The Community Foundation of Jackson County

Save the date: December 3, 2024. That’s the date this year for Giving Tuesday, a local and national effort to promote giving to charity and giving back to one’s community during the holiday season.

On Giving Tuesday people are encouraged to donate to charity following the shopping frenzies of Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Your Giving Tuesday gifts to the Community Foundation of Jackson County can help make a difference in perpetuity through the earnings of endowed funds that benefit people and programs throughout Jackson County.

That could include giving to any of the local nonprofit agency funds administered at the Foundation that benefit the United Way of Jackson County, Boys & Girls Club of Seymour, Girls Inc. of Jackson County, Childcare Network, Turning Point Domestic Violence Services, Community Provisions of Jackson County, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Jackson County History Center, Jackson County Public Library and Developmental Services Inc.

You may also donate to any of the Foundation’s existing scholarship funds, unrestricted funds, designated funds and field of interest funds.

For information, call the Foundation at 812-523-4483 or send an email to president@cfjacksoncounty.org. Information may be found on the Foundation’s website at www.cfjacksoncounty.org or on its Facebook page.

The Community Foundation of Jackson County

Rumpke Waste & Recycling welcomed more than 120 neighbors to the Medora Landfill for its 28th annual community picnic on September 18.

The meal included fried fish prepared by members of the Carr Township Conservation Club, sides from Pewter Hall and ice cream from Kovener’s Korner. Several attendees also brought side dishes and desserts to share.

In addition to the meal, the event also featured live music, door prizes and landfill and recycling center tours, where guests learned about the history of the site, daily operations and future development plans.  

“The picnic is a longstanding tradition we cherish and look forward to year after year,” said Brad Marlow, manager of the landfill. “What started in 1996 as a small gathering has grown to become a family reunion of sorts, featuring longtime neighbors, community partners and even former and current employees. We’re grateful for the opportunity to welcome folks to our site for an evening of food and fun, while also showcasing our operations.”  

The event concluded with an awards presentation to recognize the best dishes of the evening. Rumpke presented the Sylvia England Golden Fork Award for best side dish to Dessie Byarlay for her apple cranberry slaw. Valerie Miller earned the Peggy Thompson Golden Spoon Award for her dessert, persimmon pudding.

The Medora Landfill opened in 1971 and was purchased by Rumpke in 1983. Today, the site provides environmentally sound disposal for the southern Indiana and Kentuckiana region. The landfill is permitted to accept up to 3,000 tons of waste daily.

Rumpke’s Medora Recycling Center, located near the landfill, processes approximately 700 tons of material each month. Recyclable material is collected from residential, commercial and industrial customers. Some recyclables are transported directly to in-state manufacturers to create new products, while Rumpke transports the remaining items to its regional recycling facility in Cincinnati, Ohio, for processing.

Giving back

Rumpke makes a quarterly gift to two funds administered by the Community Foundation of Jackson County: The Owen-Carr Township Community Fund and the Owen-Carr Township Community Endowment.

The Owen-Carr Township Community Fund provides grant dollars on a quarterly basis in Carr and Owen townships. The Owen-Carr Township Community Endowment provides an annual grant each spring into the Community Fund.

To learn more about how your gift to the Community Foundation of Jackson County can make a positive difference in Jackson County, call President & CEO Dan Davis at 812-523-4483 or send an email to president@cfjacksoncounty.org.

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Dan Davis is president and CEO of the Community Foundation of Jackson County, 107 Community Drive, Seymour, IN 47274. For information about donating to the Foundation, call 812-523-4483 or send an email to president@cfjacksoncounty.org.

By DAN DAVIS // President & CEO

The Community Foundation of Jackson County

School is back in session.

Friday night lights are burning as the Braves and Owls hit the grid iron and marching bands roll out their new shows.

Some leaves are already turning brown and fluttering to the ground.

Seymour Oktoberfest and Fort Vallonia Days are just around the corner. Yes, autumn is quickly approaching.

And the fall harvest is kicking into gear with many Jackson County farmers putting their combines to work, harvesting their corn and soybean crops.

Farmers will transfer bushels and bushels of corn and beans from field to farm to grain buyers, food processors and eventually to our grocers and our own kitchen tables.

They hope this growing season has been a good one, producing a good yield. The Community Foundation of Jackson County hopes so, too, for the benefit of our farmers and our community in general. That’s because farmers and the agri-business sector represent a strong, vibrant part of our economy and community. Many of our friends and neighbors are employed directly or indirectly by farming and the businesses that help keep them operating.

Each harvest season, the Foundation makes a tool available to area farmers to help support the community — the Giving a Gift of Grain program.

Participating in Gift of Grain is simple and can take place at participating elevators – Premier Ag in Brownstown, Bundy Brothers at Medora, Rose Acre Farms at Cortland, Tampico Grain near Crothersville and White River Nutrition near Cortland.

Gifts can benefit the area’s agricultural community through grants to programs such as 4-H and scholarship funds such as the Premier Companies/Bob Myers Memorial Scholarship and the Jackson County Veterinary Scholarship.

They can also benefit our community in general through the Fall Grant cycle with gifts to unrestricted funds. D&B Pfaffenberger & Sons Grain of Seymour have done just that the last several years with donations to the Foundation’s Community Fund.

“It’s just the right thing to do – giving back whenever you can,” Mike Pfaffenberger said.

Donald Schnitker of Cortland plans to again make a Gift of Grain this year. It again will be directed to the Orville and Mary Schnitker Memorial Endowment, which was started in December 2016 by Schnitker and his sisters, Lois Bryden and Lora Willey, to honor their parents.

He joined the Foundation’s Board of Directors in April 2021, but he’s been a Gift of Grain giver since its inception.

“In these times, many people in our area have basic needs that are unmet,” said Schnitker, who serves as the Foundation’s chair of the Grant Committee. “Giving through the Foundation helps make an impact in improving the overall well-being of our community.”

Schnitker encourages all farmers to consider contributing to the Gift of Grain. 

A farmer’s grain donations also count as votes in the good-natured Head-To-Head: Green vs. Red contest.

The Foundation also invites tractor enthusiasts to stand up and vote – with their donations — for their favorite implements in the Head to Head: Green vs. Red competition this fall.

A $25 donation entitles the donor to cast one vote for their favorite equipment line. A $100 donation entitles the donor to five votes. You can vote in our office or online by going to cfjacksoncounty.org and clicking on the “Donate Now” button.

Just one more thing – let’s be careful out there as those lumbering combines, grain trucks and trailers make their way along area roads as farmers hustle to bring in their harvest.

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Dan Davis is president and CEO of the Community Foundation of Jackson County, 107 Community Drive, Seymour, IN 47274. For information about donating to the Foundation, call 812-523-4483 or send an email to president@cfjacksoncounty.org.

The Community Foundation of Jackson County

The deadline for filing an application for our Fall Grant cycle is July 31. Don’t miss it.

Applications are online at our website. Click on “GRANTS” in the toolbar above.

The Community Foundation of Jackson County

A man’s love for the arts prompted his family to establish a fund in his honor, and nonprofit organizations can repay that love by applying for a Fall Grant and putting grant dollars to work in our community.

The deadline is July 31.

The Donald J. Klaes Music & the Performing Arts Fund was established at the Community Foundation of Jackson County in December 2020 following his death.

“Don was a graduate of Indiana University, and throughout his life he continued his musical education well beyond his degree,” his sister Julie Bradley of Brownstown said.

Don was a graduate of Seymour High School, and he served in the U.S. Army from 1982 to 1985, playing with the U.S. Army Band while stationed in Germany. In addition to his work with local bands and community theater, he had played in the worship band at Seymour Christian Church and The Alley Church. He was an avid chess player and a long-time employee at Mactac in Columbus.

“Don was a gifted keyboard player who was well known for his playing in several groups, churches, and with the Jackson County Community Theatre,” Dr. Chris Klaes said of his younger brother. “His talents were enjoyed by many as a member of the Ang Trio, the Elements of Jazz, and the Sound of Dreams. He also was an actor in multiple plays with JCCT.”

Creation of the Donald J. Klaes Music & the Performing Arts Fund as a field-of-interest fund will allow the Foundation to automatically provide more grant dollars to support the arts across Jackson County. That is, of course, if nonprofits apply for a grant. You must apply in order to receive a grant.

The Fall Grant cycle is the Foundation’s annual competitive grant process. Grants are funded with earnings from community funds – also known as unrestricted funds – and field-of-interest funds. Last year, the overall Fall Grant cycle paid out $125,138 in 2023, providing funds for 21 grants. This year, the Foundation expects to have more than $137,000 in funds for the Fall Grant cycle.

Nonprofits, churches and governmental units can apply for a Fall Grant. Applications may be found online at the Foundation’s website, cfjacksoncounty.org.

The Foundation has long supported the arts in Jackson County through the Fall Grant cycle, but this new field-of-interest fund boosts targeted giving toward the arts. The Foundation joins the Klaes family in eagerly awaiting to see how Don’s love for the arts continues as a living legacy.

Remember, the deadline is July 31.

The Community Foundation of Jackson County

Representatives of the community foundations in Jackson, Jennings and Bartholomew counties recently gathered with other local partners at the Community Foundation of Jackson County to discuss child-care needs in the region.

The foundations are teaming to develop a Lilly Endowment Inc. GIFT VIII grant application to help move the needle forward in the area of child care on a regional basis.

The convening followed three town hall-style meetings in Columbus, North Vernon and Seymour that brought child-care providers, parents and others together to discuss how to lift up child-care delivery in our three counties. A regional Lilly Endowment Inc. GIFT VIII Planning Grant is funding this work. A goal is developing a plan to help providers and families overcome their barriers.

“We are pleased to join Heritage Fund of Bartholomew County and the Jennings County Community Foundation to collectively examine what is working, what is challenging us and how we might collectively help move child care in our communities forward,” Community Foundation of Jackson County President and CEO Dan Davis said. “We are convinced that child care is as much of a workforce issue as it is a family issue for many in the community.”

Heritage Fund President and CEO Tracy Souza said the objective for this work was summed up well in the grant application to Lilly Endowment.

“Reliable, developmentally appropriate, dependable and affordable child care lays a strong foundation for the future development of children, enables caregivers to work and provide for their families and empowers employers to thrive,” Souza said.

Jennings County Community Foundation Executive Director Kelly Kent is excited about the work taking place.

“What a great opportunity we have been given by Lilly to hear from families, employers and child care providers about the hurdles they face in our communities for child care,” she said. “By collaborating with Bartholomew and Jackson counties, we can begin working together to incorporate new ideas and overcome the challenges facing the families and businesses in our community.”

Input from the three community meetings are being curated to help shape a regional grant proposal.

The Community Foundation of Jackson County

The Community Foundation of Jackson County joined with Schneck Medical Center and Healthy Jackson County to stage the second Jackson County Mental Health Summit on Feb. 8 at Camp Pyoca.

The Foundation funded the second health summit through a Lilly Endowment Inc. GIFT VIII Planning Grant, President & CEO Dan Davis said.

“The Foundation is eager to learn how it might be able to support efforts to confront the mental health and substance use disorder challenges that face our community,” Davis said. “Helping bring the summit together to review the current state of things, where we need to be and what needs to be done to get us there is important for everyone in the community.”

Lindsay Sarver with Healthy Jackson County said the summit was about celebrating the different things that are here now that weren’t here a year ago when the first Mental Health Summit was staged.

The meeting included reports and breakout sessions to receive feedback about local solutions to challenges revolving around mental health and substance use disorder.

Sarver said anyone who thinks they have not been touched by mental health issues is either not paying attention or not telling the truth.

“I think half of all adults are going to have a mental illness at one point in their lifetime, even if it is not chronic, because depression and anxiety is for everybody,” said Sarver. “I joke sometimes that I don’t struggle with anxiety. It comes very naturally. There’s plenty to be anxious about in this world.”

After Schneck President and CEO Dr. Eric Fish gave some welcoming remarks, Meghan Warren with the Healthy Jackson County coalition spoke about its work.

“Our goal is really to be able to create and sustain more of a healthy environment and create positive outcomes,” she said. That goal is achieved by the organization’s workgroup. Besides the mental health and substance use group, other groups focus on nutritional and physical activity, feeding the community and Hispanic health.

Kristy Day, director of the emergency department at Schneck, talked about the success of a warm-handoff program for patients experiencing a drug overdose. Day said community health workers and peer recovery coaches Gleeda Lasher and Sara Bowling deserve credit for a lot of the program’s success.

“Without Sara and Gleeda, this wouldn’t be possible,” Day said. “They went above and beyond for all our patients. We have seen an over 50% reduction in overdoses.”

Indiana Health Centers CEO Ann Lundy spoke about work the organization’s center in Seymour has been able to carry out through medication-assisted treatment and medications for opioid use disorder provided to its clients over the past year. Schneck has provided technical assistance and grant support for those treatments.

“What a difference a year can make,” Lundy said. “I know last year at this time, most of us were here. At this time last year, Indiana Health Centers, we were not doing any treatment for substance use. We stood here and committed to all of you that was going to change, and I’m really pleased to tell you that it has.”

Indiana Health Centers, which was established 40 years ago, operates 10 offices around the state, including one in Seymour.

Lundy said over the past year, the Seymour center has seen 72 patients complete follow-up visits for substance use and medication.

“This is our community. These are our patients. These are our family members, and there’s no discrimination here,” she said “It touches across all ages and demographics, and to really be able to increase access and be able to address and offer these services is such an incredible honor for us.”

Medora Community Schools Principal Kara Hunt talked about the school’s efforts to identify and address mental health services for students, staff and community since the COVID-19 pandemic started.

Hunt said anyone who has worked with children and families in the past few years knows mental health is becoming an issue for them.

Lilly Endowment Community Scholars are known for their community involvement, academic achievement, character and leadership.

Bolte was among 127 Jackson County applicants this year for the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship.  They were narrowed to 14 finalists, and Bolte was then selected as the nominee, Foundation Vice President Sue Smith said.

“Jenna was selected from a group of outstanding applicants from all six high schools in Jackson County,” Smith added.

With the selection of Bolte, there are now 43 Lilly Endowment Community Scholars from Jackson County, with the first recipient selected in 1998.  During the 2024-2025 academic year, there will be four Jackson County Lilly Scholars on college campuses throughout Indiana.

She is the daughter of Suzanne Bolte of Brownstown.

Bolte is in the process of determining where she will attend college next year.  She plans to major in chemistry.

“I am interested in becoming a pediatrician,” she said Monday.

Each Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship provides for full tuition, required fees and a stipend of up to $900 per year for required books and required equipment for four years of undergraduate study on a full-time basis leading to a baccalaureate degree at any eligible Indiana public or private nonprofit college or university.

Lilly Endowment Community Scholars may also participate in the Lilly Scholars Network, which connects scholars with resources and opportunities to be active leaders on their campuses and in their communities. Both the scholarship program and network are supported by grants from Lilly Endowment to Independent Colleges of Indiana.

In nominating Jackson County’s Lilly Endowment Community Scholar, consideration was given to academic achievement, advanced curriculum, school and community activities, a required essay and financial need by the Community Foundation’s Scholarship Committee.

After the field of applicants was narrowed, the nominee was submitted to the statewide administrator of the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program, Independent Colleges of Indiana, for the selection of scholarship recipients.

“We have so many high-caliber applicants that it always seems to be such a daunting task to decide on our finalists, but with our thorough application process, the field just seems to automatically narrow down to the best of the best,” said Trina Tracy, chair of the Foundation’s Scholarship Committee.

Lilly Endowment Inc. created the program for the 1998-1999 school year and has supported it every year since with tuition grants totaling in excess of $439 million. More than 5,000 Indiana students have received the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship since its inception.

The primary purposes of the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program are:

• To help raise the level of educational attainment in Indiana.
• To increase awareness of the beneficial roles Indiana community foundations can play in their communities.
• And to encourage and support the efforts of current and past Lilly Endowment Community Scholars to engage with each other and with Indiana business, governmental, educational, nonprofit and civic leaders to improve the quality of life in Indiana generally and in local communities throughout the state.

Increasing educational attainment among Jackson County residents is an important part of the Foundation’s mission to help grow better tomorrows, said Dan Davis, President & CEO of the Community Foundation of Jackson County.

“Concern about the education levels here was a key factor when the Foundation brought other partners from across the county together to establish the Jackson County Learning Center, and we remain committed to that goal,” Davis said. “It is certainly part of our guiding efforts in administering scholarship funds entrusted to the Foundation.”

The Foundation’s efforts to improve educational opportunities extends beyond programs focused on college, including support of the Jackson County Education Coalition’s On My Way Pre-K pilot program for 4-year-olds and the encouragement of workforce development in partnership with Jackson County Industrial Development Corp. and others.

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Dan Davis is president and CEO of the Community Foundation of Jackson County. The Foundation offers endowment services, gift planning, charitable gift annuities and scholarship administration. Our office is at 107 Community Drive, Seymour, IN 47274. For information or to make a gift, call 812-523-4483, or click the DONATE NOW button here on our website.

It’s easy to do, just as many of you are already giving such gifts to your church. Gifts of Grain can be made through local grain elevators include Premier Ag in Cortland, Bundy Brothers at Medora, Rose Acre Farms and Benson Hill at Cortland and Tampico Grain near Crothersville.

Your Gift of Grain could support any of the funds at the Foundation, quite possibly one for your church (we have several funds that pay annual grants to local churches), to scholarship funds, to community funds and specific agency funds.You many even consider starting your own fund as a family legacy.

And your gifts can count as vote in our friendly Head to Head: Green vs. Red competition.

For information about the program, or its companion program, Giving a Gift of Livestock, contact the Community Foundation of Jackson County at 812-523-4483, or send an email to president@cfjacksoncounty.org. We’ll be happy to work with you as you harvest your crops and sow the seeds to help us grow better tomorrows.