Favorite Things & Big Impact: A Look Back at CFMC’s 2025
I clearly remember when Opray Winfrey made her television debut back in September of 1986. That was a big deal in our house, and my mom required a television in our kitchen so she could watch this phenomenal woman while preparing dinner. This time of year, I still love to check in and see Oprah’s List of Favorites. This got me thinking about my favorite things the Community Foundation has accomplished this year. So here is my list of CFMC Favorites for 2025:
Morgan County Giving Circles – I cannot think of anything more meaningful in terms of community outreach than starting 100+ Women Who Care and Guys Who Give. As I write this, the final meetings for both groups are a few days away so membership and correlating grant dollars are still in progress! 100+ Women, starting with 80 members in March is now 115 women strong, granted over $80,000 in 2025 to three winning nonprofits! The 66 members of Guys Who Give granted more than $53,000 to their three winners. These grants would not have been possible without these members deciding to get involved. The personal connections made and the good we are doing cannot be underscored enough. This is how we get things done, together.
Scholarship Workshops – In 2025, we took a hard look at our scholarship processes, met with four surrounding counties to hear how they were doing things, and completely overhauled our operations. Included in these changes was the offering of scholarship workshops to Morgan County students. These workshops offered tips and tricks for the application itself and for the interview required for finalists for the Lilly Endowment’s Community Scholarship. The first workshop was held at Martinsville High School July 23rd. We had publicized the event, but as with many new programs, you never know how it will be received. We would have been happy hosting 8-10 students. As I entered the crowed Senior Success Center, I counted 29 students! The next workshop was held at Mooresville High School then next week, and 40 students attended, and the final workshop at Monrovia High School hosted 50 students in their spacious auditorium, bringing the total to nearly 120 Morgan County students served! A hidden gem resulting from these workshops – better applications than we have seen in years. A long-time member of our scholarship committee who himself was a Lilly Scholar in 2004 stated that he noticed immediately that the candidates and the applications were a notch up. We were committed to raising the level of service to our student and in turn the bar was raised. I’m proud of that!
Morgan County Farmers & Hunters Feeding The Hungry– Inspired by the increased number of families relying on Churches in Mission, we implemented this program after discovering a national group which formed in 1997 after a Maryland man helped a needy woman load a road kill deer into her vehicle. As a result of collaborating with Monroe County, an established chapter of FHFH, they have donated more than 1000 pounds of venison to Churches in Mission since Thanksgiving, and hunters are now making donations to Owens Butcher Shop in Mooresville. Playing to our strengths with a viable asset like Morgan County farmers and hunters seems like a natural solution to this growing problem. Once again, coming together with the community to solve local problems. It doesn’t get better than that.
CFMC New Office – In August of this year, CFMC moved back to the square thanks to the generous renovation of 88 North Main Street by Craig Fenneman of the Artesian Group. Since my time at the Foundation, we occupied shared, secure office space on Morgan Street. This was not ideal for our fund holders, or anyone interested in popping by for a visit. Decorated with paintings and sculptures from local artists (all for sale), this gorgeous space is what you would expect from an Artesian Group property – quaint and historic with its classic brick walls. I am thrilled to display the Open flag daily and plant our flower boxes for the current season. I encourage all of you to stop by and see our new space, shop the local art, and learn about what the Foundation is doing for Morgan County. Our new office certainly feels like progress!
GIFT XIII – Without a doubt, my favorite CFMC Favorite for 2025 is the completion of Lilly Endowment’s GIFT XIII. This was the first time in our nearly 26-year history that the Community Foundation met the required donations and Morgan County earned $1 million from Lilly Endowment for the accomplishment. Simply put, we did it, together.
From the giving circles, the scholarship workshops, farmers and hunters donating deer and livestock, to GIFT VIII, all of these wins are only because of the connection of people caring about others. Thank you Morgan County for coming together and making 2025 an incredible year.
