News Briefs
April 2022
News Brief
Celebrating 2022 Grants Spotlight
Oh, how teamwork makes the dream work! Every WRWF member should celebrate and share in the success of raising a collective record-breaking $348,000 for our beloved Grantees.
On March 23, we issued the 2022 Pooled Grants press release to announce our largest fund since the start of the Foundation. The diligence and insight supplied by the talented Grants Committee volunteers paved the way for the full body of members to cast informed votes for the betterment of the Blaine County community.
On April 6, we officially announced our partnership with the Idaho Association for the Education of Young Children to create the Wood River Early Learning Collaborative thanks to the first-ever Focus Grant award of up to $200,000 to “Help Close the Opportunity Gap in Education.” This momentous occasion coincided with a Proclamation bestowed upon WRWF and Idaho AEYC by Major Neil Bradshaw!
Coverage
The Pooled Grants news was featured in articles written by Karen Bossick at Eye On Sun Valley and Tony Evans from Idaho Mountain Express and in the Wood River Weekly, April 6, 2022
Ads and Social Media
To further underscore these important milestones we placed ads in our local publications and highlighted the announcements on social media. To share the good news with our community, here are ads for both announcements in the Eye on Sun Valley and Idaho Mountain Express. And for the Mountain Express, we placed half-page ads to share the good news with our community. The Social Media team was on point posting in a timely manner to round out the promotional marketing.
As much fun as it is to toot our own horn, we find that the powerful words from our Grantees help us stay grounded. Here is a sample of moving tributes from several Grantees expressing their gratitude.
Quotes of Gratitude:
Week of the Young Child Proclamation
At the Ketchum City Council meeting on Tuesday, April 4th Mayor Neil Bradshaw recognized the partnership between WRWF and Idaho Association for the Education of Young Children (Idaho AEYC) with a proclamation declaring April 2-8, 2022 The Week of the Young Child. The proclamation acknowledges our effort to establish the Wood River Valley Early Learning Collaborative. The Mayor noted the focus of Idaho AEYC is to promote and inspire high quality early childhood experiences for our state’s youngest citizens. He also encouraged everyone in Ketchum “to work to support and invest” in this mission.
YES! It’s True:
Our $100K grant to Idaho AEYC just became $200K!
We are excited to share the incredible news that the Idaho Association for the Education of Young Children (Idaho-AEYC), our Focus Grant partner, has fully matched WRWF’s $100K grant to further support the creation of the Wood River Early Learning Collaborative! Beth Oppenheimer, ED, has confirmed that Idaho-AEYC will contribute $35K of in-kind services in the form of technical assistance from Idaho-AEYC staff and their outside consultants. Additionally, they are adding $65K in cash to support the needs assessment, strategic planning and search for the project lead for the Wood River Early Learning Collaborative. Early stage on-the-ground work to create the collaboration has already begun.
A huge WRWF thank you to the IdahoAEYC! We are delighted to partner with an organization that strives to ensure all Blaine County children and families will have access to early learning opportunities.
Grantees in the News:
Swiftsure Ranch
I Have A Dream
Swiftsure Ranch
New Swiftsure ADA Carriage
Congratulations to Swiftsure Ranch for their new ADA carriage that allows more people to participate and engage with the horses! The ribbon-cutting ceremony took place on Friday 4/8 and spotlighted Swiftsure’s wheelchair-accessible driving carriage, their newest therapeutic feature.
“The addition of the ADA carriage will allow individuals who cannot mount a horse the opportunity to explore the ranch in a way they have not been able to—until now. Learning to drive is a fun way for anyone to get out and enjoy nature while interacting with the horses. Driving a carriage works on core stabilization, and overall coordination, among many other valuable skills.”
-Paul Bennett, Swiftsure Ranch’s Executive Director
I Have a Dream
I Have a Dream Alumna Stephanie Andujar
On 4/1, I Have A Dream Foundation and the Community Library hosted Stephanie Andujar, New York Dream Scholar alumna, to share with Wood River Valley Dream Scholars the profound impact the organization had on her life.
Andujar received critical acclaim for her performances as young Miss Rosa in Netflix’s “Orange is the New Black,” and in several other successful films that have landed her at the Academy Awards.
If you would like to watch the live-streamed recording, you can do so here:
Committee Corner
April’s Committee Corner is authored by Sandy McCullough, Grants Committee Co-Chair
The Grants Committee is led by volunteers who work year-round to welcome our nonprofit partners to WRWF and to our Annual Meeting and Luncheon. The Grants Committee members collaborate with the Communications Committee to ensure the work of our community partners is widely shared; coordinate with the Membership and Education Committees to organize grantee participation in member social and educational events; engage with grantees about their initiatives, and more. During the months of January and February, they are joined by 50-60 volunteers who work in teams to evaluate grant applications for the current cycle.
Over the past 17 winters, the application review teams have enjoyed the privilege of reviewing applications submitted to our pooled grant fund, visiting nonprofit leaders to discuss their requests, and narrowing the slate of candidates for a vote by the entire membership. Members who volunteer for this rewarding work directly fulfill WRWF’s mission by honing their philanthropic skills, and doing the legwork that enables WRWF to achieve positive community change through pooled grant-making.
The assignments of the review teams are completed when they vote in mid-February on all the applications submitted by each team. Their votes advance the finalists to a ballot presented to the full membership in early March. Once members vote, announcements are made, signed agreements with each grantee are secured, and funds are dispersed on WRWF’s behalf by our ‘check-writing’ partner, Idaho Charitable Foundation. Here is what some of this year’s volunteers – a mix of newcomers as well as experienced reviewers – had to say about their participation:
This year, it is noteworthy that 14 pooled grant requests were fully funded along with the first ever $100,000 Focus Grant 2022. In other words, WRWF continued to fund the typical number of grantees as we have in previous years while also embarking on a new, large-scale grant. Member support for this two-pronged grant making approach is overwhelmingly positive.
With such a large assignment, the team is always welcoming new volunteers. Please email WRWFGrants@gmail.com if you’d like further information about this impactful committee.
Grants Committee Appreciation
Our gratitude and respect for the conscientious and industrious Grants Committee Members is boundless. We admire and value the heavy lift required to shape and launch the voting ballots each year. With warm gratitude we thank:
Lisa Adam
Mary Bachman
Swati Bansal
Elli Bernacchi
Julie Brewer
Pamela Colesworthy
Carter Cox
Kate Craig
Jan DeBard
Sarah de la Torre
Chris Deck
Cathy Dobbs Goldstein
Trinka Dyer
Maija Eerkes
Ellen Fastow
Nancy Ferries
Sandra Flattery
Susan Flynt
Aneta Fosburg
Corey Graham
Susan Greenspan
Jill Grossman
Sally Halstead
Sue Hamilton
Grace Harvey
Lynne Heidel
Heidi Hayes
Toni Himmelman
Marcia Hines
Jill Hitchin
Connie Hoffman
Carol Hoffman
Carol Holman
Bonnie Hovencamp
Kristen Hovencamp
Kathryn Hulbert
Tish Jochums
Tracy Kanowsky
Anne Lawler
Terri LeFaivre
Sara Lichtenberg
Kim Lock
Nancy MacKinnon
Sandy McCullough
Jeanne McGinnis
Susan McGuigan
Carol McTigue
Julie Meineke
Laura Midgley
Jane Mitchell
Louisa Moats
Louise Noyes
Susan Passovoy
Megan Pepin
Elaine Phillips
Jori Potiker
Connie Price
Pam Rheinschild
Melissa Rivelo
Robin Robertson
Kathy Robinson
Elizabeth Ryan
Linda Segre
Candace Stark
Gayle Stevenson
Jan Swanberg
Karen Taylor
Carol Thompson
Barbara Thrasher
Dianne Tibbs Johnson
Sarah Uhlenhopp
Joan Valaas
Nancy Wasilewski
Penny Weiss
Charlotte Westendorf
Joanne Wetherell
Jane Williams
Janet Wygle
Calendar
- April 26 – WRWF Zions Ribbon Cutting and Open House 2:00-4:00 pm
- May 19 – New Member Orientation via Zoom 4:00 – 5:15 pm
- May TBD – Meet & Mingle
- June TBD – Meet & Mingle 4:30-6:00 pm Sun Valley Wine Company
- July 13 – Meet & Mingle at The Alliance of Idaho
- August 3 – Annual Meeting
- August 18 – New Member Orientation via Zoom 4:00 – 5:15 pm
Upcoming Events
Come celebrate at our Open House when we cut the ribbon and toast to our new offices in the Zions Bank building!
- Date – Tuesday, April 26
- Time – 2:00-4:00 pm
- 3:00 pm – Ceremony and Terri Bullock remarks
- Address – 311 N Main Street, 2nd Floor, Ketchum, ID 83340
Lite refreshments will be served.
New Members
We are delighted to extend a warm WRWF welcome to new members who joined this month!
- Elizabeth Guerin Dickinson
- Bonnie Larsen
- Akiko Maeda
- Laurie Garber
New WRWF members are invited to provide photos and a bit of information about themselves to share in the News Brief. We have so many interesting members and it is fun to read about everyone’s background. Thanks so much and we look forward to meeting you soon.
Member Call to Action
LEARN MORE
As we continue to find new ways to grow our visibility and expand the WRWF network, we have branched out and revised our Foundation page on LinkedIn. Please have a look at Wood River Women’s Foundation: Overview | LinkedIn
We encourage all members to update their LinkedIn profiles by adding their WRWF affiliation. If you would like to see the steps to add WRWF, please watch our short video here.
If you do not already have a LinkedIn page and would like help in creating one, please email Rebecca Ybarra Palma on the Communications Committee rebeccapalma01@gmail.com. This is also a great opportunity to “link” with other members and add them to your LinkedIn network. Thank you!
How to Add Wood River Women’s Foundation to Your LinkedIn Profile:
(Desktop View)
Read the STEP-BY-STEP Directions here
Step 1:
Login to LinkedIn
Step 2:
From your LinkedIn Home page, click “Me” in the top right corner under your photo and click “View Profile”
Step 3:
Select “Add Profile Section” option located in left-hand corner under your photo and name on your profile page
Step 4:
In the “Add to Profile” menu select “Additional”at the bottom
Step 5:
Click “Add Volunteer Experience”
Step 6:
Search “Wood River Women’s Foundation” in the organization section and select the entity that shows the WRWF name and logo
Step 7:
Fill in the other fields:
- Role – Ex: Committee you serve on or “Member”
- Cause – Select “Social Services”
- Click Check Box – “Currently in this Role”
- Start Date – Enter in month and year
- Description – Add details about your involvement
- Click “Save”
*Once you have completed your steps and saved them, scroll down to the
“Volunteering” section to view how your WRWF affiliation appears on your profile
Volunteer
LEARN MORE
WRWF is built upon volunteerism. April 17-23 is National Volunteer Week and it gives us the perfect opportunity to ask you to offer time and talent to our Foundation and our well-deserving Grantees.
We appreciate the 44 people who responded to our recent poll. And we want to hear from the rest of you! Here is the link to the SurveyMonkey that can be completed in less than 5 minutes. Please respond by Friday, 4/29/22.
Let us know how you can help make WRWF an even more impactful asset to Blaine County. Thank you again!
Thank you, Sponsors.
And, thank YOU for signing up with Amazon Smile
Many thanks to members who have designated WRWF as their selected charity on AmazonSmile! To link Wood River Women’s Foundation AmazonSmile to your Amazon account, click here and get signed up. Then, whenever you shop Amazon, use the AmazonSmile website.
We are full of gratitude for our local sponsors.
A hearty WRWF thank you to Graybird Foundation, Little Caesar’s, and Zions Bank!
Thank you, Contributors!
Thank you to this month’s News Brief contributors:
Christina Bauer, Jill Grossman, Carol Hoffman, Anne Jeffery, Sandy McCullough, Sarah Shepard, Renee Spooner, Rebecca Ybarra Palma
