within her community, she was a relatively private person who took a great interest in gardening and in her natural surroundings.

When the time came to do estate planning, Ms. Gerden wanted to help sustain local nonprofits with a track record of public benefit. She

approached her attorney, Frank G. Queen of Waynesville, for advice and to help her identify potential beneficiaries.

“Pam chose to benefit the Voices in the Laurel children’s choir because she had been in a children’s choir growing up in Chicago, and she thought they had a great mission,” said Queen. “She was a regular patron at the library where she visited once a week. Her fund will support the acquisition of printed materials. She knew that a sustaining gift is so important to an organization like The Good Samaritan Clinic.”

“We chose CFWNC to manage these funds because in my experience and hers, individual trust management is expensive,” said Queen. “Her total gift was just under $2 million. The community connections and economies of scale offered by CFWNC made the Foundation a natural choice.”

If you would like to learn more about how CFWNC can help you craft a personal legacy for a place, cause or organizations you love, visit our website at www.cfwnc.org or contact Sheryl Aikman (aikman@cfwnc.org or 828-254-4960).

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President’s Message continued from page 1

Giving Back

Tax Changes Are Coming…Maybe.

Several significant tax laws are slated to expire on December 31, 2012, changing income, estate and gift tax rates. In addition, the $5.12 million gift and estate tax credit returns to $1 million, with no portability. Without legislative action, here are some of the expected changes: • Tax rate increases in every tax bracket. Your earnings will be taxed at higher rates.

• Higher capital gains and dividends taxes. The maximum federal rate on long-term capital gains and dividends for most assets will increase from 15% to 20% and the maximum rate on dividends will be 39.6%.

• Return of the phase-out rule for itemized deductions. Reversion to the old rule impacts itemized deductions for mortgage interest, state and local taxes, and charitable donations for people in higher-income brackets.

If supporting your community through charitable gifts is a priority, here are some ways CFWNC can help: • Use a donor advised fund. Make a tax-deductible gift of cash or appreciated property to a donor advised fund this year. Assets are invested to grow your charitable impact, and you can recommend grants at any time. (Bonus: Donor advised funds are easier to establish and receive more favorable tax treatment than private foundations.)

• Establish a charitable lead trust (CLT). A CLT provides income to a charity or a donor advised fund for your lifetime or specific period of years. The remainder reverts to you or your heirs.

The trust’s appreciation isn’t subject to gift or estate taxes (but is subject to capital gains tax).

It’s an especially opportune time for CLTs because of extremely low discount rates and the $5.12 million gift exclusion, available until year end.

• Create a charitable gift annuity (CGA). A CGA provides income for you or a loved one, removes assets from a taxable estate, and provides a charitable deduction. Income can start immediately, on a future date or within a range of future dates. Payments are based on the beneficiary’s age(s) when income begins. The residuum benefits an endowed fund at CFWNC. • Make a low interest loan. Lend an asset to charity at a low interest rate. The charity invests the money and generates income, tax free. Your asset is returned to you through loan payments over time.

• Use retirement assets for lifetime giving. Taxpayers over age 59 1/2 can make penalty-free retirement plan withdrawals. If you contribute the withdrawal and deduct it as a charitable gift, you owe no federal income tax on the donation and reduce your taxable estate.

For more information about any of these ways of giving, call us at 828-254-4960. CFWNC encourages anyone considering a significant charitable donation to see a competent and skilled professional advisor.

Philip Belcher, Vice President, Programs

School of Law, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and Furman University. Prior to joining The Duke Endowment in 1998, he was a partner in the Charlotte law firm of Parker, Poe, Adams & Bernstein L.L.P., where he concentrated his practice in mergers and acquisitions, securities regulation and health care law. We look forward to welcoming him to our team.

Our new offices at the historic Biltmore School are underway, and we plan to relocate in November. We are delighted to play a part in bringing this historic structure back into public use. Our new location is easy to access and has ample parking; we look forward to welcoming you there.

Please remember that we update our website frequently and also share news via Facebook. We hope you will take advantage of these opportunities to learn more about us and to stay informed. Next year, CFWNC marks 35 years of service to this region. Our deep roots position us to help, and we couldn’t do it without you.

TRACTOR continued from page 2 around here are small. We are working to enhance them and bring in more customers, but anything that helps to develop other customers is good.”

“The equipment is rolling in and out,” according to Magner. “We use a combination of Google Calendar, phone scheduling and word of mouth for booking. We deliver the trailer and it’s a great opportunity for us to meet new farmers, share our knowledge and talk about best practices.”

Part of a comprehensive two-county plan to support farmers through a leased post-harvest facility, TRACTOR aims to increase sales and economic opportunity for farmers. The project will coordinate the aggregation, distribution and marketing of locally-grown fruits and vegetables from small producers. The facility, located in Burnsville, is scheduled to open soon and will offer processing, packaging and distribution as well as GAP (Good Agricultural Practices) training and technical assistance.

“The future of farming in rural counties like Mitchell and Yancey depends on the farmers’ ability to remain profitable in a changing marketplace,” said CFWNC Program Officer Tim Richards. “Working with both counties achieves economies of scale to meet buying needs of more retailers and institutions, consolidates quality control and technical assistance and ensures that efforts are not duplicated. All of this helps a farmer’s bottom line.”

The TRACTOR project, organized by Magner and Jeff Vance of Mitchell County, brought together funders whose collective support is crucial. Yancey County and the Town of Burnsville have committed to covering leasing and utility costs for the first year. The renovation of the building, technical assistance and the purchase of equipment for refrigeration, freezing, storage and washing was funded by a $68,000

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Jeremy DeLise, Mitchell and Yancey Extension Agent, with equipment purchased for regional farmers.

Specialty Block Grant from the State of North Carolina. Other support includes $10,000 from the NC Small Town Economic Prosperity Program (STEP) and some smaller local grants.

A detailed business plan is in development that forecasts the food hub facility and aggregate marketing services becoming self-supporting in two to three years. If you would like to support or hear more about our Food and Farming Focus Area, contact Sheryl Aikman (aikman@cfwnc.org or 828-254-4960).

Learn more: mitchellgrown.com and yanceygrown.com

Pigeon River Fund

Pigeon River Fund Awards $116,300 in Grants Projects benefit Haywood, Buncombe & Madison Counties A total of $116,300 was recently awarded to seven projects by the Pigeon River Fund to environmental groups working in Western North Carolina. The fund was created in 1996 to improve surface water quality, enhance fish and wildlife management habitats, expand public use and access to waterways and increase awareness to help protect these resources.

Since 1996, the Pigeon River Fund has invested $3,805,672 to support grant projects addressing water quality in Haywood, Buncombe, and Madison counties.

The recent grant recipients are: Green Opportunities - $25,000 to assist in the operation of the GO Water Team and support water quality training and project implementation including installation of demonstration projects as part of the renovation of the Reid Center in Asheville. In May 2011, the PRF supported the start of the GO Water Team focusing on training in water quality issues and solutions. Funds will support training of 24 young adults, materials for installations of two rain gardens at the Reid Center and other projects addressing storm water issues in urban Asheville neighborhoods in proximity to the Nasty Branch and French Broad River.

Haywood County Schools Foundation - $23,000 to fund the Haywood Environment Initiative (HEI) to continue the water quality program in the Haywood County Schools.

The curriculum-based program provides classroom and field activities for students in 5th, 8th and 9th grades. The project includes teacher training, support of classroom lessons and activities including Kids in the Creek and native fish release.

Land of Sky Regional Council - $10,000 to work with Haywood Waterways Association and other stakeholders to develop a land conservation action plan for Haywood County. Staff will work with local stakeholders to identify the most critical lands for farmland, forests, wildlife habitat and biodiversity to be conserved, restored and preserved. Mapping tools and community engagement will inform plans including the Haywood County Watershed Action Plan and local projects like the Bethel Rural Community Organization farmland preservation effort.

Kids in the Creek works with children and teachers from Waynesville, Canton and Bethel middle schools by providing field activities that take place between embedded classroom experiences. Kids in the Creek has increased the environmental literacy, to date, of nearly 10,000 Haywood County 8th grade students.

Mountain Valley Resource Conservation & Development Council - $17,000 to complete stream restoration repairs to the Ivy River at Beech Glen Community Center in Madison County. Stream restoration work completed last summer corrected a meandering stream that scoured the stream bank causing major sedimentation issues of the Little Ivy watershed. Unanticipated storm events over the winter resulted in failure of some of the stream bank improvements. Repairs will include using rocks to construct in-stream structures that will better manage the stream flow and reduce sedimentation.

RiverLink - $25,000 to install stormwater management structures along the new Reed Creek greenway near UNC-Asheville. Funds will be used for the engineering design and installation of two bi-retention areas to reduce stormwater runoff and provide experiential education opportunities for area residents and students. The project will complete the Broadway Greenway connecting the Botanical Gardens, UNCA and the Montford neighborhood to downtown Asheville.

Southwestern NC Resource Conservation & Development Council - $9,670 for technical field support in the use of GIS mapping information for water quality projects in the Pigeon River Watershed. A GIS/Conservation Engineering Assistant will provide assistance to accelerate design and application of best management practices through development of GIS-based maps and field engineering technical assistance. The technical staff will facilitate the presentation and application of mapping data to inform landowners, communities and other stakeholders of their water resource management options. The grant funds complement existing federal funds providing approximately 540 hours of assistance over the year in Haywood, Buncombe and Madison counties.

Western North Carolina Alliance - $6,630 to support the WNC Stream Monitoring Information Exchange led by the Environmental Quality Institute. The program will educate volunteers about their role in protecting water resources and provide high quality stream data to partner organizations that are working to improve water quality in Buncombe, Madison and Haywood counties. Twenty-four new monitors will be recruited and trained, 36 sites will be monitored twice a year and reports summarizing trends based on this biological and VWIN (chemical assessment) data (covering 5-10 years for each site) will be compiled and shared with agencies and the NC Division of Water Quality.

The Pigeon River Fund was established through an agreement between Progress Energy and the State of North Carolina. CFWNC administers the grant program. For information about the Pigeon River Fund, contact Senior Program Officer Tim Richards at 828-254-4960 or visit www.cfwnc.org.

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Nonprofit Organization U.S. Postage

PAID Asheville, NC Permit No. 518

P.O. Box 1888 Asheville, NC 28802

To receive future newsletters electronically and to subscribe to CFWNC E-News, please send an email with “subscribe” in the subject line to Semadeni@cfwnc.org.

Confirmed in Compliance with National Standards for U.S. Community Foundations

Board of Directors 2011-2012

CFWNC Phone: 828-254-4960 | Fax: 828-251-2258 | www.cfwnc.org

Our Affiliates

Executive Staff

Black Mountain-Swananoa Valley Foundation Cashiers Community Fund The Fund for Haywood County Highlands Community Foundation The McDowell Foundation Foundation for Mitchell County Rutherford County Foundation Transylvania Endowment Yancey Foundation

Elizabeth Brazas, President Sheryl Aikman, Vice President, Development Graham Keever, Vice President, Finance and Administration

Newsletter Editor Lindsay Hearn, Communications Director

Officers Marla Adams, Chair Ernest E. Ferguson, Vice-Chair Terry Van Duyn, Secretary William N. Lewin, Treasurer

Board Members Maurean B. Adams Louise W. Baker David S. Dimling Jennie Eblen Thomas Lee Finger John N. Fleming Howell A. Hammond

Darryl Hart A.C. Honeycutt, Jr. John G. Kelso Virginia Litzenberger T. Wood Lovell Tina McGuire Lowell R. Pearlman

Ramona C. Rowe George W. Saenger Anna S. (Candy) Shivers James W. Stickney, IV Jerry Stone G. Edward Towson, II Laurence Weiss

Photo courtesy of Harris Middle School.

Learning Links

Students and faculty at Harris Middle School in Spruce Pine worked with artist Pam Brewer to create this “Stairway of Dreams” clay mural, which was funded by a Learning Links grant. The students enjoyed participating in the tactile project that taught new skills. Special education students created and glazed most of the words and sentences included in the piece. The mural makes a beautiful impact as student, faculty and visitors climb the stairs. The Learning Links program offers grants up to $800 to public schools in order to provide “hands-on” creative learning projects.

The goal of the program is to increase students’ enthusiasm for learning and staying in school, ultimately through graduation. Learning Links grants are made possible by the Ben W. and Dixie Glenn Farthing Charitable Fund. For information, visit www.cfwnc.org.