Page 40 – Arkansas Community Foundation

Giving as a family helps define shared family values, and putting those values into action helps solidify a legacy. Developing a common giving philosophy can unite all families, not just those with wealth. Beyond having a positive impact on the organizations and issues you care about, your family can reap many rewards from making generosity a group project.

Family giving can:

Help family members develop a deeper connection and build trust by working together;
Create an outlet for everyone to share their passion, perspective, knowledge and talents;
Allow for direct interaction and learning between generations, from grandparent to grandchild;
Illustrate to children that giving back to their community is important;
Teach younger family members a wide range of skills—communication, negotiation, shared decision making, leadership, accountability and financial literacy—that can be directly transferable to business;
Build well-being and positively affect the health and happiness of family members;
Allow the family to control how their money is used instead of going to the federal and state taxes; and
Offer opportunities for family members of all ages to experience the joy of giving.

For more about how you can start a family charitable fund, contact Ashley Coldiron at 501-372-1116.

A Guest Post by Andrea Price

For nine generations, my family has called the Arkansas Delta home and it gives me great joy to serve in the Delta.

From Mississippi County to Chicot County, I’ve had the opportunity to meet and work with Arkansas Community Foundation executive directors and board members who are committed to making their communities better. In many cases, the local affiliate boards of the Community Foundation are the only local, grant-making entities serving an entire county. Their service is an essential part of community life and I am honored to work with such committed public servants. In every community I serve, I take informal tours of each community and I’ve found something special in each place.

In Clarendon, I found mini libraries sprinkled throughout the town. On the town square in Marianna, there’s a playground the local affiliate of the Community Foundation helped fund. Lake Village has the largest oxbow lake in North America and members of the local board hold their meeting along this beautiful body of water. I’ve found that a picture is really worth a thousand words when I visited Helena’s famous Johnson‘s Studio, and I visited the Northern Ohio School at Parkin Archeological State Park and experienced a piece of American History. These are just a few of the attractions that make the communities special.

In addition to working with the affiliates and experiencing local attractions, I’ve had the opportunity to enjoy local fares throughout the Delta. Unique food shops and abundant fresh food stands line highways through the Delta. The smell of the best bar-b-que in the United States permeates the air in communities throughout the Delta, and the best canned chow-chow, pickled tomatoes, jams and jellies can be found in some of the most inconspicuous places. There is no shortage of good food or good people in the place I call home.

Every time I make a trip to an affiliate area, I am reminded of the history that helped shape the Delta, the people who are currently working to make it stronger and the future of this very special region of the country. For me, there is no place like home and I am honored to give back to a place that gave so much to me.

What are the biggest challenges facing older people in Arkansas?

by Dr. Jeanne Wei, M.D., Ph.D.
Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

Senior Arkansans face a daunting set of challenges that contribute to disparities in health.

Healthcare outcome disparities are directly related to the differences in access to, and availability of, health facilities and services, primarily as a result of geographical location, socioeconomic status, education, language, race, gender and/or age.

These disparities clearly have had a negative impact on the aging population in the state of Arkansas. Arkansas is ranked 50th in the U.S. in cardiovascular outcome disparities. Among the 50 states, Arkansas ranks 47th in overall senior health, 50th in food insecurity, 46th in physical activity and 41st in poverty among seniors.

One key factor in these differences is the rural nature of the state and the distance between where seniors live and the nearest hospital or physician’s office. Telemedicine has begun to help alleviate this problem and continues to demonstrate potential for narrowing the gap.
Addressing all these multiple problems simultaneously, comprehensively and with sufficient dedicated resources, is essential to solving each one and to ensuring that seniors throughout Arkansas are healthy and are receiving equal access to, and benefitting from, healthcare.

A reduction in the number of seniors living at or below the poverty line would mean more seniors eating better, healthier and not succumbing to malnutrition or even hunger. It also can mean access to affordable transportation to a senior activity center or other fitness facility where they can participate in activities to improve their health. Similarly, good nutrition would go hand in hand with taking advantage of these activity and exercise facilities.

Solving only one of these problems might not significantly improve things soon enough for senior Arkansans, but a solution that knits all of them together will likely succeed where narrower initiatives have previously failed. We all need to collaborate together to help our loved ones, our neighbors and eventually ourselves.

By Rev. Herschel McClurkin,
Retired United Methodist pastor
Alma, AR

“I miss my Sunday School class and church when I can’t go. My relationship with God is important,” say some.

“To get myself to the aquatic aerobatics two times a week helps my arthritis, but it gets tiresome. To do the exercises and walking suggested by the rehab folks following surgery and hip replacement is not easy.”

A lady, 91, says, “If we don’t keep ourselves in touch with others and have fellowship, we go down fast! My brother offered to take our sister to church after her husband died. She refused to get out of her chair. She didn’t last long!”

Some older people say, “Keeping active and staying busy is number one, and it’s difficult with lack of transportation.” Some say transportation is their main challenge.

Others have challenges for lack of food, poor nutrition, someone to check on them, citizenship, energy, medicine, finding a doctor, waiting months for an appointment, keeping up with Medicare and Medicaid changes, finding affordable home care, facing homelessness, learning about free clinics and wondering what our government is going to do next.

What is common to all? The little three-year-old, the 20-year-old college athlete and adults are all getting older! Some of us want to and some of us don’t want to get older.

Challenges for aging people abound. More are beckoning to be aided. But people who are willing to help are always a God-given blessing.

Marvin “Red” Ellis receives meals through CareLink’s Meals on Wheels Program.

Choosing between buying food and paying the rent or purchasing medication is a reality for 240,000 Arkansans aged 60-plus. According to a 2014 report from the DHS Division of Aging and Adult Services, 40 percent of older Arkansans experience food insecurity, making Arkansas first in the nation in senior hunger.

Financial hardship, lack of transportation, living in areas with few food stores and mobility limitations are major contributors to these chilling statistics.

“We all have a part to play in reducing senior hunger,” said Tomi Townley, Older Adult Outreach Manager of the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance. “Building a sustainable statewide initiative first means educating our state about the problem.”

In Arkansas, 21 counties have been designated as food deserts, where people of all ages have difficulty obtaining nutritious meals. But for seniors, who are often isolated and inactive, the problem of receiving adequate nutrition is compounded.

“Our vision is to create a coalition like No Kid Hungry that will pull all the best ideas together with the organizations who can implement them to make big strides in ending hunger among older Arkansans,” said Townley.

Today nonprofits in Arkansas are meeting this daunting challenge with creativity and persistence. Here are 10 innovative local programs and potential national strategies that could be put to work in Arkansas communities.

1. Arkansas Senior Hunger Summit – In October of 2014 the Arkansas Hunger Alliance held the first Senior Hunger Summit to learn from hunger relief experts and share information on the successes and challenges experienced by older people in Arkansas. More than 200 participants shared information about successes and the challenges of senior hunger in their communities.

2. Business Plans for Senior Meal Programs – Jerry Mitchell of Area Agency on Aging of Northwest Arkansas said running congregate meals programs for seniors can be more cost effective when implementing strategies like:

Negotiating with grocery stores to secure a single food supplier at the lowest cost.
Monitoring and changing menus to ensure what is being cooked is being eaten.
Training staff to order efficiently and prepare appetizing food.
Exploring catering for other community groups and organizations.
Convenience Store Nutrition – For some rural Arkansas seniors, convenience stores are their only shopping option. Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance is working with these stores to provide nutritious options like fresh fruits and vegetables in rural convenience stores and to use tours of these stores to help seniors make nutritious food choices.

4. Double Dollars – More and more farmer’s markets around the state are participating in the Double Dollars program that allows older people who receive SNAP benefits to purchase twice as much food for the same price at local farmer’s markets. A recent Hunger in America survey said the number one thing seniors want more of is fresh fruits and vegetables.

5. Friends and Neighbors Network – A partnership between First United Methodist Church in Little Rock and the Arkansas Foodbank Network is helping friends and neighbors in a downtown high rise work cooperatively to reduce hunger. FANN Coordinator Elaine Bultena said twice a week 18 households come to the church to unload and distribute about 500 pounds of supplemental food that allows them to have more fresh and nutritional meal options.

For an outlay of about $200 a month from the church, the participants – about half of whom are seniors – have a consistent source of more nutritious food. The participants also hold programs to learn more about nutrition and other issues, and they decide where the small dollar dues they pay to FANN are spent – the last vote gave a donation to the Arkansas Foodbank and funded a community picnic.

6. Meals on Wheels – Area Agencies on Aging and other nonprofits statewide are a part of the national Meals on Wheels network. Home-delivered meals to homebound older people is not a new idea, but enhanced menu options and modern meal preparation allow more nutritious meals to be prepared and served to those who welcome the human contact of volunteers along with their hot meals.

7. Mobile Food Markets – Though none are up and running today in Arkansas, groups like the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance are exploring the possibility of mobile food markets that bring the chance to purchase nutritious food to small communities. In this model, a bus run by volunteers takes nutritious food into food desert counties on a regular basis.

8. Senior-Friendly Food Pantries – Arkansas Foodbank, with a grant from Walmart, implemented a program to increase seniors access to food pantries though outreach, designating special senior hours, assisting with SNAP applications, ensuring pantries have foods seniors like and redesigning delivery systems. Phase two of the program is the creation of model Food Pantry sites that exhibit best practices and help train volunteers.

9. SNAP Bingo – Fun and games are used to promote SNAP benefits to sometimes resistant older Arkansans at retirement centers and senior housing units. To get more information out on this government program that helps seniors purchase more nutritious food, the Arkansas Hunger Alliance is playing SNAP Bingo.

10. What a Waste! – The National Foundation to End Senior Hunger’s program in senior centers in Washington, D.C., measures waste from congregate meals to help guide future menu choices and uses food waste as compost for growing healthy vegetables and fruits to supplement meals.

by Dr. Thomas Bruce, professor emeritus, University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service and University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health

One of my interests over the years has been to explore other people’s giving habits. What I’d really like to know is why people give, but analyses about the reasons for giving always wind up being speculative. How people give is an easier question to answer, since records are kept broadly to document donations.

In some instances the results of giving studies do reflect indirectly on the why question. For example, it is simple logic that financial giving is related to income: the more money you make, the larger donations you can afford to give.

But if one moves away from the actual dollar amount that’s donated, an interesting thing can be seen. As a percentage of income, the more you make, the less you give. For example, IRS records document the contributions of all Americans. One can take a standard deduction or itemize the deductions if desired. This discretionary income and charitable giving data is available here in an interactive tool created by the Chronicle of Philanthropy.

Consider just the data for Arkansas… family households in 2012 with less than $25,000 in annual discretionary income (that portion left after paying taxes and basic food/housing costs) gave 12.36 percent for charitable purposes. Those with more than $200,000 in annual discretionary income gave 3.50 percent for charity. So it isn’t just a modest aberration, it’s big!

And at income levels in between, one finds gradations of the same sort:

$25,000-$50,000 (6.68% contributions)
$50,000-$75,000 (5.34%)
$75,000- $100,000 (4.63%)
$100,000-$200,000 (4.00%)

What was, perhaps, most intriguing about the study was its geographic analysis. Percentage giving at every income level was higher in the poorest areas of the state (South Central, South East, and East Central regions) than in the wealthiest areas of the state (North West, North Central, West Central). The Central metro area fell somewhere in the middle. The three most generous regions are rural agricultural or forestry zones with sizable African-American populations and some of the state’s most challenging social problems, i.e. high poverty, low educational achievement, and poor health.

This study suggests that giving patterns are socially driven, in considerable part. If one sees needy individuals around on a regular basis there’s a tendency to try to respond, whereas those who live in more affluent neighborhoods seem to spend discretionary income more for personal uses, “keeping up with the Joneses,” if you will, rather than helping others.

This also may also explain why Arkansas is commonly rated as one of the most generous states (the “generosity index”), along with other low-income states such as Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana (Utah was rated most generous last year).

To protect privacy, the IRS does not provide information about the specific charities that people supported, so what is known about beneficiaries has to be drawn from other studies. Giving to churches and other faith groups is very high, usually about two-thirds of all donations, and this may be another reason why Arkansas and other Bible Belt states rate high in the” generosity index.” An analysis by New York Times Economics reporter Catherine Rampell, however, showed that religious giving also varies a good bit with income, dropping to 17 percent with higher incomes. Arkansas Community Foundation fund holders gave more for educational and health purposes in 2013 than they did for religion.

Bottom line: understanding better why people give of their time, talent, and resources remains an intriguing interest, and is at the heart of why studies on the nature of benevolence have such important policy implications for Arkansas and the nation.

Are you a 501(c)(3) public charity or government agency that promotes the teaching of Arkansas history? If you answered yes, then you need to keep reading!.

The Bridge Fund is a Community Foundation fund that makes grants throughout Arkansas for schools, archives, local county and state historical societies and museums that provide training for teachers of Arkansas history; facilitate teaching and learning of state and local history; and increase the knowledge and understanding of Arkansas history, especially through research and publication.

This grant cycle is now OPEN until October 15 and you’re invited to apply. But first, here’s what you need to know to be prepared as you get started on your application:

Am I eligible? Most importantly, your organization must have 501(c)(3) status or be a government office to receive a Bridge Fund grant from the Community Foundation. We cannot make grants to individuals.
Is my program the right fit? If you serve as a bridge to help Arkansans increase their education and knowledge by promoting Arkansas history, you’re on the right track!
Have I read the guidelines? Projects that are in sync with the grant application guidelines will go further in the grant review process. Make sure you have addressed each guideline as you prepare your proposal. (These will be included in the application when you apply!)
What questions do I have? Don’t hesitate to reach out to our grants officer, Jane Jones. She’s here to help answer questions you have.
Am I familiar with how applications will be accepted? Sometimes, the logistical things are the easiest things to overlook. Applications will only be accepted online – and it’s 100% identical to how we accept applications for our Giving Tree grant cycle. You can watch the online tutorial here!
Do I know when the deadline is? The Bridge Fund will only be accepting applications from September 15 to October 15. ONE MONTH to make it happen!
Is the funding range suitable for my program’s needs? Grant awards will generally be in the range of $1,000 to $25,000 depending on the scope of your project and the decisions made by the committee.
Before I hit “Submit” on my application, have I double-checked everything? Fortunately, you are able to save your work in the application and come back to it as often as you like during the online application window. Proofreading could save your application from getting the boot!

So let’s recap: If you’re a 501(c)(3) organization that facilitates programs to educate Arkansans about Arkansas History, consider reading more about the Bridge Fund grant process and submit an application online before October 15. You can contact Jane Jones with any questions: 501-372-1116.

When the term ‘Renaissance Man’ is used to describe someone, Robert Zunick would have to fall into that category.

He graduated magna cum laude in chemistry yet became a financial advisor. He grew up playing music and now creates Zuni inspired stone carvings in his spare time. When he became a father, Robert began to realize yet another part of himself: he finds great joy in giving to youth and to human service.

Robert said he and his wife started the giving process when their two boys were young.

“We’d sit down as a family every Thanksgiving to decide on how to give to others,” he said. “It was a great exercise to make them think about what to support. Now that they’re grown, we see them giving freely.”

One of his pet projects is Hot Springs Area Community Foundation’s Youth Advisory Council (YAC), where he has served 12 years as a youth advisor.

“It’s encouraging to see teenagers embrace philanthropy so naturally. So many people complain about young people and their occasional shortcomings, but after one hour watching these kids your faith in humanity and our future is fully restored!” One of the other organizations his family fund has supported is Jackson House, a crisis center that helps folks down on their luck and helps kids from going hungry.”

“I believe Woodrow Wilson sums it up best: There is no higher religion than human service. To work for the common good is the greatest creed,” Robert said. “In this time we have on earth, we should make it a better place. We have an obligation to do that.”

We partner with people like Robert to talk about their goals for charitable giving and how we can make those goals a reality. If you’d like to schedule a time to talk with us, please don’t hesitate to reach out via email or give us a call at 501-372-1116.

Arkansas Community Foundation’s Science Initiative for Middle Schools (SIMS) is planting seeds of support for growing young minds. Hands-on classroom activities can foster students’ curiosity and instill a love of learning, but they can also be costly to execute. That’s why 27 of our local affiliates are participating in the SIMS program to provide $500 awards for local middle school science teachers to purchase consumable science materials for STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) projects.

Here are 5 steps to make sure you’re up to speed on the application process:

1. Know your eligibility: To apply for a SIMS minigrant, you must teach science in grade 5, 6, 7 or 8 at a public school in at least one of the 40 Arkansas counties listed here.

2. Know when to submit: Make sure your application is submitted between July 1 and October 1 of 2015.

3. Know how to apply: Through a partnership with DonorsChoose.org, we’ve established a streamlined online application process. Go to www.DonorsChoose.org/SIMS to complete an online application and select the science materials you need for your project.

4. Know how you’ll receive the grant: Lastly, if you meet all of the qualifications, your application will be given to the grantmaking committee of the Community Foundation affiliate in your area. Up to 300 (yes, 300!) projects from across the state will be selected for full funding! If your project is selected, DonorsChoose will ship your materials directly to you at your school. It’s that simple! And the best part? Because DonorsChoose is a national organization working to match up donors who want to support education projects and teachers who need help, your project will be visible to thousands of other potential donors who may also choose to chip in to support your project.

5. Know when you’d be notified if you win: Local committees will review all the proposals submitted by teachers in their respective areas and decide which ones to fund. Winners will be notified in November.

Questions? Call our Central Office to talk through any questions you might have at 501-372-1116.

As our 2015 fall Giving Tree Grant cycle closes for some of our affiliate offices across the state, we wanted to take a look at the impact that these grants have on small nonprofits making a big difference in Arkansas’ communities.

By: Kathy Phillips, Executive Director
Cleburne County Community Foundation

One of the things I enjoy most about working at Cleburne County Community Foundation is not only helping our patrons direct their charitable giving, but in getting to see the result of that giving in our own community. The “put-your-money-where-your-HEART-is” kind of impact is always the highlight of my year.

As an affiliate of Arkansas Community Foundation, one way we are able to make such an impact is through participation in the Giving Tree program. The Community Foundation holds both a fall and a spring grant cycle in the affiliate offices across the state, and in Cleburne County, we participate in the spring grant cycle.

Each year, the grant requests highlight the needs in our community and allow us to make a difference. In April of this year, the Community Foundation gave more than $20,000 in grants to alleviate these needs. One of those grants was to support a local domestic violence shelter, Margie’s Haven House. Haven House has been described as “more like a home than the standard vision of a shelter.” The shelter offers victims and their children shelter and all the other necessities that go along with it.

Haven House Director Shoshana
Wells with Community Foundation
board member Rena Kelley

The Giving Tree proposal explained their need in detail. They requested funding to help purchase furnishings for the childcare area of the shelter. They explained that community members of Victims of Domestic Violence with children (both clients staying in Haven House, as well as clients that are not staying in Haven House) may be reluctant to attend support group meetings, and/or reach out to the Haven House due to concerns for a healthy, safe, comfortable environment for their children.

The grantmaking committee reasoned that meeting this need for Haven House would not only help their clients, but could potentially have generational consequences. They knew they must help with this request. The request was small – only $900 – but its ultimate impact could be huge. We will also continue to partner with Haven House throughout this fiscal year, as they have been selected as our Community Leadership Designee for 2015-16. In other ways, large and small, we hope to help them fulfill their mission. Past Community Leadership Designees have received help with event promotion, creation of PSA’s, support for Christmas food boxes and toy drives, and even assisted with landscaping at a new office. Whatever extra support we can offer, depending on the organization’s need, we try to go the extra mile for each year’s Community Leadership Designee.

These are the kinds of projects we love to fund each year in our Giving Tree grant cycle – projects that make an impact. This is “Smart Giving to Improve Communities.”