Montgomery County Community Foundation held its annual meeting Thursday at the Hoosier Heartland State Bank’s Success Center.
President Jim McBee presided over the meeting. Following the standard items of business, outgoing and incoming board members were recognized. The lone outgoing board member was Jim McBee. During his two terms, in addition to serving as president, he was a former vice president and treasurer. He chaired the investment committee, the audit and finance committee and was on the executive committee.
Newly elected board members recognized were Tracey Barr, Jack Grimble and Brenda Lovold. Incumbent board member, Ron Dickerson, will serve an additional year to assist the board with a special project.
The balance of the 13-member board includes: Erin Gobel, Cathy Caldwell, Debbie Schavietello, Preston Bost, Anna Bravo-Moore, Wendy Feller, Sheila McCormick, Zach Hockersmith and Marta Sweek.
Since 1996, the recognition of outstanding volunteers has been a staple of the MCCF annual meeting. Two awards were presented, one to an adult and another, the Peggy Herzog Youth Volunteer award goes a young person.
The 2023 MCCF Volunteer of the Year is Nancy Sennett, nominated for her service to the Montgomery County Free Clinic. After a long and successful career in healthcare, serving on the clinic’s board seemed the natural way for Sennett to share her time and talents with the community. But when an unexpected health emergency caused the then MCFC executive director to step down, Sennett resigned her board role and took on the executive director’s position in a volunteer capacity.
During that time the board took the time to restructure staffing, develop a strong resource development plan and search for and hire the clinic’s first dedicated chief executive. Her leadership during that pivotal time kept the clinic running smoothly while maintaining the highest standard of care for the patients.
McBee presented Sennett with a plaque commemorating her service and a $1,000 grant Montgomery County Free Clinic in her honor.
Seven other individuals were nominated. McBee presented each with a certificate of recognition and a small gift. They include the following:
• Amy Cochran, Montgomery County Youth Service Bureau. Cochran has served as a long-time mentor with the JUMP program, and now for the past six years, has served on the Youth Service Bureau board of directors.
• Sally Gooden, Animal Welfare League. A former AWL board member, Gooden continues to volunteer, nearly daily to complete office work and other duties in the building as needed, and occasionally transports cats and dogs to various spay and neuter clinic in the area.
• Mary Sue Measel, Pam’s Promise Transitional Housing. Measel is one of the longest serving volunteers at Pam’s Promise, serving as the financial director.
• Mike Reidy, Crawfordsville Masonic Temple Foundation. Reidy serves on the board but his work doesn’t end in the board room. He is always eager to help with events and projects, no matter how hard or how dirty.
• Karen Thada, Crawfordsville Main Street. Karen’s quiet servant-leadership skills have been a constant through her board service and as a committee and event volunteer.
• Ann Watson, Crawfordsville District Public Library. Watson has been a Homebound Program volunteer for 17 years, delivering books to patrons who cannot get out.
• Richard “Dick” Young, Grace & Mercy Food Pantry. Young has served as the operations director of the pantry for more than 10 years. He is there four to five days handling every aspect of the operation which is open to the public three days per week.
The Peggy Herzog Youth Volunteer of the Year Award, was presented to Melanie Dowd for her service to The Kid’s Closet. For two years Dowd has been doing laundry, tackling three to six 33 gallon bags of clothes at a time. She washes it, dries it and neatly folds it, and then returns it to The Kids Closet to be distributed to children in need. A real leader, she has recruited her school friends to help too. They have made new labels for storage tote and are organizing a clothing drive.
McBee presented Dowd with a plaque commemorating her service along with a $1,000 check to The Kid’s Closet in honor of her service.
McBee wrapped up the accomplishments of 2022 in which $1.6 million was awarded in grants and scholarships. A video capturing highlights of the past year was shown. The video, along with the electronic version of the 2022 annual report is on the MCCF website, www.mccf-in.org.
