News & Events

Miami County Arts Council to Showcase
Area Artists during Cole Porter Festival
March 2008

Miami County Arts Council is seeking artists (age 18 and older) to participate in its first art show to be held in conjunction with the Cole Porter Festival. Artists are invited to submit up to four pieces. Depending upon the number of artists participating and the limitation of space, the Arts Council cannot guarantee that all four pieces will be displayed, but they will try to exhibit at least one piece from each artist. For more information, interested artists should contact Jenni Marsh at the Miami County Community Foundation 475-2859 or e-mail her at miami@nicf.org.

"The mission of the Arts Council is to showcase the wealth of artistic talent here in Miami County," Community Foundation Associate Director Jenni Marsh said. "We hope to have terrific participation in our debut show."

The Arts Council will accept art in any media including but not limited to fiber arts, sculpture, mixed media, paintings, sketches and photography. Paintings, photos and sketches must be matted and/or framed. Pieces may be delivered to the Community Foundation office at 13 E. Main St., Peru, any time between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. on June 3 and 4. There will be no charge to the artists for participating.

"The committee putting this show together is also working to secure sponsors for the show," explained Marsh. "Depending on the number of sponsors we obtain, we hope to offer cash awards to the winning artists. A panel of judges will make the selections for these awards. We will also offer an award for the winning piece of the popular vote. This will be determined by our sponsors' employees."

The exhibit will be at the Peru High School Art Gallery. On Saturday June 14 from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m., there will be a grand opening and award ceremony for participating artists, corporate sponsors, and their guests. The exhibit will be open to the public and Cole Porter Festival goers from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. that day. Admission is free, although charitable contributions to the Arts Council would be appreciated. 

The Arts Council was an initiative started by the Community Foundation, which functions as a convener, bringing people and ideas together to find positive outcomes for Miami County. The Community Foundation is best known for distributing grants and scholarships. Since inception, it has put over $3 million to work for Miami County and its residents.

New Grant Opportunity for Miami County
February 2008

By pooling their wisdom and resources, the women of Miami County are making a difference through their membership in the Boomerang Sisterhood.

"When you give to your community, you get such a great feeling in return. That's how the Boomerang Sisterhood came to be named," explained the Associate Director of the Miami County Community Foundation, Jenni Marsh. "We are an all-inclusive group of women, working to create a better community."

The Boomerang Sisters fulfill this mission through their dues, an annual contribution of $120 to the Boomerang Sisterhood Fund with the Community Foundation. Half of the dues are distributed that year through grants. The other half is protected so it can yield interest for future granting cycles. Annually, all the paid members have the opportunity to vote and select which projects receive funding.

For its first grant cycle, the Boomerang Sisterhood has approximately $4,000 available to grant. It is an amount they hope will increase over the years. Applications are available at the Community Resource Center at 13 E. Main Street, Peru or on-line at www.nicf.org/miami/grants.html.

Grant projects must be charitable in nature, but organizations are not required to have 501(c)3 status. The application is relatively easy, according to Marsh.

"Since we're not dealing with a huge sum of money, we wanted to be sure applicants didn't have to go through a bunch of unnecessary hoops," Marsh said. "We also wanted to be sure that new organizations and projects had the opportunity to apply for funding, too."

Applications are due at the Community Resource Center by 4 p.m. on Friday, April 4. All applications must be turned in on time to be considered for a grant. The Boomerang Sisterhood's Grant Committee will process the applications to be sure they are acceptable, and they will select finalists. At the spring meeting of the Sisterhood, the finalists will be presented and the members will vote upon who will receive funding.

"The Boomerang Sisterhood is an opportunity for the caretakers of our county to work together and meet our community's needs, without having to go to a lot of meetings or having extended responsibilities," Marsh added.

Those interested in applying for funds, or in becoming a Boomerang Sister, should contact the Community Foundation at 765-475-2859 or e-mail miami@nicf.org

BOOKS Program Puts Inspiration in the Hands
and Homes of Miami County Kindergarteners
September 2007

Books offer all sorts of things for children, but mostly success. Kids who develop a love of reading and learning are more likely to succeed in school and life. That's why a group of educators is working hard to raise money to buy Miami County kindergarteners a new book that they can take home and keep, every month that they are in school. This initiative is made possible through a new program called "BOOKS" Books Offer Our Kids Success, and is being administered by the Miami County Community Foundation.

"The enthusiasm of the students as they begin to learn to read is infectious," commented Reading Recovery educator, Kim Martino. "Our hope is that their enthusiasm will spread through their whole family, and everyone will take the opportunity to enjoy reading together."

Martino teaches at Elmwood Primary Learning Center. A previous employee of Peru Schools initiated the effort to collect donations to buy books for school children in years past, and Martino wanted to carry on that tradition. She also wanted to see other Miami County kindergarteners benefit as those in Peru had done, so she contacted educators throughout the county, and began fundraising in earnest. This school year kindergarteners in North Miami, Maconaquah, Peru, and St. Charles will receive books.

Donors can designate which school, or schools, should receive books purchased with their gift. Recognition of donors will be given in the books purchased with their gift and through media releases. Every dollar given buys one book. So a gift of $30 will purchase enough books for one to two classes. A gift of $450 buys a month's supply of books for the entire county.

"Thanks to the generosity of donors we have enough funds to purchase books up through December," Martino explained. "We need funds for the remainder of the school year, as well as for the program's sustainability."

Martino hopes there will be a day when the teachers don't have to work so hard to raise funds every year. Psi Iota Xi, the philanthropic sorority, has taken steps toward reaching this goal. Several years ago the sorority created a permanently endowed fund with the Community Foundation. The purpose was to support their charitable work. The sorority voted recently to change the purpose of that fund, so it now supports BOOKS.

"We are so appreciative of the sorority's support of this program," Associate Director of the Community Foundation, Jenni Marsh said. "Not only will their fund provide on-going support for BOOKS forever, but it gives other donors a vehicle to make a gift that will last forever. Because the fund is permanently endowed, the principal of the gift is protected so it will last for perpetuity, thereby giving the program some sustainability as well as the potential for growth."

Martino said the first books to be distributed will be "If You Give a Pig a Pancake," by Laura Numeroff and "Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse," by Kevin Henkes.

"These are great books that are fun to read," Martino enthused, "We hope the kindergarteners and their families enjoy reading them together!"

Questions about the BOOKS program should be directed to Jenni Marsh at the Community Foundation, by calling 765-475-2859 or e-mail miami@nicf.org.