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A Message From Dawn

10 Oct

Posted at 19:32h in A Message From Dawn
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Remember that scene in Elf where Buddy is in the mail room?  He said, “This place reminds me of Santa’s Workshop, except it smells like mushrooms and everyone looks like they want to hurt me.” I laughed out loud when he was sticking mail through the tube and declaring it was ‘very sucky’? Well, we haven’t exactly replicated that at our house, although having a son in Afghanistan is pretty sucky. But, we have set up a  mini-post office in our kitchen. If you’ve been reading this blog, you know my son has been in Afghanistan for the past five months.  Five months that felt more like five minutes—under water.  So, to help the time slip away a bit quicker, for us and him, we send care packages…every week.  So, at all times, we have a couple of corrugated boxes that we’ve snagged from anyone who has recently got an Amazon shipment and we fill them up a bit each day.  Since he’s at a base camp, and not an actual base, there are no grocery stores or amenities like we enjoy.  So, if he’s craving some Oreos, he can’t just drive down to a convenience store or up to...

25 Sep

Posted at 14:03h in A Message From Dawn, Home Featured
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She was feisty. No one would argue that fact. Well, they could try, but they wouldn’t win. I think it must run in our family. The feistiness. Or maybe that’s just what feisty people say. No matter what you call it, the stories are worth remembering and, I think, repeating. Her name was Elvie. Not ElviS, as in the King of Rock and Roll. But ElviE, as in the Queen matriarch of our family. She was as beautiful as she was bold. As an adult, I totally get her—she made things happen. As one of her grandkids, I was occasionally mortified. I know my cousin Cathy remembers well, ‘that one time’ when we were nine-years-old, following our grandma to the back of Kmart. Elvie was in Indiana visiting and took us ‘into town’, as she called it. Her mission that day was a new set of pots and pans for my mom. Chances are my mom didn’t even know she needed a new set of pots and pans. But, Elvie thought she did, so it was happening. However, since grandma wasn’t from Grant County, she didn’t know the layout of the store, so she was having some difficulty locating exactly...

17 Sep

Posted at 02:39h in A Message From Dawn
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The Nonprofit Leadership Consortium has started with a full-capacity class of 30 students. The cohort will meet monthly for this capacity building training to earn their Certificate in Fundraising Management from IU’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy and also sharpen their leadership development skills with Harris International. This capacity building training is an investment in the effectiveness and future sustainability of the nonprofit. When capacity building is successful, it strengthens a nonprofit’s ability to fulfill its mission over time, thereby enhancing the nonprofit’s ability to have a positive impact on lives and communities. Capacity building is whatever is needed to bring a nonprofit to the next level of operational, programmatic, financial, or organizational maturity, so it may more effectively and efficiently advance its mission into the future. Individuals come from all over the world to earn their CFRM from the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. The certificate normally costs an individual $5,800+travel expenses. Because the training was brought to Grant County, each student is receiving their CFRM for only $1,500. The remaining costs are being underwritten by a partnership between the United Way of Grant County and the Community Foundation of Grant County. Dawn Brown, President/CEO of the Community Foundation stated, “Although...

08 Aug

Posted at 14:45h in A Message From Dawn, Home Featured, News
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Eight years ago, my son’s baseball team had just played their final game of the season and we were looking for a way to celebrate their hard work all summer. In my normal go-big-or-go-home fashion, I had this wild idea that we should take the whole team and their families to an Indianapolis Indian’s game. You’ve probably been to an Indian’s game before—good, old-fashioned family fun. But, I didn’t just want them to go to see a minor league game, although I knew they’d love it. My hope was that they would get to experience some things most of this team had never experienced in their short ten years on earth. We don’t think about this much, but with 1 in 3 children living in poverty in Grant County, some of the team had never been outside of our county before. Not only had they not been to a minor league game, most had never even seen the skyline of a city like Indianapolis. Not surprisingly, they hadn’t done these kinds of things because there just wasn’t money for extravagant activities like this, which would be costly for an entire family. But, they were awesome kids and I was on a...

24 Jul

Posted at 20:43h in A Message From Dawn
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Here at the Community Foundation, we've been connecting people who care with causes that matter since 1984. That’s why we’re always sharing good news! We do that by telling stories about generous donors and bragging about the multiple successes of local charities and scholarship recipients right here in good ‘ole Grant County, Indiana. If you'd like to learn more, read through a few of our most recent annual reports. 2017-18 The Happiness Laboratory Annual Report 2016-17 Love Where You Live Annual Report 2015-16 Cookbook Annual Report 2014-15 Superhero Annual Report 2013-14 Celebrating 30 Years Annual Report 2012-13 Tattoos, Dog Biscuits & Lemonade Annual Report 2011-12 Many Thanks Annual Report 2010 Transformation Annual Report ...

16 Jul

Posted at 15:34h in A Message From Dawn, Home Featured
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Here at the Community Foundation, we love connecting people like YOU with causes that matter. We recently revamped our website to make it easier to navigate and make those connections. One way you can help is by visiting our Donor Marketplace and reviewing the information listed on your fund page. Something we have learned throughout the years is that potential donors respond to stories. We all love stories – stories that make us laugh, stories that make us cry, and most importantly, stories that compel us to work towards the betterment of our community. It is often stories that create the impact that leads to action. We want potential donors to read your stories and be inspired to join you, so we encourage you to look at your fund page, especially your fund story, and make sure potential donors’ questions are answered. We've created the brief questionnaire below to help you in helping us to tell your story. It's setup in a way that will allow you to skip the questions that are not relevant to your story. You can even submit photos for us to post on your fund page. Answer all of the questions or only the ones that are...

06 Jul

Posted at 18:43h in A Message From Dawn, Home Featured
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I count things.  I realize not everything that counts can be counted, but I still count things—by twos.  Some people might think it’s an obsessive compulsive disorder.  I like to think it brings more order than disorder.  And if you read my last blog about Wardrobe Wearabouts, the Dewey Decimal System I created for my closet, I’m sure this doesn’t surprise you.  But, many years before that, back when life was simpler, kids were expected to play outside, and weren’t expected to come home until the street lights came on—that’s how our summers were spent and we loved it.  I remember coming home after playing and sweating in the hot sun all day, covered in dirt, tan from the sunshine, and plumb tuckered out. My siblings and I would take a bath and prepare to watch Donny and Marie or Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters—variety shows were so ‘in’ back then—no wonder America’s Got Talent is so popular these days; it’s good, clean family fun. I’d prepare our pre-show bedtime snack of Coca-Cola and M&M’s, something we looked forward to all day long. The three of us would share a bottle of Coke—a real, 16-ounce, glass bottle that we’d return to...

03 Jul

Posted at 15:45h in A Message From Dawn, Home Featured, News
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[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column][vc_column_text] Community Foundation and United Way Partnership Launches Nonprofit Leadership Consortium Together, the United Way of Grant County and the Community Foundation of Grant County are excited to announce a new capacity-building training initiative: Nonprofit Leadership Consortium. Through this initiative, participants will collaborate and learn from one another allowing local nonprofits to maximize their impact, strengthen their organization, and gain valuable ideas to help safeguard their resources. This initiative was formed to undertake an enterprise beyond the resources of any one member. Nonprofits are the backbone of our community, and funders like the United Way and the Community Foundation, help to provide the fortification to keep them healthy and strong! In a cohort setting, participants will have the opportunity to receive a Certificate in Fund Raising Management (CRFM) from Indiana University's Lilly Family School of Philanthropy and also Leadership Development training from Harris International’s own Tim Harris. Registration for the Nonprofit Leadership Consortium ranges from $1,500 - $2,250 (see scale below). Full payment is due upon registration via credit card or PayPal. Registrations must be paid in full to secure a spot. The Cohort will meet every month, August 2018 - May 2019. You must attend every session...

15 Jun

Posted at 14:57h in A Message From Dawn, Home Featured
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If you’ve read my blog through the years, 13 blogging years to be exact, you may remember me telling you about Wardrobe Wearabouts, #nerdalert.  Don’t you love the alliteration and the punny spelling?  Wardrobe Wearabouts was an invention of mine in high school.  It all started at the North Park Mall in Marion.  You must harken back to a time when this was a bustling mall full of stores; a true destination for locals to walk, talk, shop, and eat.  It was that very mall where ‘it’ happened.   ‘It’ was unacceptable. ‘It’ was uncalled for.  ‘It’ was about to go down.  ‘It’ was seeing my sister’s best friend wearing MY sweater. (Oh, the horror.  It was a simpler time back then, what can I say?)  I veered down the corridor and vividly remember feeling the blood rushing up my neck like a thermometer in the summertime.  And, I also remember this—knowing that I would do something so ‘it’ never happened again.  As a young teen, I didn’t even like the idea of sharing clothes with my sister, but Mom said we had to.  So, I had to take matters into my own hands, found the loophole, and solved the problem...

01 Jun

Posted at 19:35h in A Message From Dawn, Home Featured
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Results. We all want them. Some rely on them. Some have to go into overtime to get them. Some get statues because of them. (#Peyton) Some write books about them. That’s what Simon Sinek did. His book, Start with Why reminded me of book Good to Great by Collins in that it shows the minor things that companies can do to get major results. Perhaps because I’m at a stage in my life where I’m around a lot of 16-24-year-olds, Sinek’s premise of starting with why reminded me of a game some of the millennials play—The Three Item Challenge. Unlike sports, there’s no score kept in this game; but bragging rights go to the victor with the best results. This is how you play: what: Go out with your friends to the nearest grocery store, a Meijer or Walmart would be terrific. how: Choose three of the most random items that you can imagine being purchased together. why: Get a reaction--the best result would be the cashier at the checkout literally questing your purchase or possibly laughing out loud. The biggest reaction wins! It’s harder than it sounds! As I was trying to think what I’d purchase, I recalled this one...