Southern Indiana Living MayJune 2017

Impact 100
WOMEN’S FOUNDATION LAUCHES $100,000 GRANT INITIATIVE
The non-profit Women’s Foundation of Southern Indiana (WFSI), a fund of the Community
Foundation of Southern Indiana, has been supporting scholarships and efforts
to improve the lives of women and children since 2005. Spearheaded in part by the late
Hazel Bales, the group is now reaching the community to participate by enlisting 100
people to donate $1,000. Non-profits in Clark, Floyd, and Harrison counties will be
eligible to apply for the grant. For the greatest impact, the entire $100,000 will be given
to one of them later this year that addresses one or more of WFSI’s five core areas of
need in its mission: changing lives, promoting health, supporting education, building
financial independence, and empowering well-being. For more information about participating
in Impact 100 as an individual or as a group, contact Lindsey Neely, steering
committee chair, at (502) 550-6990.
(Top Left) Advisory Board members Beth White; Lindsey Neely, vice president; Melissa
Weissinger, treasurer; Kerry Cokeley, president; and Donna Riley, immediate past president.
All for the Kids
NA-FC EDUCATION FOUNDATION GLEANS
$110,000 AT CELEBRATION
(Bottom Left) Board members Lori Lewis, secretary Gloria Wood, Julie Blocher, and Alice
Miles, who served on the board when WFSI was founded and is a past president.
Amid a festive atmosphere at Huber’s Plantation Hall, 530 people attended the sixth
annual celebration for the New Albany-Floyd County Education Foundation in March,
raising money for the non-profit’s several initiatives to support students at all levels.
NFP was the title sponsor of the dinner that also featured live and silent auctions
to benefit classroom projects, Imagination Library, Blessings in a Backpack, Junior
Achievement, scholarships, Pigs 4 NAFC Kids, and educational tours. For more details
about the independent fund-raising organization that provides impactful resources
and experiences for New Albany-Floyd County students and teachers, log onto www.
nafcedfoundation.org.
(Top, Right) Front: Tom Jones, representing the title sponsor, NFP; Lodi Jones, Dr. Cynthia
Nassim, and Dr. Ben Nassim. Back: Superintendent Bruce Hibbard, NAFCEF Executive
Director Tyler Bliss, and NAFCEF Board President Ed Reutebuch.
New Albany High School teacher Kristin Scott and guests Terri Coffey and Ronda Stumler.
Imagine the Impact
RAUCH HONORS STANDOUT FOR MAKING A DIFFERENCE
About 400 people attended the 17th annual Imagine Awards Dinner at Horseshoe
Southern Indiana to benefit Rauch, Inc., the New Albany-based non-profit
that supports and raises community awareness of people with disabilities. The
evening raised nearly $70,000, including $30,000 received in a special appeal
that night to provide more than 45 iPads for therapists to use in the Early Intervention
Program. The remainder will go to the Rauch Foundation to support
the agency’s programs and services. A highlight of the event was honoring
Imagine Award winners in three categories--individual, business, and community
leader-and two special awards.
(Above) Rabbi Gaylia Rooks, representing The Temple--Congregation Adath Israel Brith Shalom in Louisville
and the late Rabbi Joseph Rauch, who played a significant role in securing the grant to expand Rauch in
the early years after its founding in 1953; Ethan Schmidt, Director of Music Therapy Services for Personal
Counseling Service and recipient of the Community Leader Award; entertainer and speaker Mandy Harvey,
a jazz singer who became deaf at age 18; Bryce Wooley, recipient of the Individual Award; Dawn Lee from
the WHAS Crusade for Children, which, with Rabbi Rauch, was given a special award for their partnership www.wesbanco.com
in securing grants for Rauch; and Brenda Thompson from Kohl’s-Jeffersonville, which received the Business WesBanco, Inc. is a Member FDIC
Award.
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May/June 2017 • 23