The CFO was honored to host Dr. Chris Nicastro, Commissioner of the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, for visits to Rural Schools Partnership projects in Purdy and Aurora on Wednesday, Sept. 1.

Dr. Nicastro came to the Ozarks to learn about the CFO’s rural schools initiatives as well as meet with leaders from Missouri State about alternative-education programs at its West Plains campus. Drury University hosted a dinner to discuss its educational administration curriculum with Dr. Nicastro, who was named the DESE Commissioner a year ago.

“I’m here to learn about the programs you’re working on to strengthen Missouri’s rural schools and communities,” she said.

After a brief overview in Springfield, the first stop was at Purdy High School, which received a $16,000 Coover Place-Based Education grant for its full-service, student-run industrial recycling program that serves both the school and the community.

The project is run by the school’s Spanish class and club, which is advised by teacher Gerry Wass.

“We were a new club and we had a lot of clubs already out fundraising in our community,” he said. “We needed a new idea.

“This recycling project also has the effect of showing some of the flow of money out of our community from trash,” he said.

The group then traveled to Aurora so Dr. Nicastro could see the High School’s award-winning solar-car project. Aurora received a $19,325 grant to purchase additional alternative-energy modules. The students also are studying how to build a LEED-certified, solar-energy Habitat for Humanity home in the community.

“We’ve got some really neat things going on here with some bright kids,” teacher and advisor Brad Boettler said.

The grants are made possible through the Louis L. and Julia Dorothy Coover Charitable Foundation Regional Grantmaking program, a partnership between the Community Foundation of the Ozarks and Commerce Trust Company.

The deadline for the 2011 Coover Place-Based Education grant program is April 11, 2011.

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.

At a recent Ozarks Food Harvest Mobile Pantry in Joplin, 150 people received eggs, cheese, meat, bread, cereal, Gatorade, and snack foods to feed their families

CFO affiliates raised $105,000 and received $100,000 in matching funds from the Walmart State Foundation to fight chronic hunger in their communities.

A total of 19 affiliates successfully completed the Challenge Grant, which is being channeled primarily through the Ozarks Food Harvest, which has a 28-county service area that largely mirrors the CFO’s region.

The CFO affiliates that completed the Hunger Challenge are: Aurora, Bolivar, Cassville, DACO (Dade County), Dallas County, El Dorado Springs, Finley River (Ozark area), Houston, Jacks Fork, Southwest Missouri (Carthage-Joplin area), Marshfield, Nixa, Oregon County, Seymour, Stockton, Table Rock Lake, Taney County, and West Plains.

The Wal-Mart State Foundation State Giving Program selected the Ozarks Food Harvest for its challenge grant program last year, which began in response to the national report – “Hunger in America 2010” – describing the extent to which hunger plagues Ozarks communities. An estimated 155,000 Ozarkers face chronic hunger issues, according to the report.

For more information, see the full  Hunger Challenge news release .

The Agency Partners Endowment-Building Grant deadline is coming up on Friday, Aug. 20. This is an opportunity to apply for grants for projects such as marketing materials or special events that will help non-profit agencies promote their endowment programs.

We’re also offering 10 full scholarships specifically for agency partners to attend one of Missouri State’s upcoming GO-LEAD programs designed for non-profit leadership training. That deadline is next Wednesday, Aug. 25.

For questions on either of these opportunities, please e-mail: Julie Leeth, CFO Executive Vice President, or call her at 417-864-6199.

With more than 4,000 square feet, the building will house two classrooms and a large entryway into the gym that can accommodate not only the entire student body, but also serve as a community storm shelter if an event is taking place when severe weather hits.

The project came about after Chadwick received some federal grant money, but then lost a no-tax increase bond election in November 2008 by a couple of votes. CFO President Brian Fogle saw news reports about the election and thought the project would be a good candidate for the new MRI program, in which a portion of CFO assets are invested directly into communities through low-interest loans that create a “double-bottom line.”

The Chadwick news release explains more about the project.

CFO LeMon 2 from CF Ozarks on Vimeo.

CFO hosted one of the 10 Best Speakers in America at Thursday’s Agency Partner Appreciation Luncheon.  Dr. Cal LeMon spoke with CFO’s Agency Partners about the importance and meaning in work in his “Get a Life, Change a Name” speech, which focused on individuals who work jobs in which they must be “givers”.  Dr. LeMon spoke on creating self fulfillment through work in aiding others. 

To view Mr. LeMon’s speech, simply click the play button on the embedded video above.  Those with slower internet connects will have a brief pause as the video begins streaming.

Bolivar Superintendent Dr. Steve Morgan and Intermediate Principal Laura Boyd received a ceremonial check for $10,000 from CFO Executive Vice President Julie Leeth.

Bolivar R-1 Schools received $10,000 in matching funds after raising $20,000 to create a Care to Learn Endowment Fund as part of the second phase of the Harry Cooper Supply Company Campaign for the Ozarks Challenge.

Intermediate School Principal Laura Boyd said the Care to Learn program, which addresses health, hunger and hygiene needs for schoolchildren, has gotten off to a successful start in its first year of serving about 100 third- through fifth-grade students.

One of the main components of the Bolivar program is a backpack snack program, which provides healthy foods for 50 kids who have the backpacks filled 10 times a year.

Bolivar, one of 25 members of the Rural Schools Partnership participating in the Cooper Phase II Challenge, is the third school district to receive the $10,000 matching grant. This challenge, which concludes at the end of the year, is intended to help RSP partners build educational endowment funds.

The online version of the story “Efforts to Build Rural Leadership Gain Steam” was published today on edweek.org.

The story features Albert Bryant, a Drury University senior from Everton, and Jessica Joiner, of Lebanon  who is also a senior at Drury, two of the 18 students in the inaugural class of the Ozarks Teacher Corps.

The story looks at several programs across the country that are trying to sustain rural schools facing challenges in recruiting staff and developing resources to provide quality education.

It also notes that John White, the U.S. Department of Education Deputy Assistant Secretary for Rural Outreach, visited the Ozarks this year to see the new Ozarks Teacher Corps program unfold as a potential model for other areas. White attended the Rural Schools Partnership’s first Rural Education Rendezvous in May at the Thomasville Community Center.

The new structure will allow donors to make tax-deductible contributions to become members of the Moxie. The goal is to create a self-sustaining structure for the Moxie to continue as Springfield’s only full-time theater showing  independent U.S. and foreign films and documentaries.

The Downtown Springfield Community Cinema group purchased the nearly five-year-old Moxie Theater from founders Dan and Nicole Chilton, who had put the theater up for sale to concentrate on new business and family goals.

More information about the sale is included in the  Moxie Downtown Community Cinema Fund News Release.

GO LEAD provides a series of workshops designed to address specific training and professional development issues related to non-profit management.

The scholarships are available  for one of these two workshop series:

• The Nuts & Bolts of Non-Profit Management; or
• Non-Profit Management in the 21st Century

Applications can be submitted online and the application deadline is 5 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2010.

The program is open to any non-profit leader or manager of an organization that partners with the Community Foundation.

For questions or more information, e-mail Julie Leeth, Executive Vice President, or call (417) 864-6199.