BENJAMIN FRANKLIN AWARD
Friends recognized with AFP award for decades of service by Senior Marketing Manager Liz Zabel
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fter 46 years of hosting fundraisers for the Nature Center, the Friends of the Indian Creek Nature Center (formerly known as The Guild) were awarded the Eastern Iowa Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals’ Benjamin Franklin Award. The Benjamin Franklin Award recognizes an individual or group whose commitment to philanthropy is demonstrably profound, and is an award that is not given out every year. The selection committee must feel strongly that the recipient is especially deserving, and it felt the Friends, having raised a whopping $1,531,154 for the Nature Center over the years, fit that criteria. The group took root in 1975 when sixteen women assumed the task of promoting and advancing the new Nature Center (founded in 1973, also by two women, BB Stamats and Jean O’Donnell). Beginning with its Fall Harvest Fest dinner for more than 300 people, the Friends have hosted more than 100 fundraising events over the years — including the Spring Plant & Art Sale and Nature’s Noel, which provide critical funding for educational programming. Masters at creating beauty out of the most humble of items, they produce glorious wreaths, centerpieces, and other creative holiday
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