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What’s in a Word? by Tonia Cochran

The Glenforest School alaG event is certainly appropriately named. It offers a festive celebration of the work that teachers, administrators and members of the wider community are doing every day to ensure that children and youth with learning differences receive the best education possible.

I was fortunate to attend Glenforest School’s alaG event on March 17 and my eyes were truly opened. I never realized how many of South Carolina’s students struggled in a traditional classroom setting. This school is providing a much needed service to children who learn differently.

Since 1983, Glenforest School has served and educated students with a variety of learning differences. Not everyone learns exactly the same, and thus the instruction is not conventional. Students who have ADD, ADHD, Aspergers, Autism, CAPD, Cerebral Palsy (CP), Dyslexia,

Dysgraphia, and Dyscalcula are all welcome at Glenforest.

Due to their learning differences, these students have typically struggled or failed in other school environments. Glenforest provides a positive, nurturing environment where students and teachers build relationships which help to repair the students’ self-confidence. With self-confidence and a safe environment, students are willing to take the risk to ask questions in class, express opinions and challenge their

classmates in class discussions.Time outside the classroom is

equally important, and students are exposed to a range of clubs, sports

and special events. Students are encouraged to use their time and talents for community service projects both in school and out.

I heard firsthand the difference the school has made in the life of alumnus Ryan Brown. After graduating from Glenforest School, he attended Wingate University where he received his degree in Communication Studies. Ryan now serves as the Director of Broadcasting and Sports Information Assistant at his alma mater and is the play-by-play voice for Bulldog sports.

“Glenforest changed my life forever,” said Ryan. “I owe all of my success to the teachers, staff and administration that put me on the track to success. I never dreamed of being student body president, captain of a team or getting a college scholarship. I don’t know where my career ends, but I know it all started because I found Glenforest school.”

I applaud all of the teachers and administrators at Glenforest for the difference they are making in the lives of these youth and their families. And I encourage you to visit their website at www.glenforest.org or contact the school for to see firsthand the amazing work going on inside their classrooms.

philanthropyin ourcommunity

FALL 2010 Vol. 6, No. 1

ph i l an th ropyin   ou rcommun i t y

philanthropyin ourcommunity

SPRING 2011

enrich philanthropyin ourcommunity

SPRING 2009 Vol. 5, No. 1

New Staff Members page 2

Having a Ball page 3

President’s Letter page 3

Coming Full Circle page 4

The Spirit of Philanthropy page 5

One Book, One Columbia page 6

inside

Glenforest Alumnus Ryan Brown and Dean of Athletics William Knopf

Bruce Flashnick/www.bruceflashnick.com

We are a nonprofit organization serving 11 counties in the Midlands by distributing grants and scholarships and linking the resources of donors, nonprofits and community leaders to areas of need.

Join us on Facebook for the latest news

Our page is public, so you don’t have to join Facebook to view it.

Scott R. AdamsCheryl L. BehymerJ. Mac BennettR. Jason CaskeyChris D. ChristiansenLove Collins IIIAubria CorbittMichael C. CrappsJudith M. Davis

Eric M. ElkinsJohn S. GoetteeL. Marion Gressette IIIHenry B. Haitz IIIC. Carroll HeywardDavid G. HodgesJackie HowieKatharine M. HubbardBruce W. Hughes

D. Michael KellyEllis M. KnightJames K. LehmanJohn H. Lumpkin Jr.Ted O. McGee Jr.Catherine R. MonettiBarbara RackesGeorge W. RogersA. Eugene Rountree

Terry K. Schmoyer Jr.Martha Scott SmithDavid C. Sojourner Jr. Nancy SpencerJ. Hagood TigheSusie H. VanHuss

Welcome Our New Team Members

Ellen Shuler HinrichsEllen most recently served as the Executive Director for the South Carolina Center for Children’s Books and Literacy where she was responsible for all operations, programs and staff. Ellen has a strong development background along with her program management and evaluation skills.

Kelly RogersKelly comes to us from the Disability Action Center, where she served as the Quality Improvement Coordinator. There she worked closely with the Executive Director to manage the day-to-day operations of the nonprofit organization, focusing on the financial and humanresource aspects of the company.

Kristin W. WilliamsonKristin most recently served as an Account Supervisor at Gibbs & Soell Public Relations where she managed a multi-million dollar account for a leading agribusiness corporation. She has a decade of experience working in government agencies andpublic relations firms.

Board of Trustees

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As the Community Foundation enters our 27th year, we continue to grow and evolve in many ways. This growth and evolution includes our role in the community, our assets, our charitable impact and, as a result, our staff. Please join us in welcoming the newest members of our team.

Our role in the Midlands is evolving from community building to also include its inverse: building community. As a community builder, we will continue to provide grants and scholarships designed to meet critical needs.

In addition, we will increasingly focus on building community by fostering collaborative relationships and facilitating conversations to address emerging challenges in the Midlands. As Director of Community Philanthropy, Ellen Shuler Hinrichs is helping to make this transition a success.

Building a substantial endowment to provide for community needs for generations to come requires strong financial oversight. We are rapidly approaching $100 million in assets which will allow us to make a larger charitable impact in the community.

The ability to analyze, process and provide recommendations to streamline operations is increasingly important as the Foundation strives to be a proactive organization. As Staff Accountant, Kelly Rogers plays a critical role in accomplishing this goal.

As we advance our mission, our focus continues to be on promoting philanthropy in the Midlands to make the philanthropic pie bigger. As the article on page five details, our Talk About Giving initiative was created to help ensure our future generations learn the joy of giving.

Through a full array of traditional and digital communications vehicles, we want to spark a philanthropic movement and help families teach their children the joy of giving. Our new Interactive Marketing Manager, Kristin Williamson, is ensuring this program does just that.

Having a BallChapin area residents came together

again at the beginning of February for an evening of dining, dancing and bidding. The 4th Annual Groundhog Ball was held by the Greater Chapin Community Endowment (GCCE) and raised more than $12,000 to assist with the organization’s local grantmaking efforts.

The Groundhog Ball began in 2008 with several local families hosting private dinners in their homes before coming together for dessert at a local church. This first event was attended

by about 60 people. This year, over 200 people gathered to enjoy food, drinks and music performed by Two Gentleman and a Lady.

This annual gala assists the GCCE in providing resources for a broad range of existing and future charitable needs in the Greater Chapin area. Most recently, funds have helped the Explorer Post #11 to purchase new fire equipment used to train young men and women about the field of fire service as a career choice. Funds were also awarded to provide scholarships

for 12 young men and women from the American Legion Post 193 Chapin to attend Palmetto Boys State and Palmetto Girls State.

“We certainly appreciate the support this event receives each year from individuals and businesses in the Chapin community,” said committee chair Toni Brown. “Their support allows us to continue to increase the grant awards to nonprofit organizations and the positive impact we can make through those grants.”

Letter from the PresidentOne important role of our Foundation in the community is to connect those who wish to give with

those who are in need. By encouraging more giving, we create more philanthropic dollars. More needs being addressed leads to stronger families and a healthier, more sustainable community.

Talk About Giving, a new program launching this month, is a key component in our efforts to “increase the philanthropic pie.” With the generous support of the Cassels’ family, we hope to help future generations understand the importance of giving.

Throughout our 27 year history, we have worked with donors to shepherd their charitable goals and have also awarded competitive grants to meet the needs within our 11-county service area. During this time, over 9,300 grants totaling more than $61 million have been made to nonprofits that cover many fields of interest from the arts and education to health and the environment.

Without the philanthropic spirit of our donors and fundholders these grants would not have been possible. We invite you to join our program and cultivate this spirit of philanthropy in your children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews. True philanthropy is more than giving money or service — it’s equally about teaching our children how to give of themselves.

PHILANTHROPY

Bud and Pat Lewandowski

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Sue Odom and Chris Koon JoAnn Turnquist and Gary Schmedding

Linda and Billy DuRant Toni and J.B. BrownJoan and Gary Marco

JoAnn Turnquist

In November, the Community Foundation received news that our organization would be receiving an unexpected gift from the estate of Lt. Col. (Ret) Ruth Kay Sidisin of Sumter. Although we did not have the opportunity to meet this remark-able woman, we have learned a great deal about her and her life of service.

Ruth s̀ mother, whose family came from Minsk, Russia, had been in the Red Cross during World War I. “She had helped out in the hospitals and did private duty after the war. And I wanted to be a nurse from the time I was three or four, when my brother cut his finger and I put a Band-Aid on it,” [said Ruth.] (Marshall 28)

Three years after graduating from Johns Hopkins Hospital School of Nursing, Ruth Sidisin joined the Air Force Nurse Corps. Her tours of duty took her to the combat zone in Vietnam

and many others areas of the world before she settled at Shaw Air Force Base. There she retired in 1980 after 25 years of distin-guished service.

While serving in Vietnam, Ruth

routinely sat outside her quarters and waved to the members of the

377th Security Police Unit in Tan Son Nhut. The troops nicknamed her “The Waving Nurse.” Her friendly manner stuck with many of those troops for years. During a Security Policeman reunion in 2009, some of the troops asked about “The Waving Nurse.” They learned of her whereabouts and several went to visit her in assisted living at Covenant Place in Sumter.

“Ruth was a very charitable woman,” said her friend Virginia Ray, “and was committed to improving medical care long after her retirement.” She gave generously to her alma maters,

Douglass College and Johns Hopkins, along with Tuomey Regional Medical Center in her home community of Sumter. She also contributed in bringing Covenant Place to Sumter.

Virginia served as the director of Sumter County Adult Education (SCAE). In the early 1990s, the organization received a grant from the Community Foundation to train certified nursing assistants (CNAs). The instructor was the Director of Nursing at Covenant Place.

“You could always count on her to help out a student in need,” said Virginia. Ruth attended graduation ceremonies and often helped anonymously with graduation and tuition expenses for young nurses and nursing assistants.

While Ruth was living at Covenant Place, many of the young nursing assistants who cared for her were graduates of the SCAE program. She was impressed with the attention and care she received from those nursing assistants. When preparing her new will, she chose to donate to the Community Foundation in appre-ciation for our role in starting the training program.

Said President & CEO JoAnn Turnquist, “Our original grant has gone full circle; the initial grant provided training. The folks who were trained provided service and that service resulted in a gift that will be used to provide grants. We are grateful for Ms. Sidisin’s gift — she has truly created a legacy that will continue to give.”

Marshall, Kathryn. In The Combat

Zone: An Oral History of American

Women in Vietnam, 1966-1975.

Boston: Little Brown, 1987.

Lt.Col. (Ret) Ruth Kay Sidisin

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Coming Full Circle —How a Grant Became A Gift

INVE

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Ruth receives a plaque during her service at the Tan Son Nhut Air Base in Vietnam.

ENG

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YAccording to a Cone/Roper

Raising Charitable Children survey, an overwhelming majority of Americans (85%) agree that children should be introduced to charities by the age of thirteen. Yet almost three out of four (70%) parents admit their children are not involved in any charitable activities.

With the help of the Cassels family, we are hoping to improve those statistics for our community. W.T. “Bill” Cassels Jr. and his son W.T. “Tobin” Cassels III have graciously underwritten the cost of our new initiative, Talk About Giving (TAG.) TAG is designed for families who have a desire to pass along to their children and grandchildren a healthy understanding of the need to give to others.

Through ongoing conversation and active participation in family giving, children recognize philanthropy as a part of their family’s value system. And studies show children of parents who give are much more likely to continue giving as adults.

The Cassels family has made giving back a priority for themselves and for their company, Southeastern Freight Lines. They have embraced the concept of talking openly about the needs of the community and how to help address those needs.

The Cassels are in a position now to give generously to others, but it wasn’t always that way. Bill is a child of the Great Depression era. Growing up, his family was rich in faith, if not in wealth. “We may not have had a lot of money, but what we had, we shared,” said Bill.

As the company grew, so did the Cassels’ ability to give back to those less fortunate. “This

company and our success wasn’t given to us for our pleasure,” remarked Bill. “That is not why God entrusted this to us.”

Several years ago, the Cassels began a tradition at Christmas dinner. Bill informed his children and grandchildren that each year they would be allowed

to donate a certain portion from the Cassels Foundation to organizations of their choice. They were required to do due diligence on the organizations and encouraged to become personally involved if possible. They would then give a report

the following year on how they spent the money.

The tradition has now been incorporated into a biannual family meeting. At the meetings, family members discuss company business, but they also dedicate time specifically to discuss their charitable giving. Everyone is sharing and learning from

each other, and some are getting involved with the causes they care about most. Tobin’s daughter taught kindergarten at Heartworks Ministry one summer after learning about the organization.

When we presented the concept of TAG to the Cassels,

they were immediately drawn to the idea. “We are so excited about this program,” said Bill. “We would have loved to have had this guidance when our children or grandchildren were growing up. I wish that we had not waited until our

grandchildren were teenagers to actively engage them in the process; I would have loved to have started earlier.”

It is our hope that TAG will encourage parents to start the conversation about giving at an early age and provide tips and resources to assist in doing so. Visit www.

talkaboutgiving.org to find out what you can do to ensure that philanthropy is a part of your family’s value system and that your children know it.

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Are You Instilling the Spirit of Philanthropy in Your Family?

Bill and Tobin Cassels

“We may not have had a lot of money, but what we had, we

shared,” said Bill.

Central Carolina Community Foundation2711 Middleburg Drive, Suite 213Columbia, South Carolina 29204

One Book, One ColumbiaThe City of Columbia and Richland County Public Library

have joined forces to launch Columbia’s first citywide reading adventure, One Book, One Columbia. One Book, One Columbia is designed for residents who believe that books and reading can connect people in powerful

ways and is patterned after similar programs launched in communities across the country.

The book selected for this inaugural year is Having Our Say: the Delany Sisters First 100 Years by Sarah and Elizabeth Delany, with Amy Hill Hearth. On the New York

Times bestseller list for 105 weeks in the 1990s, Having Our Say is a compelling narrative of family, education andsocial justice.

“As literacy is one of the Community Foundation’s focus areas, we have signed on as a community partner to assist in connecting our community through this shared reading experience,” said Foundation President & CEO JoAnn Turnquist.

In March, the Foundation hosted a Reading Advocate orientation reception at the library. Reading Advocates pledged to read the book and promote it within the community by encouraging family, friends, neighbors and colleagues to read the book. These advocates are easily identifiable by the special badge featuring the One Book, One Columbia logo that they will be wearing during the official reading period.

We invite all the residents of Columbia and Richland County to read the book between April 1 and May 15. And then we encourage you to share your experiences with friends and neighbors. Numerous discussions and programs centered around this remarkable book will take place during this period.

For a complete list of activities, visit www.myrcpl.com/book.

ON THE WAY

PRSRT STDUS Postage

PAIDColumbia, SCPermit #562

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Melanie Huggins, RCPL Executive Director