Endowment grows

Thanks to 15 new endowments and a healthy investment return, the assets of The Portland Foundation have reached $37 million, foundation executive director Doug Inman said Wednesday at the foundation’s annual meeting.

“Our investment performance was 14.4 percent,” said Inman. “Fantastic.”

Mindy Weaver was honored as the recipient of the Jack Cole Award for Volunteerism.

“She has led a life of service to others,” said Cole, the foundation’s first executive director for whom the award is named.

Weaver, a longtime cheerleading coach at Jay County High School, has spent endless hours as a volunteer for the Jay County Fair and Jay County Lions Club. She also has helped with vacation Bible school at the Church of the Brethren and volunteers as a dog walker for Jay County Humane Society.

A member of Jay County Community Band, she is a past president of Arts Place and is currently chairing a $2.4 million capital campaign for the local arts facility.

The award comes with a $250 donation to the charity of the recipient’s choice.

Inman said the foundation now has 351 endowments. Since its founding in 1951, it has poured $10.4 million back into the community in the form of grants and scholarships. Following Wednesday’s annual meeting, another quarter of a million dollars in scholarships was formally awarded to JCHS students.

Major grants in 2017 included a $25,000 tornado relief grant to United Way of Jay County that helped 17 local families after November’s tornado, a $160,000 grant to Jay County Fair Association to help renovate the grandstand at the fairgrounds, a $175,000 grant to the Arts Place capital campaign, a $30,000 grant to Jay County Drug Prevention Coalition, a $30,000 grant to A Better Life – Brianna’s Hope, a $10,000 grant to Second Chance Ministries and a $40,000 grant to fund a study of the county’s early childhood education needs and potential re-use of Jay Schools buildings after the closing of Judge Haynes Elementary School.

New funds established in 2017 include the Asbury United Methodist Church Endowment Fund, the Makayla Tipton Memorial Fund, the Jack Imel Memorial Music Scholarship Fund, the John and Ruth (DeBolt) Study Memorial Endowment Fund, Sharon S. Cooper Memorial Scholarship Fund, the Fred M. and Elizabeth L. (Hudson) Stultz Scholarship Fund, the Weldon L. and Dorothy H. Hamma Asbury United Methodist Church Endowment Fund, the Weldon L. and Dorothy H. Hamma Endowment Fund, the Weldon L. and Dorothy H. Hamma Memorial Scholarship Fund, the Reg and Nelle Hampson Memorial Scholarship Fund, the Loretta E. (Larry) Zeigler Memorial Scholarship Fund, the Thelma L. Milligan Jay County Hospital Foundation Cardiac Rehabilitation Department Fund, the Thelma L. Milligan Jay County Hospital Foundation Diabetic Support Services Fund, the Thelma L. Milligan Jay County Hospital Foundation Obstetrics Department Fund and the Stephen R. Vore of Vore's Welding and Steel Scholarship Fund

This fall, Inman noted, the foundation’s board will embark on a strategic planning process.

“Dream big, people, we need to do it,” said Inman.

Current foundation board members include Dean Jetter, Ron Laux, Pat Bennett, Rex Journay, John Moore, Robin Alberson, Rob Penrod, Tammy Hanlin and Jeremy Gulley.