Community Foundation of the Ozarks

Nearly $7,000 in  Conco Community Arts Program grant awards have been made to five schools for projects aimed at connecting schools to their communities through visual and performing arts.

The competitive grants, awarded by the Rural Schools Partnership, are made possible by Conco Companies.

This year’s grants were awarded to:

• Ozark East Elementary School: $1,500 to create a visual and performing arts event for the school’s 2010-11 cultural focus on Australia and New Zealand.
• Fordland R-III Photography Club: $1,000 for equipment and supplies to expand the elementary and middle-school students’ community exhibits in area galleries, libraries and businesses.
• Norwood High School Youth Empowerment Project: $1,500 to create murals in the multi-purpose gym and school hallways and do a community service project painting the basement of the Wright County Children’s Home.
• Richards R-V School in West Plains: $1,500 to support the band of sixth- through eighth-grade students with instruments, music, supplies and clothing.
• Clinton High School: $1,432 for a project to add “CHS” in school colors using painted rocks along the drive outside of the new high school building.

“This is a strong group of projects that take student-produced art into their communities,” CFO Executive Vice President Julie Leeth said. “We’re eager to see the results.”

The Community Foundation of the Ozarks welcomes three new members to the Board of Directors.

Judith Gonzalez is a faculty member at the School of Professional Psychology at Forest Institute in Springfield. She also founded the “Hand in Hand” Multicultural Center in 2000 and received the CFO’s  Humanitarian of the Year award in 2004. 

Bill Lee, the Community President for Arvest Bank in Neosho and in Carthage, also has been elected Chairman of the Board of the Community Foundation of Southwest Missouri, Inc., a CFO affiliate serving Barton, Jasper, McDonald and Newton counties. An active civic volunteer, he also chairs the Carthage Chamber of Commerce’s Economic Development Corporation.

Sandra Thomason of Clinton is a longtime civic volunteer particularly serving on boards and agencies with connections to youth. She is a founding member and former president of the Truman Lake Community Foundation.

The CFO’s new 2010-11 Executive Committee is comprised of: Chair David Pointer, a Gainesville attorney; Vice-Chair Cliff Brown, attorney at Carnahan, Evans, Cantwell & Brown, Springfield; Treasurer Shari Hoffman, senior managing advisor at BKD Wealth Advisors, Springfield; Secretary Jill Reynolds, vice president/trust officer at Commerce Bancshares, Springfield; CFO President Brian Fogle; and At-Large members Gloria Galanes, professor of communication at Missouri State University; Mark Nelson, wealth management advisor at Merrill Lynch, Springfield; and Roger D. Shaw, Jr., rancher, Thomasville.

At the August meeting, CFO President Brian Fogle also reviewed the fiscal year-end achievements.

• The CFO made a record $18.2 million in grants and distributions in FY10, up from the FY09 record of $15.9 million.
• A record 231 new funds were established, bringing the total number of funds the CFO holds to more than 1,700 at the end of the fiscal year.
• Scholarships totaling more than $600,000 were distributed to a record 478 students across the Ozarks.
• Contributions of $23.4 million were the second highest ever, up from $16.5 million the previous year.

In addition to the year-end financial report, Fogle also noted the successful first-year launch of the Rural Schools Partnership, which now includes more than 90 southern Missouri school districts and a nationally recognized scholarship program to retain teachers for rural communities. The Youth Empowerment Project, which focuses on philanthropy for high-school and middle-school students, increased to 31 chapters, up from the previous year’s 17.

As the Community Foundation’s fiscal year closed on June 30, a record number of 231 new funds were established throughout the year.

We’d like to welcome this latest group of new funds established since mid-June. Watch the website during the coming year for future acknowledgements of our growth in planned-giving and capacity-building funds.

Beshore Family Foundation – Lance and Sharon Beshore of Carthage established this family and community fund with the Community Foundation of Southwest Missouri to assist them with their charitable giving.

John & Betty Brecht Endowment Fund for United Methodist Church in Clinton – Betty Brecht established this designated endowment fund to benefit the United Methodist Church in honor and memory of her late husband, John. Mrs. Brecht also established the John & Betty Brecht Endowment Fund for Clinton Arts Council in honor and memory of John. These are component funds of the Truman Lake Community Foundation.

Community Support Services of Missouri Fund and Community Support Services of Missouri Endowment Fund – These funds were established by Community Support Services in Joplin to help fund the organization’s work with children and adults with developmental disabilities. These also were established with the Community Foundation of Southwest Missouri. We also want to welcome Community Support Services as a new agency partner in the social services category.

Billy Coyle Leadership Fund – Bill Coyle established this designated endowment fund to provide a student leadership award to the Conway School District. The student must demonstrate traits and qualities of a leader or have been involved in laboratory opportunities for leadership. Preference will be given to students pursuing higher education as a science teacher, then in the science field and then in law enforcement.

Dallas County Pet Outreach Program Fund – This capacity-building fund will provide for the needs of animals in the Dallas County area, such as spay/neuter services, animal medical bills, and improved living conditions. A component of the Dallas County Community Foundation, the program also will join the CFO as a new agency partner in the environment/animals category.

The Gary Funk Running Jenny Fund for Rural Schools – This Field-of-Interest Fund was established to honor and commemorate outgoing CFO President Gary Funk’s service to the Foundation. Grants from the fund will be used to assist rural schools and education.

Meramec Regional Community Foundation Community Grantmaking Fund – This unrestricted endowment fund will support long-term grantmaking for the Meramec Regional Community Foundation. The Meramec Regional Community Foundation also established a Capacity-Building Fund to provide dollars for grantmaking in the area.

Tri County Pregnancy Resource Center Fund – The newly established Tri County Pregnancy Resource Center established this capacity fund to help support its mission. This component of the Aurora Area Community Foundation also joins the CFO as an agency partner.

West Plains Agriculture-Science Building Fund – The West Plains R-7 Educational Foundation established this capacity-building fund as a component of the Community Foundation of West Plains to support an agriculture-science building project.

EMH at West Plains High School Fund – Haley Bray and Kathy Miller, along with the West Plains R-7 Educational Foundation established this capacity-building fund to support the Educating the Mentally Handicapped program at the high school. This is also a component of the Community Foundation of West Plains.