Media are invited to attend the 2012 Louis L. and Julia Dorothy Coover Regional Grantmaking Program presentation, which will take place at Commerce Trust Company, 1345 E. Battlefield Road, Springfield. Each agency receiving a grant will make comments about the needs and services being provided in their communities that led to the grant requests.

This year’s grant awards will be used for a wide range of programs focusing on basic needs including hunger and nutritional food programs, homeless prevention, medical and dental care, child abuse resources and other human-services needs. The grant committee received more than $715,000 in requests for this year’s grant cycle, up from about $500,000 in requests for last year’s pool of $105,000.

These grants are made possible through the generosity of the late Julia Dorothy Coover, who worked for Commerce Bank for 30 years. She established the Louis L. and Julia Dorothy Coover Charitable Foundation in 1992 to honor her husband’s memory. With this year’s awards, the Coover Charitable Foundation surpasses $1.5 million in grantmaking across the Ozarks since its founding.

The following agencies will receive 2012 Coover Regional Grantmaking awards:

• Polk County Health Center: $10,000 to expand services at the Polk County Free Clinic.
• Ozarks Resource Group, Buffalo: $5,000 for the “Bright Smiles” dental program and to develop a backpack program.
• Care to Learn-Clever: $2,500 to support this new chapter of the organization to support health, hygiene and clothing needs of schoolchildren.
• Care to Learn-Rogersville: $5,000 to support this new chapter.
• Care to Learn-Willard: $5,000 to support this new chapter.
• Least of These, Inc.: $10,000 for materials to support Care to Learn programs in Christian County.
• The Kitchen, Inc.: $18,380 for staffing and lodging vouchers to replicate Greene County’s “One Door” homeless prevention program for Christian County.
• ARC of the Ozarks: $5,000 for dental care for individuals with disabilities.
• Ozarks Food Harvest: $11,420 to support regional school backpack programs.
• The Child Advocacy Center: $20,000 to support 50 forensic interviews in the south-central region for possible child-abuse victims.
• Catholic Charities of Southern Missouri: $16,000 to support office, equipment, and program expenses for an additional social worker.
• Fordland Clinic, Inc.: $9,200 for dental root canal and crown supplies.
• Delmina Woods Community Council, Forsyth: $5,000 for medical, hygiene and job-interview expenses for young women transitioning out of the facility.
• Good Samaritan Care Center, Mountain View: $5,000 for construction, equipment and materials to provide free health care to uninsured and working poor residents in its service region.

The Community Foundation of the Ozarks and Commerce Trust also partner on a second Coover Grantmaking Program focused on place-based education in rural schools. The deadline for that program is March 2 and more information is available at www.ruralschoolspartnership.org/grants.

The CFO is a public charitable organization with assets totaling $177 million as of Dec. 31, 2011, which represent more than 2,000 funds, 44 affiliates, and more than 400 agency partners and schools.

The original Carthage Community Foundation, founded in 1999, expanded in 2006, incorporating as the Community Foundation of Southwest Missouri, Inc., to serve a four-county area of Jasper, Newton, Barton and McDonald counties.

With the development of philanthropic resources in the CFSWMO region in the succeeding years, particularly in the Joplin area, CFSWMO is changing its name back to Carthage Community Foundation and a new affiliate has been established to serve the Joplin area. The new affiliate will retain the CFSWMO name for the present.

Don LaFerla will serve as president of the CCF’s Board of Directors. Other board members include: Kevin Checkett, Frank Dunaway, Bill Putnam, and Stan Schmidt, who are four of the original founders;  former CFSWMO board members LaFerla, Bill Lee, Carolyn Phelps, Lee Pound, and Miriam Putnam; and new recruits Chuck Bryant, Patrick Scott, and Jim Woestman.

“The initial expansion of Carthage to encompass a broader section of our region has fulfilled its purpose,” said Putnam, who previously served six years on the board and four years as volunteer Executive Director of CFSWMO.  “Joplin is now well on its way to developing its own philanthropic assets and we think each area will be better served with a more direct focus on its own needs and goals.”

The Community Foundation of Southwest Missouri will continue to serve Joplin, and the smaller communities in the immediate area. Stephanie Howard is the new Chair of the CFSWMO.

Michelle Ducre, the CFO’s staff associate based in Joplin, will transition from serving as Executive Director for CFSWMO to Regional Development Director serving all of the affiliates in the southwest region of the CFO’s service area – CFSWMO, Sarcoxie, Neosho and Carthage.

This year’s scholarship awards and renewals, which are made possible by generous donors, are valued at nearly $925,000, up from about $815,000 awarded in the 2011 scholarship cycle. These represent more than 220 named scholarship funds, with many awarding multiple scholarships to students across southern Missouri.

Information about the scholarship opportunities is available at www.cfozarks.org/cfoscholarships, or students can contact their high-school counseling offices. Application deadlines vary, with the earliest due on March 1, 2012.

The CFO scholarships offer a wide range of opportunities for students interested in public or private colleges and universities, medical or nursing schools, vocational-technical education, and funds designated for students from specific high schools by alumni giving back to their communities.

Some examples of this year’s new scholarship funds include:

The Johnny E. Tubaugh Scholarship Fund will award four renewable $2,500 scholarships to students at Dade County’s four high schools in Greenfield, Lockwood, Dadeville and Everton. The only child of Golden City farmers, Mr. Tubaugh worked in agribusiness and left a bequest for the proceeds of his family’s farm to create a scholarship fund to benefit Dade County students. The Tubaugh Fund is a component of two CFO affiliates, the Lockwood and DACO community foundations

The new Nora Slusher Scholarship will award six $2,500 renewable scholarships to students graduating from Forsyth and Bradleyville high schools as a component of the Community Foundation of Taney County. Mrs. Slusher, who chaired the Roy W. Slusher Foundation until her death in August 2011, left a bequest establishing the fund. She was well known in the Bradleyville area for giving a new pair of shoes to each student once a year.

The Richard & Jeanne Cavender Scholarship for Public Service will provide two $500 scholarships to college-bound seniors in Meramec Regional Community Foundation’s area of Crawford, Dent, Gasconade, Maries, Osage, Phelps, Pulaski and Washington Counties. Richard Cavender retired last year as director of the Meramec Regional Planning Commission and now serves on the CFO Board of Directors.

“CFO-administered scholarships continue to have double-digit growth, benefitting outstanding students in our greater affiliate region of southern Missouri,” Scholarship Coordinator Judith Billings said. “What better way to encourage and support these young people, than to establish scholarships that both leave a legacy and ensure higher education for future generations.”

For more information about CFO scholarship programs, contact Judith Billings at:  jbillings@cfozarks.org; or call (417) 864-6199.

The segment, which will air again at 4:30 p.m. today on 91.1 FM, profiles three of the projects in the two-year-old MRI initiative, which offers below-market loan rates for non-profit projects that serve a public purpose. They include the new emergency room at Ozarks Medical Center in West Plains, the woody biomass generator saving energy costs for Gainesville schools, and the new building for the Rare Breed’s homeless teen drop-in center in central Springfield.

The goal of this program is a “double-bottom line” of a return on investment and a benefit to the community.

You can listen to the online version here, or learn more about the MRI initiative.

The grant cycle is open to agencies with 501(c)3 or equivalent non-profit status, such as faith-based or government organizations. Applications may be made for any amount up to the full amount of the grant pool. Grant applications will be considered each quarter with the first deadline at 5 p.m., Thursday, March 15, 2012. The grants will be awarded on Monday, March 26.

The Greene County Senior Services Fund Board was created after county voters in 2005 approved a levy of $0.05 per $100 of assessed valuation to provide services to residents aged 60 and over. The Tax Board is using $40,000 of its overall revenue to partner on this grant round. The CFO is matching those funds with $40,000 in private charitable dollars designated by donors for similar grantmaking goals for seniors.

The application form and instructions are available at: http://www.greenecountymo.org/senior_fund.

This grant cycle represents a new partnership between the two organizations. Preference will be given to proposals for innovative projects to improve the well-being of seniors in Greene County, said Denny Pilant, vice-chair of the Greene County Senior Citizens’ Services Tax Fund Board. The seven-member Tax Fund Board, which is appointed by the Greene County Commission, will consider the proposals each quarter as long as funding remains available.

About 30 residents of southern Missouri’s Ripley County kicked off their “Strengthening Our Communities” project this week with a frank discussion about how to balance growing the local economic base with maintaining the character that draws people to the heart of the Current River.

The civic leaders and interested citizens hold dear the heritage of the river, protected as a national treasure for its wide, clean waters that draw paddlers and create a tourism base. They know some residents in Doniphan and the surrounding area would just as soon leave things as is. But they also want to stem the population losses in recent Census reports, and the loss of talented young people, by creating more jobs and opportunities.

That’s why a group of Ripley County leaders applied for the CFO’s new “Strengthening Our Communities” initiative in which two communities were selected for a 12- to 18-month strategic planning process that will yield a blueprint to move the community forward. The CFO is partnering with University Extension and the USDA Rural Development, which will guide Ripley County and a Joplin-area coalition through this planning process.

As they talked about their reasons for wanting to participate, the residents said they want to create a better environment for their kids and grandkids so they’ll consider staying around after high school, as well as improve the standard of living for those living in poverty and the high seasonal unemployment related to River tourism.

“We’ve got room for improvement,” said Russ French, an insurance agent who is helping coordinate the meetings. “We need to figure out how to maximize ourselves without stepping on toes.”

Mary Ann Curry, who is being honored as Doniphan’s Citizen of the Year this week, moved to the area from Los Angeles in 1974. She and her husband raised Charolais cattle, later moved to Arizona,  and then returned to Doniphan in 1997 where they opened up an eight-lane bowling alley.

She said she personally went around to recruit participants for this week’s initial meeting for the project. She wants to see more join the effort because she thinks Doniphan has a lot going for it if it will make this effort.

The next meeting is scheduled for 1 p.m, Tuesday, Feb. 14, at the Chamber of Commerce office.

Sam and Missy Frink present a $10,000 gift to the Community Foundation of the Hermann Area at a recent luncheon. At right is Dr. Chris Neale, superintendent of Gasconade County R-1 Schools and chair of the CFHA board.

Sam and Missy have a grandchild, Wyatt, who resides in Texas and is autistic. He has very supportive parents and is in a good school district, so there isn’t much more they can do to help. So they decided to help locally. The Frinks are establishing Wyatt’s Fund, which is designated to support the Gasconade County R-1 School District. The fund will provide financial assistance for services for children with autism spectrum and/or sensory integration disorders.

In addition to the $10,000 gift to establish the fund, the Frinks have also put up a $5,000 1-to-1 matching grant for the fund, for a total of $20,000.

Gasconade County R-1 Superintendent Chris Neale, who is also Board Chair for the Community Foundation of the Hermann Area, Inc., told the local paper, the Advertiser-Courier, that the district is grateful for the Frinks’ thoughtful and very personal gift. You can read the Hermann Advertiser-Courier story here.

Sam Frink is a former Gasconade County School District board member, Missy is a former teacher, and Sam was also involved with the Community Foundation of the Hermann Area at its inception.

Wyatt’s Fund is a component fund of the Community Foundation of the Hermann Area, Inc., an affiliate of the Community Foundation of the Ozarks.

Julie Leeth (right) with CFO's Rural Schools Partnership presents a DVD copy of "Hats, Pies and Fiddles," as well as $100 check, to Sophia Greenwalt, organizer of Reeds Springs Middle School's Hat Day program.

If ever the character of an entire town could be summed up by one of its youngest citizens, Reeds Spring, Mo. is wonderfully represented by 13-year-old Sophia Greenwalt.

A 7th grader at Reeds Spring Middle School, Sophia has spent the last two school years orchestrating a monthly “Hat Day,” which has rallied her fellow students around philanthropy and community-building. Sophia put together a PowerPoint presentation and presented the idea to the school. The idea – in which students are allowed to wear any type of appropriate headwear one day a month (hats are usually against dress code) – is facilitated by the Reeds Spring School Foundation and supported by school administration, faculty and staff. It is truly a community effort.

“I just wanted to help people, and we never get to wear hats during school,” Sophia said. “I just thought it would be cool to have everyone take part in it.”

“Take part” is putting it mildly. Since September 2010 Hat Day has raised more than $13,000 for local charities, including the local Humane Society, Ozarks Honor Flight, Shop With a Cop and the school’s backpack program for students in need of food options at home.

On Friday, Jan. 13, Sophia was honored for her efforts at one of the school’s Character assemblies. The Reeds Spring School Foundation and the Community Foundation of the Ozarks’ Rural Schools Partnership presented her with a $100 grant to put towards a future Hat Day’s collection total. The school was also treated to a special screening of “Hats, Pies and Fiddles” a short film produced by the Rural Schools Partnership to help illustrate the importance of rural school foundations. Hat Day is one of the film’s case studies, and Sophia one of its stars.

“Hats, Pie and Fiddles” is just one element of a joint effort between the RSP and the Rural School and Community Trust’s Center for Midwestern Initiatives to help promote rural school foundations as vital parts of a school district’s (and a community’s) financial and social support system.

Sophia’s mother, Nettie Greenwalt, was in attendance at the surprise check presentation, and said the ceremonial big check is now hanging on Sophia’s wall. She also said the school foundation and administration, led by Table Rock Lake Community Foundation and Reeds Spring Schools Director of Public Relations Jim Holt, has been instrumental in the Hat Day program’s success.

“I want to give a whole lot of credit to Mr. (Jim) Holt,” Nettie Greenwalt said. “He is Sophia’s biggest supporter.”

About the Rural Schools Foundation Toolkit

As Sophia’s story helps illustrate, education is the lifeblood of small communities, and rural citizens must do all they can to support their schools, teachers, and students. Establishing an active and effective school foundation is an important step in ensuring rural school sustainability. To this end, the Community Foundation of the Ozarks’ Rural School Partnership and The Rural School and Community Trust’s Center for Midwestern Initiatives have collaborated on the development of a comprehensive rural school foundation toolkit.

The toolkit has three primary features:

1. The film Hats, Pies, and Fiddles explores how three small-town school foundations engage students, teachers, and donors in creating a culture of school-centered philanthropy. This ten-minute film was shot by Missouri filmmaker Brandon Goodwin and highlights efforts in Reeds Spring and Alton, Missouri, and Fox (Rural Special School), Arkansas. DVDs are available upon request and the film is featured online.

2. A booklet, Building Rural School Foundations: A Blueprint for Stronger Rural Communities, has been published and is available online and in print. Produced by Missouri graphic artist and photographer Aaron Scott, the booklet provides action steps for establishing a rural school foundation as well as a donors’ guide on how to make charitable contributions. In addition, school foundation success stories showcase the Ozarks communities of Conway, Bradleyville, Chadwick, and Hartville, along with Wessington Springs, South Dakota.

3. A School Foundation Building website has been constructed in conjunction with the Center for Midwestern Initiatives. The site includes the aforementioned film and booklet, and it provides current examples and stories of the good and important work being done by school foundations from throughout the Midwest. The site’s blog provides readers with an opportunity to share their personal stories and submit materials to the site. Click here to view the CMI’s school foundation building page.

These efforts have been made possible by funding from the Philanthropy Initiative, a capacity building grant program of the Community Foundation of the Ozarks.

The CFSWMO, an affiliate of the Community Foundation of the Ozarks, will give preference to proposals that will increase the availability of new or rehabilitated affordable housing located in Joplin or Duquesne.

The application form is available online at: www.formstack.com/forms/CFO-cfswmotornado. The application deadline is 5 p.m., Friday, Feb. 17, 2012. Applications for other proposals also will be accepted, with preference given to housing needs. The application process is open to 501(c)3 and other IRS-recognized non-profit and charitable groups, such as faith-based organizations.

This grant cycle is made possible by the generosity of donors to the Joplin Recovery Fund administered by the CFO and CFSWMO; the Lilly Endowment, Inc.; the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation; and a $500,000 grant awarded Wednesday evening by The Home Depot Foundation in conjunction with the re-opening of the Joplin store destroyed in the May 22, 2011 tornado.

“The survivors of the May tornado cannot continue their journey toward recovery if they are still living in government-provided trailers or doubling up with family or friends,” CFO President Brian Fogle said. “With thousands of homes destroyed on May 22, we recognize that affordable housing is one of the highest-priority needs and one where philanthropy can help address that particular gap in the housing market.”

This is the second grant cycle available for the Joplin Recovery Fund, which the CFO/CFSWMO opened on May 23 to accept donations for mid- to long-term recovery needs. Since then, $300,000 has been awarded to 18 non-profit agencies.

For more information about the Joplin Recovery Fund, and other funds established by private donors for Joplin’s relief and recovery efforts, visit: www.joplinrecoveryfund.org. Donations to the Joplin Recovery Fund can be made online at: www.cfozarks.org/donate; or by mail to: Community Foundation of the Ozarks, P.O. Box 8960, Springfield, MO, 65801.

Joplin residents celebrated another milestone on their journey toward recovery with a grand re-opening of the Home Depot store, one of the sites hardest hit on May 22 when the tornado claimed the lives of an employee and several customers and destroyed the store.

Just as the Atlanta-based retailer had resolved to rebuild its own store, it also reinforced its commitment to rebuilding Joplin with The Home Depot Foundation awarding a $500,000 grant to the Joplin Recovery Fund. That funding will be included in a new housing grant cycle to be announced Jan. 12  by the Community Foundation of Southwest Missouri, Inc., the CFO’s largest affiliate.

“On May 22, we had a disaster that struck this community and we are part of this community,” said Ann Marie Campbell, president of Home Depot’s Southern Division. “As leaders and managers, there is no script to deal with that size of disaster. It continues to be one of the toughest things we’ve had to deal with as a company.

“That’s why we’re here today because of the spirit of this community that says there is hope; there is resiliency,” she said.

CFSWMO board members and CFO staff associate Michelle Ducre accepted the ceremonial check for $500,000 before store manager Steve Cope led the “ribboncutting” – actually powersawing a long board functioning as a ribbon.

“Wow, a half million to our community along with the commitment to come back,” Ducre said, in thanking Home Depot.

With flourishes including cheerleaders, a drum corps, a Color Guard, Home Depot leaders treated customers a a drop of hundreds of balloons filled with slips of paper to redeem for gifts, cupcakes, and grand re-opening sales throughout the store.

But the tragedy won’t stay far from the minds of employees and customers; at the store’s front entrance is a fountain and a stone marker “in remembrance of the lives lost, and to a future of rebuilding in their memory.”