Wayne County Community Foundation making a difference in the community
By Sharon Haught
October 17, 2011
331
The cover of the Wayne County Community Foundations Annual Report contains a photograph of the intersection of a pair of fictional streets, one named Giving and the other Receiving.
This is exactly where non-profit charitable organizations live, Wayne County Community Foundation Executive Director Ferenc Relle told the members of the community assembled for the organizations annual dinner at the Pines on Oct. 12.
Theyve always lived there. Thats nothing new. Whats new is that intersection is looking a bit worn, a little less maintained. Quite frankly, its become a tough neighborhood, said Relle.
There is an alarming growth of those people who are considered to be in poverty, said Relle adding, the most current numbers say one in seven in the United States are at the poverty level and within that group, 60 percent of those are of working age and arent even able to contribute.
That philanthropic safety net that weve always had that supports all the different groups whether they are government groups or private groups is getting smaller and smaller – or I should say, its not getting big enough, said Relle.
But an ever-growing number of generous Wayne County citizens are working to get much needed funding into the hands of students, projects and programs through the Wayne County Community Foundation.
Founded in 1978, the foundation is a charitable community organization established to accept contributions, create and administer funds and make grants for the benefit of the people of Wayne County.
According to Relle, the foundation is actually a collection of many separate funds varying in size from a few thousand dollars to more than a million dollars. Currently, there are 315 funds, each with its own donors and philanthropic purpose.
Grants are paid to a wide variety of organizations in the areas of arts, culture, and humanities; capital campaigns; civic and community; conservation and environment; education; health and wellness; human services; religion; and scholarships.
According to Relle, the foundation received about $4.9 million in gifts last year, made $4.7 million in grant awards and saw its assets hit the $41.7 million mark, despite the difficult economic conditions.
The past five years have been years of incredible ups and downs and backs and forths in terms of the volatility of the market and also the economy, but weve actually been able to give out 3,095 grants for a total of $16.7 million, said Relle.
That includes a record number 205 scholarships last year alone.
Relle expressed his appreciation to all the donors who made that possible.
Thank you for making this one of our very best years weve had in recent years, said Relle.
Thank you very much for having faith in us, but most importantly, thank you very much for sharing your lives with somebody you may never meet, Relle continued.
Relle also expressed his appreciation for the support and leadership of the foundations board of trustees.
In addition to honoring David Briggs, Don Buren, James Gerber and Mildred Workman, who were granted Trustee Emeritus status for their service to the foundations board, the organization also recognized newly appointed trustees William Robertson, Maribeth Badertscher and Stephen Shapiro.
For more information of the Wayne County Community Foundation, visit their website at http://www.waynecountycommunityfoundation.org.
