Local foundation celebrates 25 years

PORT CLINTON — Established in 1999, Ottawa County Community Foundation enters 2024 celebrating new beginnings and its silver anniversary. The brainchild of founder Joy Roth, the foundation was formed to impact and support the community. Twenty-five years later, the foundation appears to have made good on Roth's mission and promise to touch the lives of the people of Ottawa County. "There is much to celebrate and be thankful for," executive director Shea McGrew said. "We celebrate Joy's vision and the generosity of donors whose gifts have enabled (the Ottawa County Community Foundation) to distribute approximately $10 million in grants to nonprofit organizations and student scholarships. And we thank our supporters for their generous contributions to those remarkable numbers." Marcia Jess — a trustee since 2006, current board secretary and co-chair of the 25th anniversary committee — said the foundation was started in April 1999 when charter members Roth, Bob Armbruster, Ellen Bergman, Tom Salamone, Derrill Hablitzel and Bart Anderson signed the articles of incorporation. The foundation awarded its first community grant in 2003, in the amount of about $1,300 to the city of Port Clinton for a mural in Friendship Park. "Flash forward: just in 2023, we gave out 47 community grants totaling more than $103,000," Jess said. "It is incredible how far we have come. Twenty-five years ago, we could never have imagined how many lives we would change for the better. Today, we are humbled by the immense difference we've made." Throughout its first quarter century, the foundation provided 519 community grants, totaling more than $1.1 million, to 164 different nonprofits. The foundation's donor funds managed through its umbrella organization, the Greater Toledo Community Foundation, gave more than $7.3 million to donor-specified causes. Additionally, the foundation's scholarship program, which began in 2001, also provided almost 1,600 scholarships at more than $1.7 million. The foundation oversees 107 permanent funds and nearly $11 million in assets. McGrew said the foundation seeks to "further expand its ability to serve the needs of Ottawa County residents." Since his appointment as the organization's first staff member, soon after Roth's passing in 2020, McGrew has sought the guidance of the community to shape the foundation's future goals and solidify its financial future. The foundation recently formed its advisory council, receiving valuable input from respected community leaders Alison Lanza Falls, Crown Battery's Hal and Diane Hawk and Catawba Island Club's Jim Stouffer. The council provides forward-thinking ideas to assist the foundation in supporting the county. Additionally, the foundation implemented its Business Partners Giving Society, an annual membership group of generous business owners interested in helping their neighbors. "With such friends of the foundation, we can expand our impact and continue to embrace the (Ottawa County Community Foundation's) goal of 'doing good forever,'" McGrew said. A primary goal in 2024 is to think ahead, financially, so that the foundation may continue to sustain itself operationally and as a community provider. Providing philanthropic services to individuals, families, businesses and other nonprofits, the foundation strives to help donors make gifts to meet vital community needs focusing on the fields of education, health and social services, economic development, natural resources and the arts. The foundation's donors come from a wide spectrum of the community: farmers, teachers, business owners and people from all walks of life. "We look forward to the next 25 years, confident that the legacy of visions and innovation we've pioneered over the past quarter century will only continue to grow," Jess said. "Our community deserves it. Our community can count on it." The foundation is celebrating its anniversary with a yearlong calendar of events and anniversary programs across the county, including its second annual gala fundraiser planned for July 23 at the Catawba Island Club. For upcoming details, visit ottawaccf.org. or contact McGrew at 419-635-7750 or ottawaccf@gmail.com. Who's on the board The 2024 board of trustees includes community members across the county: • Deborah Harmeyer, president, of Genoa • Jim Deer, vice president, of Marblehead • Marcia Jess, secretary, of Oak Harbor • Ron Overmyer, treasurer, of Oak Harbor • Arlyn Bensch of Oak Harbor, Mary Coffee of Port Clinton, Paul Druckenmiller of Port Clinton, Brenda Haas of Lakeside, Tina Hablitzel of Port Clinton, Julene Market of Put-in-Bay, Alex Morgan Johnson of Port Clinton, Michael Schenk of Port Clinton, David Slosser of Port Clinton and Diane Zeitzheim of Port Clinton • Emeritus members include John Bock of Elmore, Jon James of Graytown and Blair Miller of Oak Harbor