PRESIDENT’S NEWS BRIEF
President’s Message
2015 WRWF Grantees Selected
Spring is a special time in our community. We look to the coming summer with renewed hope of our Pooled Funds resulting in positive social change.
It is the culmination of six months work by the Grants Committee. Their dedicated work resulted in Finalist Presentations for members and guests We provided and mailed a descriptive ballot so the membership could cast an informed vote.
This has been our largest giving year due to our great increase in membership. We have $216,000 to distribute in our 2015 Pooled Fund. Our Member Designated Fund has $38,000 that will be donated to nonprofits that members have selected.
Ten of the twelve Finalists requesting over $10,000 will receive grants
Five of six Finalists requesting Grants under $10,000 will receive grants.
See all results below.
The Grants Committee will make formal presentations to these
outstanding non-profits at our Annual Meeting in August, 2015. The funds will be distributed to the non-profits in July, 2015.
We thank the nonprofits for the work they do to enhance the lives of the people they serve in the Wood River Valley. The WRWF investment in their programs helps them to reach their goals.
Thank you one and all for your commitment to philanthropy and pooled giving!
Janet DeBard
President
Announcement of Ballot Results for the 2015 Grant Cycle
Grants over $10,000, in Alphabetical Order
Grants $10,000 and Under, in Alphabetical Order
Heartfelt thanks go to the more than 60 volunteers who read proposals, conducted site visits and vetted these worthy applications. As always, we wish we were able to fund every project. The Grants Committee Co-Chairs—Charlotte Unger, Lynne Heidel, Peggy Goldwyn, Gail Wilkie and Kat Vanden Heuvel—organized an informative Grants presentation both live and via live streaming. They informed the Board of the voting results and so we are able to include those results in this News Brief.
The written proposals are all forwarded to the Idaho Community Foundation who will make them available to inquiries from other funders interested in nonprofit activity in Blaine County. We hope that every one of these proposals will find interested individuals or groups to provide additional funding in the future to support these nonprofits.
Our New Website
What an exciting process it has been working with everyone to create and design a new website for our Wood River Women’s Foundation. You will find it visually pleasing, intuitive, and quick to navigate. From the soft colored font to the rich photo galleries, you will be delighted to browse our website. We have added new features such as a Translation bar, “Receive our Newsletter” and highlighted “Recommended Reading” as it pertains to our grantees and the work they do. Members have the privacy option at the top right of our website–Log In–which upon signing in allows you to review certain confidential material and have access to other members.
Assisting our efforts in this project has been Centerlyne, a local public relations company. Nancy Glick and Sarah McGinnis Shepard have had extensive experience in the field of website design and have been helpful in guiding us to completion.
We are excited for you to experience our foundation’s “fresh face” in the community. As one board member said, “You are in for a visual feast.” Make sure to visit our new website atwww.WoodRiverWomensFoundation.org .
WRWF also has a presence on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Leslie’s Life:
Since moving to Sun Valley, community service has become a large part of my life. I am particularly interested in social media as a way of spreading information and growing worthy causes. Photography has become a large part of my social media activity as I believe it fosters a desire in the social media audience to learn more about the subject. At the same time, I find a great deal of enjoyment in capturing the images and sharing them.
Board of Directors Member Nominations
We will have two vacancies on the Board as of our Annual Meeting in August, and the Board is looking to our membership for nominations. We are a working board and need a wide variety of skills to keep our organization running. We need members with experience/skills in the areas of Membership, Grants, Impact Team, Media and Events. WRWF Members vote on the nominees at the Annual Meeting.Qualifications for nominees include:* the ability to participate fully as a Board and Committee member* demonstrated commitment to the mission of the WRWF
* skills that will make contributions to the organization
If you are interested in serving, want to suggest someone to serve, or just have questions, please contact Governance Chair Elizabeth Matthieu for an application form. Phone 208-928-6975 or email: emathieu@mathieuranum.com
Recommended Readings:
The Senior Connection
The scope of services offered by the Senior Connection touches so many lives in our Valley. WRWF has supported several of their programs over the last ten years, and they are a final grantee for 2015.
The Connection newsletter is available for pick up in the lobby of St. Luke’s. The April edition has the first in a four part series titled “Caregivers of Elderly Parents.” You may also access this series online at: outreach@blainecountyseniors.org Nicole Detra, the Outreach Coordinator for the Senior Connection, is the author.
Several books that are beneficial to those caring for aging parents are:
A Bittersweet Season by Jane Gross – Jane Gross begins her personal story with a startling fact. “There have never been so many Americans over the age of eighty five. And, never have there been so many Americans in late middle age responsible for their parents’ health and well-being.”
She discusses the importance of family involvement, the health care system, public health issues, relying on a geriatrician to get the big picture, and end of life issues decisions.
The 36-Hour Day by Nancy Mace and Dr. Peter Rabins – This is a comprehensive guide for families facing the extraordinary challenges of caring for a family member or friend with Alzheimer’s, dementia, and memory loss.
Being Mortal by Atul Gawande – Dr. Gawande is searching for ideas to reinvent elder care by supporting quality of life. Most doctors treat disease and figure the rest will take care of itself. Their attitude is if the patient is heading for a nursing home, then so be it. Loss of freedom and independence is just the way it is. But Dr Gawande has found others who are determined to help the elderly live a life with meaning and joy and not wither in a strange bed beside someone they don’t know. This book is full of fresh ideas and hope–not easily achieved but worth the struggle to maintain a good and fulfilling life.
Can’t We Talk About Something More PLEASANT? by Roz Chast – This is a poignant, heartbreaking, but hysterically funny memoir with wonderful illustrations that make one laugh out loud. Who has not heard a story about a Mom and Dad behaving like Archie and Edith Bunker when the time seems right to have a serious discussion about health, aging, wills, and end-of-life directives? And the paranoia of some parents if they think you are intruding into their lives?
This book is an excellent start on the journey of reading about caring for aging family members.
Alice Calvert
President’s Closing statement
Our newly designed interactive website with our new name – WRWF—is being unveiled this week. Check it out at www.WoodRiverWomensFoundation.org !
Along with Facebook and Twitter, we have added Instagram. Try out these new ways to interact!
Janet DeBard
President
Janet DeBard |
Our Mission StatementThe WRWF inspires and educates women to become leaders in philanthropy and brings significant, positive change to the community by pooling and distributing its members’ resources. |
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Welcome New Members:Julie Brewer Jane Reister Conard Suzanne Frick Linda Kennedy Laura Midgley Jan Swanberg |
Mark Your Calendar: WRWF New Website Goes Live! April 22, 2015 View at www.WoodRiver WomensFoundation.org Dates announced for the Grants Summer Member Forums: June 22 at 7:00 pm June 25 at 10:00 am June 29 at 4:30 pm July 1 at 2:00 pm July 7 at 8:30 am July 9 at 5:00 pm An announcement with locations will be sent to all Members in order to facilitate sign-ups for the forums. Second Annual New Member 'Tini party June 22, 2015 5-6:30pm Sawtooth Botanical Garden 10th Annual Meeting Grants Presentation and Luncheon August 3, 2015 Carol's Dollar Mountain Lodge 11:30-1:30 News Brief Co-Editors Peggy Grove Alice Calvert Julie Weston |
