Community Foundation of the Ozarks

The Monett Area Community Foundation Board of Directors hosted about 40 community members at a  first-time “Celebrate a Legacy” event Saturday night to learn more about the impact charitable giving has had on Monett.

Founded in 1998, the MACF now holds about $1.3 million in charitable assets in about 35 funds.

Representatives of Camp Barnabas, the YMCA, The Den, and RockOn set up displays to show the impact of charitable gifts for their groups. The Monett Youth Empowerment Project chapter told its story through a Powerpoint and video presentation outlining its youth grantmaking efforts and having students describe what participating in YEP has meant to them.

Two MACF founding members also described their experiences with charitable gifts and planned giving.

Rod Anderson said he established the Howard and Dorothy Anderson Education Assistance Fund to honor his “working middle class” parents who both graduated from Monett High School in 1939. He designated the endowed scholarship fund for non-traditional students who have to work their way through college.

Frank Compton told the story of how he and other MACF founders worked to transfer a portion of an estate left by EFCO and Clark Industries founder Tom Clark and his wife, Mary Dell, who died in a motorcycle crash in Europe. Instead of ending up in probate court, estate proceeds established the Tom and Mary Dell Clark Memorial Fund through the Community Foundation of the Ozarks. That became the impetus to set up the Monett Area Community Foundation as an affiliate of the CFO. The fund now supports the Clark Community Mental Health Center, which provides crisis assistance and treatment services for residents in Barry and Lawrence counties with mental illness, substance-abuse problems and developmental disabilities.

CFO President Brian Fogle said such legacies are important to fill the gaps created by decreased public funding for education and human services.

“A Community Foundation is just a means of helping gather local resources for local challenges,” Fogle said, noting last week’s announcement of the CFO’s grantmaking milestone. “People like you are the reason we’ve been able to give out $100 million over the past 38 years.”

MACF President Mark Nelson summed up the challenge to the community members to consider charitable giving as part of their family financial and estate planning.

“What do you want your footprint to look like?” he asked.

Perhaps the largest presence in a room chock full of civic energy and pride was the one who was not there.

On Thursday night, the Nixa Community Foundation honored as its Citizen of the Year the late Betty Ann Rogers, a spirited volunteer and NCF board member who died unexpectedly last year at just 64.

Betty Ann was determined to contribute to Nixa when they moved to the community in 1998, said Mitch Callicott, whose moving tribute to his partner of 23 years stilled the room. She threw herself into every volunteer role with the same spirit and passion she put into her friendships and voracious reading habit, he said.

“We wanted to make this community our own,” Callicott said.

“I can only ask that we remember Betty Ann for what she was – energetic, loving, active and involved – and learn from her example. Become involved and make your mark. When you deeply and truly believe in something, you’ll make a difference.”

Every one of the citizens honored Thursday are making a difference in Nixa – at the schools, protecting the public, helping kids, and supporting community projects.

Another CFO partner, Holly Beadle, was honored as the school district’s Volunteer of the Year for her service including the Nixa Education Foundation Board.

President Sharon Whitehill Gray and the Board members distributed $46,591 in community grants to 24 organizations. As the CFO’s first affiliate in 1993 and now with the largest community grantmaking program, Nixa has awarded a total of $836,654 and has assets of more than $1.8 million in 50 community and school funds.

“You are to be congratulated for having the energy and resources that it takes to create a vibrant community,” CFO President Brian Fogle said.

And a special grant was presented to Mitch Callicott and Betty Ann’s step-daughter Shelby Rogers for the Betty Ann Rogers Community Fund. She was a member of the CFO’s Legacy Society for the Nixa Community Foundation. She understood the significance of making her mark for good on Nixa – the place she’d come to consider home.

NCF Vice President Ken Worthley had spoken earlier in the evening about what planned gifts like Betty Ann’s had meant to the community over the years.

“Each of us has the opportunity to plan how we want to give back to the community,” he said, recalling how philanthropic dollars helped create the park he played in as a kid.

“We have to plan for what we want things to be,” he said. “We are the ones reaping the benefits of their plans.”

Stand Up for the Arts patrons and guests enjoyed a thank-you reception at Obelisk Home to kick off last weekend’s First Friday activities in downtown Springfield.

The CFO held the reception to thank the Legacy Society members who joined on behalf of Stand Up for the Arts during 2009-10. Arts supporters can make planned gifts through the CFO’s Legacy Society designated specifically for a favorite arts program.

Springfield Regional Arts Council Executive Director Leah Hamilton Jenkins, an accomplished vocalist accompanied by Harry Beckett, entertained the group with a selection of their favorite standards.

We’d like to thank Nathan Taylor and Jay Martin, owners of Obelisk Home, for providing their wholesale showroom as an enjoyable venue for the reception.