Business: Giving back is what we do best

4 Business

Giving back is what we do best

by Phil Hanson, President & CEO, Truman Heartland Community Foundation

Truman Heartland Community Foundation is excited to announce its 2021 competitive grants awards through the Jelley Family Foundation for Children’s Education and Community Grants programs. This year, a new unrestricted grantmaking fund from the Willa L. Fancher and Martha A. Taggart endowment added more than $80,000 to our grantmaking budgets, producing a new record in THCF’s grantmaking with 62 grant awards totaling $336,582 awarded to agencies serving Eastern Jackson and Cass counties. Every year, we see the financial requests from the nonprofit sector grow as they strive to meet the needs of the communities they serve. With so many nonprofits doing positive, transformative work, our grants selections are incredibly challenging but also very rewarding. Awarding these grants is a tremendous responsibility donors have entrusted the Truman Heartland Community Foundation Grants Committee. Our Grants Committee comprises members of the THCF Board of Directors and local Advisory Board volunteers. As stewards of legacy gifts for grantmaking, the Grants Committee must be sensitive to the changing nature of the needs of our communities. They take this responsibility very seriously and do their best to ensure we fund the most effective and impactful programs that have the potential to make a real difference in our communities. A special thank you goes out to each of the THCF Grants Committee members for the countless hours they spent pouring over more than 120 grant applications: Lynette Wheeler (Chair), Cathy Allie, Don Claphan, Martha Cockerell, Michele Crumbaugh, Bryan Gash, Jake Greco, Lori Halsey, Warren Haynes, Liesl Hays, Cliff Jones, Mike Larson, Dave Mayta, Ritchie Momon, Glen Nash, Rosalie Newkirk, Steve Noll, Melissa Reimann, Merideth Rose, DeeAnn Stock, Jennie Swearngin, Allan Thompson, Dave Turner, and Bob White. Thank you all for your dedication to the process and commitment to excellence. Grants made through estate plans are vital to the health of our Eastern Jackson County community. They provide much-needed funding to help our region remain strong and vibrant. It is genuinely heartwarming to think about all the selfless individuals who chose to positively impact their community through charitable giving, whether through a donor advised fund, scholarship fund, or a legacy gift. Truman Heartland Community Foundation is honored to be chosen to support and grow their charitable giving. I would encourage anyone who has a heart for philanthropic giving in their community to learn more about ways you can create change by creating a Donor Advised Fund.

Missouri’s Purchasing Managers’ Index up 3.9 points in August

Missouri’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for August was 75.2, increasing 3.9 points from July, and still well in expansion territory, according to the monthly Mid-America Business Conditions Survey, conducted by Creighton University, Omaha, NE. For 15 of the past 16 months, the Creighton University Mid-America Business Conditions Index, a leading economic indicator for the nine-state region stretching from Minnesota to Arkansas, remained above growth neutral. Economists consider the index a key economic indicator. It measures such factors as new orders, production, supplier delivery times, backlogs, inventories, prices, employment, import orders and exports. Typically, a score greater than 50 indicates an expansionary economy while a score below 50 forecasts a sluggish economy. The US August PMI® for manufacturing registered 59.9, increasing 0.4 points from the July reading of 59.5 percent.

Phil Hanson is the president and CEO of Truman Heartland Community Foundation. Truman Heartland Community Foundation is a 501(c)(3) public charity committed to improving the communities in and around Eastern Jackson County through partnerships with donors and community members. For more information on charitable giving, visit www.thcf.org or call Truman Heartland at 816-836-8189.

Image credit: MO Economic Research and Information Center

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VANDALISM continued from page 1

“We are experiencing a significant increase in vandalism this fall, especially in our school restrooms. This is happening at every level - elementary, middle school, and high school. (The TikTok challenge) appears to be the driving reason behind this behavior. We are repairing toilets and stalls, and are having to replace soap and towel dispensers. It is getting expensive,” Welle said. “There are consequences, including paying for damages, for anyone determined to have vandalized or stolen school property,” Welle said. Wednesday evening, Grain Valley High School principal Dr. Jeremy Plowman sent an email to students and parents, asking for cooperation in discouraging and reporting these acts. "Over the past two weeks, we have had multiple instances of stolen or damaged bathroom items, food stuffed down toilets, defacing of stalls, mirrors, etc. While we have encountered vandalism in our bathrooms in the past, it has become a daily occurrence at the high school. We have zero tolerance for this. Those that are caught committing vandalism or theft will receive school discipline and will have to reimburse the school for damages or theft. The disrespect these acts show our hardworking and short-staffed custodians and the stellar students and staff in this building does not sit well with me," Plowman said. Oak Grove Parks and Recreation recently posted a photo of damage to a park restroom on their Facebook page, asking anyone with information on the vandalism to contact the parks department or police department with tips. Shannon Davies, Grain Valley Parks and Recreation Director, said Grain Valley park facilities have been spared so far, but his crews and the police department have been vigilant in keeping an eye out for potential problems. “This recent Tik Tok trend has area park departments on notice. Several have closed their park restrooms in response to this. We have kept our restrooms open. Within the past couple of weeks, we have had no vandalism in our parks that would relate to this. Park Maintenance is making routine checks at our restrooms and any other park related amenities several times a day to try and stay ahead of this. If we do start seeing this vandalism, we will entertain the idea of restroom closures. GVPD is also aware and keeping an eye out for us,” Davies said.

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6 Community Voices

HERBERT continued from page 1

and an assistant boys basketball coach in the year 2000. He also currently serves as the boys golf coach. Herbert started as a physical education teacher at Matthews Elementary School and eventually got the same position at Prairie Branch Elementary School. After that, he was the coordinator at the Sni Valley Academy and is now the A+ Program coordinator at Grain Valley High School. As a coach, he was an assistant under Draper for five years before becoming the head boys basketball coach, a position he’s had for 16 years. Herbert has coached in five different conferences in his tenure at Grain Valley. He’s been with the program when it was regularly playing smaller schools like Lexington and Lafayette County. Now the Eagles are playing against some of the biggest schools in Missouri like Blue Springs and Truman. “I want to coach the kids that are here and do right by them,” Herbert said. “I don’t want to have to go out and get a kid. I want to make an impact with them.” That’s exactly what he has done. Herbert has been a longtime staple with the Grain Valley school district and for the boys basketball team. However, when he first arrived, there was an adjustment period for Herbert. “We love it here,” Herbert said. “Coming from Lake of the Ozarks and Camdenton, this is a very different place because it’s closer to the city. You’re driving on the interstate all the time here instead of lake roads. It’s a very different way of life than what I was used to. “In Camdenton, you spend your summer on boat docks. It was a great place to grow up.” After Herbert left Camdenton to attend the University of Missouri he got to spend one year coaching under Stewart and the rest under Snyder. The experience was invaluable, he said. “If you paid attention, you learned a lot,” Herbert said. “Both of them had very different ways of doing things. I learned how to build a team through toughness from Coach Stewart. Coach Snyder was more of a player development coach. He wanted to work with the best players and make them the best he could through skill development. “All the stories I have while working with them, I could talk about that for hours.” While Stewart and Snyder were influences on Herbert’s coaching career, Draper might have been the biggest influence of them all. Draper and Herbert use a team-oriented approach and both are player-friendly coaches, who seem to remain calm no matter the situation in any game. In fact, if it wasn’t for Draper, Herbert may not have ended up at Grain Valley. “I’ve known Coach Draper since 1987,” Herbert said. “He was my next door neighbor and coach growing up. As far as coaching, mentorship and friendship, he’s as close to me as my own father. He was 1B. The one thing that drew us here was him. He’s the reason we came.” Herbert said he doesn’t plan on going to another district any time soon if ever. Being at the school for as long as he has allowed Herbert got to coach his son Owen for the first time at the high school level. “He was at a district game at O’Hara and he was a few months old at the time,” Herbert said. “One of their players was diving for a loose ball and jumped over our bench and ended up hitting him. “We joke all the time, ‘That you took your first charge when you were three months old.’ Now, he’s almost 17 and playing varsity. It’s been rewarding to see him out there playing.” While Herbert grew up in Camdenton and considers that his hometown, his new home is in Grain Valley, and he hopes it stays that way for the foreseeable future for Owen, his wife and his two other children. “We have raised three kids here and my wife teaches in the district,” Herbert said. “The families and the people in Grain Valley .... it really doesn’t get any better than that. We haven’t found any reason to leave. As long as they keep accepting us, we aren’t going anywhere.”

Xi Iota Phi, Chapter of Beta Sigma Phi, wraps up year with Mother-Daughter Tea, Ladies Night Out, and “Camp Outback”

by Karen Sutton and Diana Boyce, Publicity Committee Xi Iota Phi

Our annual Mother-Daughter Tea was held on May 1, 2021 with a luncheon celebrating mothers, daughters, other family members and each other. Linda Ebert presented a wonderful program on the “History of May Day”. Our annual “Ladies Night Out” was held at Hereford House Restaurant in Independence, MO where we celebrated our Woman of the Year, Debbie Reardon. Also, congratulations to Diana Boyce for “Program of the Year” and Karen Blau for “Perfect Attendance”. Secret Sisters from the previous year were also revealed and new Secret Sisters were drawn for the upcoming year. Our final activity of the year was a weekend at the lake home of Jim and Linda Ebert. It’s hard to believe this was our 15th annual trip there! We always have a wonderful time, but this year was especially a welcome get-away we agreed we all needed! At our May meeting, Chris Smith presented the program “The History of Union Station”, the original depot in Kansas City’s west bottoms and the various railroads which converged in Kansas City. Chris’ grandfather was the Director of Union Station and was in charge of it for 48 years. Xi Iota Phi’s new year started in June with Installation of officers. Beta Sigma Phi is celebrating it’s 90th year in 2021 and to commemorate this, their theme is “90 Years to Shine”. Xi Iota Phi decided to also celebrate this milestone through our monthly programs which will include any event or people that have made a difference these past 90 years. Linda Ebert started us off in June talking about Tim Berners Lee who invented the World Wide Web (www) in 1989 which changed the world in which it communicates. In July, Karen LaJaunie gave her program on Ruth Bader Ginsburg who served as Supreme Court Justice from 1993 until her death in 2020. Known as the “Notorious RBG”, she upheld the rights of both women and men in the workplace and in the military. Kim Meyers’ program in August was on Sarah Cannon, better known as “Minnie Pearl”. She was a neighbor of Kim’s family when she lived in Nashville. Not only was she a well-known entertainer, she was also a humanitarian and very active in the community. After battling cancer, she became a spokesperson for cancer research. Today several “Sarah Cannon Cancer Centers” across the country have been named in her honor. A card shower was given at our June meeting to Diana Boyce and Karen Blau for their recent retirements. One of our service projects this year is Hope House. Members have been busy donating items for the residents and staff to use.

Historical Society receives parade proceeds

The Grain Valley Historical Society is the recipient of funds raised from this year’s Grain Valley Fair parade presented by Grain Valley News. A check for $200 was delivered to the organization, representing funds collected from business entries in the 2021 parade.

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