Community Foundation Announces Schneider Circle

FINDLAY, OH— The Findlay-Hancock County Community Foundation has announced a new initiative, The Schneider Circle, to strengthen local nonprofit agencies. Through an application process, twelve local nonprofit agencies will be selected to participate in the inaugural Schneider Circle for two years. The agencies selected will have a proven track record of excellence and the potential to continue to significantly improve the quality of life in Hancock County. The organizations will represent a variety of sectors including, but not limited to, social service, the arts, health, youth service, and recreation. The Findlay-Hancock County Community Foundation is seeking a diverse pool of applicants.

The Schneider Circle cohort will be able to access local trainings provided by regional experts in the following areas: monthly nonprofit leadership forum, quarterly fundraising coaching, effective meeting management training, and leadership transition planning.

This important initiative is being supported by the Madeleine Thomas Schneider Fund. Madeleine Thomas Schneider, daughter of Findlay, lived her life with a gracious spirit. Throughout her life, Schneider was a model of integrity, service and generosity. Upon her death, she left the Findlay-Hancock County Community Foundation an endowed gift totaling $25 million. Through her final gifts, Schneider continues to touch the lives of many of our neighbors as her fund is used to support local nonprofit agencies to becommunity-foundation.come self-sufficient entities able to meet critical community needs.

The Foundation will accept applications from nonprofit agencies providing services to Hancock County residents through January 31, 2011. Applications will be available on the Foundation website (www.community-foundation.com) on January 3, 2011. The applicants will be evaluated on the following criteria: nonprofit agencies currently providing services to Hancock County residents; willingness to collaborate with other agencies to address community issues; current strength of the organization (programming, governance, staff leadership, financing, administrative, staffing, and marketing); and willingness to embrace organizational change and growth. Public announcement of the Schneider Circle agencies will be made on February 28, 2011.

“As one of its overarching goals, the Foundation seeks to support nonprofits to becommunity-foundation.come self-sufficient entities always ready to meet community needs,” said Katherine Kreuchauf, president.

“The generosity of Madeleine Schneider will continue to touch local lives as Schneider Circle agencies are strengthened through improved community-foundation.communication and collaboration, more effective executive leaders and governing bodies, and increased organizational effectiveness. These agencies will be better positioned to consistently meet both community and client needs,” said Kreuchauf.

Questions regarding the Schneider Circle should be directed to Julie Brown, Program Officer, 419-425-1100 or jbrown@community-foundation.com.

ECLIPSe Seeks Grant Proposals

ECLIPSe (Emerging Community Leaders Investing in Philanthropic Service) is a local youth grantmaking council that funds high quality youth-driven service-learning projects. Applications for ECLIPSe’s next round of community-foundation.competitive grant proposals are now available. There is $2,500 currently available for service-learning projects. Area youth, schools and youth-serving organizations interested in submitting a grant proposal can receive more information and an application packet by contacting Kimberly Bash, Program Officer, at (419) 425-1100 or by going to the website at http://www.community-foundation.com/ECLIPSe_grants.htm. The deadline for these proposals is February 18, 2011. ECLIPSe requires that funded projects be coordinated in partnership with local youth and that they address actual community needs through service-learning.

Foundation Updates and Plans for 2011

Foundation Updates and Plans for 2011

Kathy Kreuchauf,
Community Foundation President, spoke at the Findlay Noon Rotary
Club on Monday, January 3, 2011.  Her presentation on Community
Foundation updates and plans for 2011 is below.

Community Foundation Investment Briefing November 3

FINDLAY, OH— The Board of Trustees of the Findlay-Hancock County Community Foundation
and its Finance & Investment Committee will hold the 2010 Investment Briefing on Wednesday, November 3, at the Family Center, 1800 N. Blanchard St., Findlay, Ohio. A community-foundation.complimentary continental breakfast will be served beginning at 8:00 a.m. The meeting will start at 8:30 a.m. RSVP by October 27 to 419-425-1100 or info@community-foundation.com.

The meeting is open to the public. Professional advisors, fund establishers, donors, nonprofit leaders, and anyone interested in learning more about how the funds at the Community Foundation are invested are encouraged to attend.

Attendees will learn about the Community Foundation’s investment strategy, meet the community-foundation.committee who guides investment decisions, meet the foundation’s investment consultant, and learn how we select our investment managers. Contact the Community Foundation at 419-425-1100 for more information.

2011 CommunityREAD Book Announced

FINDLAY, OH—The CommunityREAD community-foundation.committee and the Findlay-Hancock County Community Foundation have announced that the 2011 CommunityREAD feature book will be Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by author Jamie Ford.

The focus of this year’s CommunityREAD event is to encourage discussions regarding family relationships, friendship, ethnicity, race, discrimination, social obligation, regret, and the power of forgiveness and the human heart.

In his debut novel, author Jamie Ford depicts the heartwarming friendship between Henry Lee and Keiko Okabe, a Chinese American boy and a Japanese American girl—both American citizens—whose ethnic backgrounds impact their destinies in drastically different ways during World War II. When the United States government orders all persons of Japanese ancestry to evacuate their homes and submit to voluntary internment, Keiko and her family are forced to leave Seattle and live in an internment camp in rural Idaho. In Keiko’s absence, Henry must community-foundation.come to terms with what it means to be Chinese, an obedient son, a trustworthy friend, and a loyal American.

This New York Times best-selling novel gives readers a glimpse of the damage caused by war–not the sweeping damage of the battlefield, but the cold, cruel damage to the hearts and humanity of individual people. At the same time, it explores the age-old conflicts between father and son, the beauty and sadness of what happened to Japanese Americans in the Seattle area during World War II, and the depths and longing of young love.

Jamie Ford is the great-grandson of Nevada mining pioneer Min Chung, who emigrated in 1865 from Kaiping, China, to San Francisco, where he adopted the Western name, “Ford.” Ford grew up in Oregon and near Seattle’s International District, studied as an illustrator at an art school in Seattle, and found professional success as an art director and copywriter before turning his attention to fiction. An award-winning short story writer, an alumnus of the Squaw Valley Community of Writers, and a survivor of Orson Scott Card’s Literary Boot Camp, Ford is presently at work on a second novel. He lives in Montana with his family.

This is the 9th annual CommunityREAD event held in Hancock County. This popular event has featured notable authors such as Mitch Albom (Tuesdays with Morrie), Andy Andrews (The Traveler’s Gift), Homer Hickam (Rocket Boys), Harper Lee (To Kill A Mockingbird), Catherine Ryan Hyde (Pay It Forward), Jeannette Walls (The Glass Castle), John Grogan (Marley & Me), and Erin Gruwell (Teach With Your Heart). All of the authors except Lee have visited Findlay as part of a CommunityREAD event.

The CommunityREAD event also highlights the HancockREADS mission to promote the benefits of literacy in Hancock County. HancockREADS is an initiative of the Findlay-Hancock County Community Foundation with the goal to promote the benefits of literacy by funding programs that focus on improving literacy and reading skills. Every dollar donated to the HancockREADS endowment fund is matched with 50 cents by the Community Foundation.

Many activities are being planned for CommunityREAD month (March 2011) including a special event featuring Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet author, Jamie Ford, on Friday evening, March 25, 2011, at 7:00 p.m. at Central Auditorium. Tickets for the event are $5.00 and will be available at the Arts Partnership Box Office, the Findlay-Hancock County Community Foundation office and at local bookstores. A book signing for attendees will follow the event.

Members of the Hancock County community and surrounding community-foundation.communities are invited to participate in all CommunityREAD events during March. Details of book discussion groups and other events will be included in an insert in The Courier in late February 2011 and online at www.community-foundation.com.

Contact Lisa Houck at the Findlay-Hancock County Community Foundation at 419-425-1100 with questions about CommunityREAD.

Community Foundation to Host Technology Planning Seminar for Local Nonprofits

FINDLAY, OH— The Findlay-Hancock County Community Foundation will host a seminar titled “Technology Planning for Your Nonprofit Organization” on Tuesday, December 7, 2010 at the Family Center from 2-4 p.m. All local nonprofits organizations are welcommunity-foundation.come to attend. There is no cost to attend this training, but pre-registration is required. Register online at community-foundation.com

Technology planning is no easy feat for any type or size of nonprofit organization. This seminar will help answer the following questions. Why do you need a technology plan? What will it do for your organization? How do you begin to put a plan together or get the buy-in you need to proceed? How do you implement your plan?

Attendees will also discover how proper planning can help save money on technology, buy what equipment is needed, improve service to clients, and utilize technology as a tool to accommunity-foundation.complish the organization’s objectives, goals, and mission.

The seminar will be presented by the Ohio Association of Nonprofit Organizations (OANO). The presenter, Jacquie Skrzypiec, BA, MA, is Director of Project Connect, a program of Info Line that helps nonprofits use technology. Skrzypiec started the program in 1998, and today it provides training, technical support, project consulting, remote network services, and technology planning to nonprofits throughout Ohio. Learn more about Project Connect online at www.pclivehelp.org.

Questions regarding this seminar should be directed to Julie Brown, Program Officer, 419-425-1100 or jbrown@community-foundation.com.

HTH Requests Grant Proposals Focused on Drug Abuse Prevention and Intervention

FINDLAY, OH— Handbags That Help (HTH), a local women’s giving circle, has announced this year’s grant initiative for a project or program that will help improve the lives of individuals living in Hancock County. Proposals are being requested from local nonprofit organizations for programs that are focused on the prevention, intervention, education and treatment of drug use and abuse. Drugs can be defined as over-the-counter drugs, prescription drugs, alcohol, tobacco and illegal drugs. Programs considered for funding may include, but are not limited to, the areas of parenting skills, prenatal care, prenatal to adult education/care, crisis intervention/counseling, medicine education, medicine management and prescription drug control. This year’s grant focus was chosen based on a survey of member interests.

Local nonprofit organizations can apply for up to $43,214 in grant funding. Funds may be awarded as a single grant or as multiple grants totaling up to $43,214. The group is looking to make a significant impact with their grant dollars and anticipates that the money will be awarded as one or two large grants. However, because the award is determined by a vote of the membership, the pooled funds could be split into multiple grants if they choose.

Grant application information is available online at www.community-foundation.com in the Handbags That Help section. Completed grant proposals are due to the Findlay-Hancock County Community Foundation office by December 15, 2010.

Following the December 15 deadline, the HTH Grants Committee will review all submitted proposals. On December 16, 2010, all applicants will be asked to present a five-minute summary of their proposal to the Grants Committee. Proposals will be evaluated and grant finalists will have the opportunity to make a presentation to the full membership at the March 2011 meeting. Members will vote to select their grant recipient(s) at that meeting. The official grant presentation will take place at the HTH meeting in April 2011.

About Handbags That Help

Handbags That Help (HTH) is a local women’s giving circle formed in 2007 by a group of women community-foundation.committed to dramatically improving lives throughout the Greater Hancock County community by collectively funding significant grants to charitable projects. In only three years, HTH has granted $146,455 to support the following eight local nonprofit organizations: Hancock Center for Safe and Healthy Children, Habitat for Humanity, Camp Fire, Open Arms Domestic Violence and Rape Crisis Services, Hancock Christian Clearing House, Caughman Health Center, Hope House, and Findlay YMCA.

This year’s giving circle has 86 total memberships, community-foundation.comprised of 61 Individual Voting Members and 25 Joint Memberships, for a total of 149 local women involved in HTH.

The giving circle is open to all women in Hancock County. The only requirement for membership is a $500 annual contribution. That donation gives each member a single vote as to how the pooled funds will be awarded that year.

HTH is supported by the Findlay-Hancock County Community Foundation. For more information regarding HTH please contact the Community Foundation at 419-425-1100 or visit their website at www.community-foundation.com.

Handbags That Help Membership Meeting Sept 15

FINDLAY, OH—Handbags That Help women’s giving circle will hold their first meeting of the 2010-2011 membership year on Wednesday, September 15 from 9:30-11:30 AM at First Presbyterian Church in the Fellowship Hall. Renewal and new memberships will be accepted through that date. Handbags That Help (HTH) is a women’s giving circle community-foundation.committed to dramatically improving lives throughout Hancock County by collectively funding significant grants to charitable projects and programs. Every membership dollar donated by HTH Giving Circle members is passed directly on to the community through grants voted on by the members.

The giving circle is open to all area women. Members are invited, but not required, to attend four meetings (September, December, March and April). The only requirement for membership is a $500 annual contribution. That donation gives each member a single vote as to how the pooled funds will be awarded that year. As an alternative to the $500 Individual Voting Membership, women can share a Joint Membership. With a Joint Membership, 2-5 women split the cost of a membership and share a single vote. Each member is also required to pay a $30 administrative fee to support the expenses of organization.

In the last three years, HTH has granted $146,455 to eight local nonprofit organizations. Grant application information for the 2010-2011 membership year will be available on the Community Foundation website in mid September, with proposals due December 15.

The Handbags That Help women’s giving circle is supported by the Findlay-Hancock County Community Foundation. To join or for more information regarding Handbags That Help please contact the Community Foundation at 419-425-1100 or visit their website at community-foundation.com

Joseph Scholarship Supports Medical Missions

FINDLAY, OHIO – Applications are now being accepted for the Bradley Joseph Memorial Scholarship for Medical Missions. This scholarship will assist Northwest Ohio pharmacy and nursing students who wish to participate in medical mission trips in 2011.

Applicants must be pharmacy or nursing students in Northwest Ohio; priority will be given to Ohio Northern University and University of Findlay students. A minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 is required. Applicants must show a history of mission work or participation in faith-based activities/groups, and must be actively involved in church and community activities. Preference will be given to applicants joining the West Ohio Conference Medical Mission Teams to Nuevo Progresso, Mexico. Other faith-based medical missions may be considered.

Applications and community-foundation.complete eligibility requirements are available online at www.community-foundation.com. Applications must be received by December 1 at the Findlay-Hancock County Community Foundation office, 101 W. Sandusky St., Suite 207.
In the last two years, three $500 scholarships have been awarded for medical mission trips to Kenya, the Dominican Republic and Uganda.

This scholarship was established in 2007, in memory of Brad, by his family, co-workers and friends. Brad was very active for five years as a Medical Missionary in Mexico and also attended mission trips to Tennessee, Kentucky and South Carolina. It is this special part of Brad’s life that his family, co-workers and friends have to chosen to honor with this scholarship.

A 1995 graduate of Elida High School, Brad participated in basketball, tennis, golf and baseball. In 2001, he received his Doctorate in Pharmacy from Ohio Northern University, graduating with honors. Brad was a pharmacist at Blanchard Valley Regional Health Center in Findlay and Bluffton, where he started the Coumadin Clinic. Brad was also very involved with his church family. He was a member of St. Paul UMC, Elida, where he was a member of the choir, Nominations Committee and a Youth Director.

For more information about this scholarship contact Marie Swaisgood at the Community Foundation at 419-425-1100.

New Family Center Website a Resource for Many

FINDLAY, OH—The Family Center has launched its first website www.hancockfamilycenter.org, a site aimed at community-foundation.communicating to individuals in need and also to those who want to support the work of this multi-tenant nonprofit facility and its agencies.

“The site was designed with two things in mind. First, we wanted to community-foundation.communicate what services are available at the Family Center. Second, we needed to community-foundation.communicate the many different ways people can support the Family Center and its agencies,” said Kathy Kreuchauf, President of the Findlay-Hancock County Community Foundation. The Family Center is owned and operated by Hancock Properties, Inc., a supporting organization of the Findlay-Hancock County Community Foundation.

The center currently houses 14 agencies, which provide a wide variety of services to people in need including food, clothing, housing assistance, medical care, legal aid, and other services. The website lists the agencies, contact information, mission and services. Links to agency websites are also included.

In addition to providing information for people in need, the website also lists many opportunities for those who want to support the Family Center and its agencies. A “Donate Items” page lists needs of individual agencies with requests ranging from copy paper and children’s books to dish soap and trash bags. The “Volunteer Your Time” page lists agencies who are currently seeking volunteers to assist them in their work. Those interested in volunteering should contact each agency directly. Individuals can donate online directly to the Family Center Endowment Fund to support the ongoing expenses of operating the facility.

The site also includes a building layout and maps to help people find the Family Center. Directions and maps from each town in the county are also provided.

“As people begin to use the website, we’ll be asking for feedback so that we can add new features and make it as user friendly as possible,” said Kevin Richardson, Building Manger at the Family Center.

About the Family Center

The Family Center is a multi-tenant nonprofit center located at 1800 North Blanchard Street in Findlay, Ohio. A multi-tenant nonprofit center is a facility that houses multiple nonprofit organizations and provides healthy, efficient, quality, mission-enhancing workspace. The Family Center, founded in 2006, is one of only a few hundred similar facilities nationwide. Family Center Agencies help Hancock County residents in need of food, clothing, housing, medical care, legal aid, and other services. Each independent nonprofit agency is specialized in the services they provide.