Residents of the Indian River Club banded together last year to form a Head, Heart and Hands Community Outreach program. Within the three-part program, Head focuses on learning about the needs of the community through a speaker series, with Hands addressing those needs through volunteerism and Heart through philanthropy. At a reception at the Indian River Clubhouse last Wednesday afternoon, Heart took center stage as the Indian River Club Outreach Foundation awarded its inaugural grants to eight local nonprofits.
“It’s a pretty exciting day,” said Jim Weiss, who chaired the grant selection committee. “We’ve got a nice group of recipients.”
“This is kind of a banner day for us. Just about a year ago we started the Indian River Club Foundation, generating money and donations from our very generous community here,” said Marybeth Cunningham, Outreach chairman, thanking everyone involved in the process. “And now, we’ve come to this day. We’re very, very excited about our first year.”
Members of the committee made individual presentations to representatives of each of the organizations.
“It’s a wonderful outreach effort by all of us; I’m so proud to be representing this community in giving this grant,” said Jeff Ward, before presenting a $4,000 grant to Barbara Hammond, executive director of The Learning Alliance, which is partnering with the Indian River Academy to provide off-site parental support and counseling sessions as a way to address the social and emotional needs of children raised in poverty,
Karen Nelson presented a $4,000 grant to Elizabeth Swann, Junior League board president, for its Family Engagement Night pilot program, which will assist Indian River Academy fifth-graders to transition to Oslo Middle School. Students and parents will tour Oslo, meet teachers and learn what to expect and, through Whole Child Indian River, will discover other community resources available to them.
Kevin McCormack presented a $5,000 grant to Christine Hobart, McKee Botanical Garden executive director, to purchase Automated External Defibrillators and train staff in their operation.
“One of the things we learned, amongst a whole host of experiences we had in this process, is that there’s a lot of need in Indian River County and the surrounding area,” said Weiss. “The very good news is that there are a lot of good things going on in Indian River County, and we’re very pleased to become a part of that process.”
Weiss presented a $5,000 grant to Verna Wright, founder of the Dasie Hope Center, to fund a chef-led culinary program, teaching teens proper food-handling and kitchen skills, thereby bettering employment opportunities after graduation.
Bonnie Hayes presented a $5,000 grant to Mary Ellen Maguire, Homeless Family Center executive director, toward its Children’s Health Program. It’s a collaborative with Whole Family Health Center which provides evening medical services at HFC so that parents needn’t miss a day of work when their children need care.
Chris Coy presented a $5,000 grant to Michael Waninger, Hibiscus Children’s Center CEO toward mandated kitchen renovations in Hibiscus Village’s eight residential group homes.
Waninger, referring to the tragic ocean drowning of one of the center’s residents, said, “It reminds us of what we do and why we do it; life is so precious. Through your generosity, we’ll be able to continue to help children going forth.”
Becky Stiles presented a $2,000 grant to Doug Borrie, executive director of Youth Guidance Mentoring and Activities to support a Pine Car 500 activity at Indian River Academy, with children building their own miniature cars and race track to compete with friends and family.
Larry Salustro presented $5,000 to Treasure Coast Community Health toward its Tooth Fairy program, funding the cost of fluoride treatments, counseling and referral services by pediatric professionals for children under age 5 from low-income families.
“It makes a difference having this much support for our students’ well-being,” said Diane Fannin, principal of Indian River Academy. “It’s a huge impact in helping to break the cycle.”
