The Milan News-Leader
A Heritage Newspaper
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Foundation awards $30K to 13 groups
Endowment fund grows from $100 to a total of $450,000 in 2 years
By Sue G. Collins, Special Writer
PUBLISHED: September 20, 2007
In an astounding administrative and fund-raising feat, a small group of Milan residents grew a charitable endowment fund from $100 to a staggering $450,000 in just two years and last week awarded grants totaling $30,000 to 13 area nonprofit groups who serve a wide range of citizens in and around Milan.
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The Greater Milan Area Community Foundation last year awarded its first round of grants totaling $7,000 to two groups and, with the returns from an investment pool on the established fund, this year will touch young adults studying for their high school diplomas, teens curious about drugs and relationships, parents struggling to feed their children and senior citizens learning new strategies for fitness through serenity.
"This is a good news day, a happy and exciting day in Milan," said Isabelle Schultz, the organization's president, and a lifelong Milan resident, one of three who launched the foundation two years ago.
Don Harkness and Millard Phillips first talked to Schultz four years ago about establishing the permanent endowment fund in which donations would be invested and its returns plowed back into the community through grants.
At a reception held at the Milan senior center Thursday, Schultz and the board welcomed teachers, charity directors, police and firefighters, and parks and recreation planners who were there to receive grants for their projects and cheer on the foundation.
"We're going to be able to buy our English students textbooks, instead of copying, stapling and making do with secondhand materials," said Connie Cox of Milan Adult and Community Education, where more than 120 students are enrolled in six classes this term, including 70 who are studying English and will have new books thanks to the grant.
"Our students are ages 16 through 20 and deserve the proper textbooks that we'll now be able to provide," said Cathy Redies, a counselor for the adult education program. "Our students, for the most part, are coming back to study for their diploma after discovering it is essential in their employment search."
Elaine Briggs works with students at Milan High School who become literacy tutors in Milan's elementary schools and will use her new grant funds for a set of lower level National Geographic books that will be interesting for struggling young readers.
"We'll also be able to buy a subscription to an online set of worksheets called, 'Reading A to Z' and a program to better assess and measure our mentoring tutor's success with their reading buddies," Briggs said.
Parks and Recreation Director Ben Swayze received a check and said his department will purchase an inflatable screen to show movies on after summer concerts in the park next year.
"Families with tight budgets tend to cut entertainment first and we are very excited to now be able to offer a free movie on Thursday's next summer," he said while thanking the foundation's donors and board members.
The senior center will now hire a trained tai chi instructor for the popular class and Paddock Early Childhood Center will now have funding to train three parent educators for its program.
"Keep doing the great work you're doing," First Steps coordinator Lisa Mellinger told the board. "The community appreciates all your amazing work."
Listed below are additional foundation grant winners:
Aid in Milan — food, resources.
City of Milan Beautification Commission — Crooked Tree project.
Milan Are Fire Department — new defibulator.
Milan Area Historical Society — Hack House interior improvements.
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