The Ozark High School Youth Empowerment Project was presented with a $2,500 prize on Monday, March 8th for creating a winning video in the Community Foundation of the Ozarks’ 60 Second Challenge video competition. The winning video, titled, “Someday We’ll All Be Philanthropists”, is student-created and developed piece which provides a 60 second synopsis of the work of the Ozark High School Youth Empowerment Project (YEPO). YEPO is a youth-driven component of the Finley River Community Foundation, an affiliate of the Community Foundation of the Ozarks.

Students at schools which are part of the Rural Schools Partnership were given an opportunity to create a 60 second web video. These videos speak of a challenge, project, or group in their school. Students were encouraged to be as concrete or as abstract as they liked. CFO received excellent submissions from throughout the Missouri Ozarks, and student members of the Springfield Youth Empowerment Project selected first, second, and three third place winners to receive monetary prizes to continue their good work.

To see all the challenge winners and to watch the videos, visit our website here:

60 Second Challenge

Picture: YEPO students and sponsors receive the $2,500 grant from CFO in a ceremony held March 8th at the Ozark High School auditorium.

Congratulations to the Greater Seymour Area Foundation for recently awarding more than $3,000 in grants to the Seymour area during their community grant round.  The grants presented at the February 23^rd event were as follows:

Ozarks Family YMCA – Seymour Branch, $399
Seymour Head Start, $692
Friends of the Library, $500
American Legion Auxiliary Unit 306, $130
Accelerated Reader Program, $500
Seymour Senior Citizens Center, $500
Regional Outreach Christian Center, $300

Congratulations to the GSAF for their continued work in the Seymour region! To view more information on GSAF, please visit their webpage, here.

PHOTO: GSAF President Janice Blankenship addresses board members and grant recipients at the event.

More than 30 regional arts’ leaders and elementary art teachers came together  on Saturday, Feb. 27th at the Creamery Arts Center in Springfield, Mo. to learn more about the Greater Ozarks Art Tour. The event, hosted by the Springfield Regional Arts Council (SRAC), featured an informational webinar for regional arts’ leaders in the morning and then provided a working lunch where art teachers and community leaders learned about SRAC’s regional programming opportunities.

The lunch premiered the new Vincent Van G.O.A.T. DVD which features five new artists from the Ozarks’ area. Vincent Van G.O.A.T. is a colorful goat sculpture partnered with an interactive computer program that features film clips of Ozarks’ artists.  Vincent is geared toward elementary-aged students, who are invited to climb on his back and learn about Ozarks’ art forms through kid-friendly computer software. This is the second DVD released for Vincent and was made possible by a generous grant from the Kirby Foundation.

Other offerings of the Greater Ozarks Art Tour include:

• Greater Ozarks Arts Tour Performance Series brings performance arts (voice, dance, instrumental, theatrical, literary) to rural schools and their respective communities.
• The Artist-in Residence Program is available to participating schools for a one-day program that includes a “mini-gallery” of the artist’s works, an assembly, work with individual classes, and the on-site production of an artistic piece that is presented to the school at the end of the day.
• Claymobile is a mobile ceramic education program.  Developed by Springfield Pottery, the Claymobile is a fully-stocked van that transports all materials needed for clay workshops—including the teachers!  Participation in the Claymobile program requires a 50% match at the local or school level.

SRAC is a partner of the Rural Schools Partnership as it works to enrich rural schools through the arts. For more information on the Greater Ozarks Art Tour, please call the SRAC at (417) 862-2787 or visit SpringfieldArts.org. For more information on the Rural Schools Partnership, please visit www.ruralschoolspartnership.org.

PHOTO: Leah Hamilton Jenkins (far left), executive director of the Springfield Regional Arts Council, talks with regional art teachers after lunch. Each attendee received a copy of both Vincent Van G.O.A.T. DVDs.

Nixa Community Foundation recently awarded more than $36,000 in grants through its unrestricted, community grantmaking program. Grants were given at the Nixa Community Foundation annual banquet held on February 18, 2010.

Nixa Community Foundation was CFO’s first affiliate community foundation  with its establishment in 1993. Since then, Nixa Community Foundation has granted more than $625,000 to worthwhile programs and organizations serving the citizens of Nixa.

CAPTION: Grantees who received grant checks at the banquet pose for a group picture.

“We know there are many local and national efforts for Haiti relief efforts,” stated Gary Funk, president of CFO.  “We see this as an additional option to help facilitate the relief efforts provided by Convoy of Hope, and we hope our established relationships in the Ozarks will promote giving to the critical services they provide for relief and recovery. We have partnerships with more than 320 non-profits in the Ozarks, and welcome this great new relationship with Convoy in a time of need.”

Part of the Haiti relief effort is “Kits 4 Kids” which asks individuals, families and groups to assemble hygiene kits for children in Haiti. The Missouri Department of Education has encouraged schools across the state to participate with a goal of 100,000 completed kits. The kits include shampoo, soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, hand towel and comb.

For more information on Convoy of Hope, Kits 4 Kids and the continued Haiti relief effort, please visit http://www.convoyofhope.org/.

• Hammons Products Company Fund – This corporate grantmaking fund will support Hammons Products Company’s charitable giving.

• Hammons Products Company Benevolence Fund - This field-of-interest fund will help with  emergency needs of company employees and local Stockton residents for such items as medical, transportation, food, clothing, housing, or other needs resulting from a sudden incident such as accident, fire, or tornado

• Stockton Community Leadership Development Fund - This field-of-interest endowment fund will support the development of leadership skills of Stockton citizens serving in community leadership positions, promoting networking, collaboration, and sharing of ideas.  This fund is set up now, ready to accept contributions and make grants once it reaches $10,000, and it will receive future funding support through a planned giving commitment.

Hammons Products Company President and C.E.O. Brian Hammons says the company is pleased to support the work of the Stockton Community Foundation through the establishment of these new funds.  “Thanks to the Community Foundation of the Ozarks, our local affiliate foundation has the opportunity to make a real long-term difference in the Stockton community.  We’ve seen some results of that already in recent years.  We plan to keep our black walnut business in Stockton, and I’m excited that we can work with the Foundation in supporting its vision to ‘Build upon our heritage and make tomorrow even better.’”

The number of partnerships between local businesses and communities is expanding throughout the region, according to Winter Skelton, development operations officer for the Community Foundation of the Ozarks.  “We see more and more businesses stepping up and creating charitable funds that make sense for their communities,” Skelton said, “and we truly appreciate the opportunity to partner with Hammons Products Company on these new funds.”

The Stockton Community Foundation was established in 2002, and includes 28 different funds with total charitable assets of approximately $620,000.  Since its inception, the Stockton Community Foundation has given more than $150,000 in charitable grants back to the community.  Ginger Hendrickson is the current president of the Stockton Community Foundation board of directors.

The Stockton Community Foundation is an affiliate of the Springfield-based Community Foundation of the Ozarks.  Started in 1973, CFO has 41 affiliates, 1,700 charitable funds, and total assets of nearly $145 million.  Last year, CFO made $15.7 million in charitable distributions.

The Community Foundation of the Ozarks is pleased to announce the Ozarks Million Dollar Hunger Challenge. Made possible by a $100,000 grant from the Walmart Foundation State Program and a partnership with Ozarks Food Harvest, this program allows CFO affiliate community foundations to raise  dollars that will be matched 1:1 to fight hunger in their local communities. The program will leverage the initial $100,000 gift into $200,000 which will procure $1 million worth of food through Ozarks Food Harvest, the only food bank serving one-third of Missouri.

Twenty-one  affiliates have chosen to participate in this program which was available to those CFO affiliates that fall within Ozarks Food Harvest’s 29-county service area. A complete of list participating affiliates is located at the end of this story.

“It’s only natural that we partner with the Walmart Foundation and CFO since our service areas in this part of the state literally mirror each other,” said Bart Brown, president and CEO of Ozarks Food Harvest.

Hunger challenge funds have been established as component funds of each participating affiliate community foundation. The matching opportunity runs through June 30, 2010.

“The challenging economic environment we’re facing calls for us to identify new resources to help with hunger, and make the existing ones stretch further,” said Brian Fogle, executive vice president of the Community Foundation of the Ozarks. “The generous Walmart grant provides the catalyst for our affiliates to raise matching funds, and the strength and connections of Ozarks Food Harvest insure those funds will be used in the most effective manner to address hunger in our Ozarks region.”

This partnership was unveiled following the February 4th announcement of a new landmark hunger study which found that Ozarks Food Harvest is serving 155,000 individuals annually. Ozarks Food Harvest-The Food Bank distributed seven milion pounds of food during its last fiscal year, the highest distribution in its 27-year history. To view the complete study and learn more, please visit ozarksfoodharvest.org.

Ozarks Million Dollar Hunger Challenge participating affiliates include:
- Aurora Area Community Foundation
- Bolivar Area Community Foundation
- Cassville Community Foundation
- DACO Community Foundation
- Dallas County Community Foundation
- El Dorado Springs Community Foundation
- Finley River Community Foundation
- Houston Community Foundation
- Jacks Fork Community Foundation
- Marshfield Area Community Foundation
- Mtn. Grove Area Community Foundation
- Nixa Community Foundation
- Oregon County Community Foundation
- Ozark County Community Foundation
- Greater Seymour Area Foundation
- Community Foundation of Southwest Missouri (Carthage & Joplin)
- Stockton Community Foundation
- Table Rock Lake Community Foundation
- Taney County Community Foundation
-  Community Foundation of West Plains

CAPTION: From left to right: Skip Tinney, market manager, Walmart; Sharon Whitehill Gray, president, Nixa Community Foundation & CFO board member; Leigh Hall, Nixa Community Foundation board member; Brian Fogle, CFO; Betty Ann Rogers, Nixa Community Foundation board member; and Bart Brown, president/CEO, Ozarks Food Harvest.

Dan Beckner was presented with the Marshfield Area Community Foundation’s 2009 Pinnacle Award at a reception on Saturday, January 30^th. This is the fifth year for the award which is given to a person who dedicates himself or herself to the betterment of Marshfield through community service and leadership. Dan has worked tirelessly to build Hidden Waters Nature Park and preserve the space in its natural beauty.   To learn more about the Marshfield Area Community Foundation, click here.

Pictured:  Board members of the Marshfield Area Community Foundation, along with President Emeritus Jan Horton, CFO Development Operations Officer Winter Skelton, and Zoe Beckner, present Dan Beckner with the Pinnacle Award.

The challenge was created in 2006 as a direct response to the Community Focus Reports in 2004 and 2005, which stated that overcoming the pressing challenges related to the needs of our children would shape the future of Springfield and Greene County.  Red flag issues addressed in the reports suggested there were three main community needs with relation to children in the Springfield area:

• Education systems ill equipped to educate the growing numbers of impoverished children
• At risk children lacking appropriate health care
• Domestic instability and poverty in the home

The gifts listed in the Grantmakers Challenge for Children report that address the three red flags outlined in the 2004 Community Report Card are a testament to the positive community action which occurs in Springfield by thoughtful donors and organizations.

We look forward to continuing this final year of the Challenge.  To view the latest report (PDF format), please here.

The Marshfield Area Community Foundation, in partnership with the Community Foundation of the Ozarks, recently announced the completion of a $5,000 dollar-for-dollar match to benefit the Marshfield community. Chip & Teresa McGeehan, owners of McDonald’s in Marshfield, made a $5,000 contribution to the Hidden Waters Nature Park Fund, an endowment fund providing long-term sustainable funding for the upkeep and maintenance of a local Marshfield park. This $5,000 gift earned the fund a $5,000 matching grant from the Community Foundation of the Ozark’s Stewardship Ozarks Initiative.

The three-year, $1 million Stewardship Ozarks Initiative is an effort to strengthen regional organizations that are committed to conservation efforts in the Missouri Ozarks. It focuses directly on the sustainability of conservation and environmental nonprofit groups, providing challenge grants to strengthen or establish endowment funds for environmental stewardship. This initiative is supported by a major gift from Johnny Morris on behalf of Wonders of Wildlife, as well as by leadership contributions from Gregg and Nancy Galbraith, Larry and Dr. Nancy O’Reilly, Todd and Betty Parnell, and the Upper White River Basin Foundation. Additional support comes from Sally Baird, Community Foundation of the Ozarks Philanthropy Initiative, Susie Henry, and Dr. Tom and Dr. Kim Prater.

The Marshfield Area Community Foundation (MACF) is an affiliate of the Community Foundation of the Ozarks. It is comprised of 22 funds with assets totaling approximately $365,000. In fiscal year 2009, the Marshfield Area Community Foundation granted more than $33,000 back to the community. To learn more about the MACF, please visit their website here.

PICTURE: From left to right: Dan Beckner, Hidden Waters Nature Park founder, Winter Skelton (CFO), and Barbara Herren (Marshfield Area Community Foundation board member) accept a check from Chip McGeehan.