2020 Designated Grants Awarded
Watching his mother struggle with extreme eye issues and multiple surgeries motivated Jim Sutherin to want to help others. He used an inheritance to, along with his wife, Gayle, create the Sutherin Family Eye Care Fund at Marion Community Foundation in 2012. Every year since then, the Sutherin Fund has awarded a grant to the Center Street Community Health Center, specifically for their ophthalmic care, treatment, and services.
“Mother had several surgeries and they were expensive,” Sutherin said. “I knew there had to be others who needed assistance and we wanted to be part of that help.”
The Sutherins are fond of helping. Marion residents since 1975, they have expressed their love of the community and its people though volunteering and donating to numerous community causes—OhioHealth Marion General Hospice, their church, Love INC, and the Hauling Hope furniture ministry they founded. Both have served First Presbyterian Church as elders, deacons, and trustees.
The Sutherin’s fund is one of 57 designated funds at Marion Community Foundation. This type of fund is for the donor who wishes to support a specific – or designated – nonprofit organization or charity throughout their lifetime and beyond. This year, Marion Community Foundation’s designated funds have awarded $443,000 to Marion area charities to help their donors achieve specific philanthropic goals and benefit the Marion community.
“We are grateful for donors with the generosity and heart that Jim and Gayle have made tangible with their designated fund,” said Julie Prettyman, Vice President and Director of Programs at Marion Community Foundation. “Designated funds help the community year after year.”
“When a donor has a special affinity for a particular charity, because they volunteer for it or it helped them in some way, they may wish to support it permanently,” said Dean Jacob, President and CEO of Marion Community Foundation. “This is the case with Jim and Gayle Sutherin and other designated fund creators. It’s a way to permanently tie their name to that organization and cause which means so much to them. Like all of our endowed funds, awards are made in the donors’ names each year, forever.”
According to Jacob, designated funds are an important part of a much larger picture at the Foundation – along with community grants, donor advised funds, field of interest funds, unrestricted funds, and scholarships – all of which total about $2 million annually to help the Marion community.
In addition to the Sutherin Family Eye Care Fund, Marion Community Foundation’s 2020 designated funds, the causes they support, and the grant recipients are as follows:
Parks & Environment
Dr. & Mrs. Glen Burton Jr Memorial Fund – to Prairie Parks Foundation
Terradise Nature Preserve Fund – to Prairie Parks Foundation
Don & Deb Alspach Fund – to Prairie Parks Foundation
Jerry Davis Prairie Parks Foundation Fund – to Prairie Parks Foundation
Education
Jean Zoeller Reas Endowment Fund – to Calvert High School & St. Ursula Academy
Arthur J. & Jo Ann Radwin Journalism Fund – for journalism education
Prexy Play Scholarship Fund – for pay-to-participate fees at Harding and Grant
Marion Public Library Endowment Fund – to Marion Public Library
Let’s Read 20 Endowment Fund – for early literacy in Marion schools, daycares, preschools
Judge William Wiedemann Family Fund – for Marion Technical College student scholarships
Judge William Wiedemann Family Fund – for Ohio State Marion student clubs and programs
Farison Family Helping Hands Fund – for Pleasant students’ sports fees, uniforms and supplies and standardized testing (ACT & SAT) fees
Pleasant Music Boosters Fund – to Pleasant Music Boosters
Jacob R. Cannon Memorial Fund – for Ridgedale sports fees, uniforms and supplies
Stephen J. Chaney Memorial Scholarship Fund – for St. Mary School tuition assistance
James C. Cooper’s St. Mary Church Fund – to St. Mary School
Faith-Based
Jean Zoeller Reas Endowment Fund – to St. Mary Parish, Tiffin, Ohio
A. Merle Hamilton Funds – to Centenary United Methodist Church, Central Christian Church and Epworth United Methodist Church
Parrott Family Emanuel Lutheran Church Fund – to Emanuel Lutheran Church
Lust Family Fund – to Emanuel Lutheran Church’s Ackerman Medical Fund
Epworth United Methodist Church Fund – to Epworth United Methodist Church
Gene & Jan Farison Family Fund – to Epworth United Methodist Church
Meredythe & John McDaniel Fund – to Epworth United Methodist Church
Joe Slanser Fund – to Epworth United Methodist Church
William D. & Alice L. Young Fund – to First Church of the Brethren
Daniel H. Zimmerman Presbyterian Church Fund – to First Presbyterian Church
Norma Jacob St. Vincent de Paul Society Fund – for food and clothing to low-income Marion residents
Gene & Jan Farison Family Fund – to Epworth United Methodist Church
Health & Wellness
Sutherin Family Eye Care Fund – for Center Street Community Health Center ophthalmic services
Gladys Simpson & Melvin Ulery Memorial Fund – for Center Street Community Health Center medical & dental care
Dan Zimmerman & JoAnn Zimmerman YMCA Fund – to Marion Family YMCA
Marion Family YMCA “Doc” Butterworth Fund – for Marion Family YMCA scholarships for youth memberships
Wopat Family YMCA Fund – to Marion Family YMCA
Merle & Evelyn Lashey YMCA Fund – to Marion Family YMCA
Nobel F. Hollaway YMCA Scholarship Fund – to Marion Family YMCA
Fout-Price Memorial Fund – for Marion General Hospital Hospice
Arts, History & Culture
Huber Museum Fund – to Edward Huber Memorial Association
Joe Slanser Fund – to Marion Union Station
Jerry & Betty L. Davis Palace Theatre Fund – to Marion Palace Theatre
Linn School Endowment Fund – to Marion County Historical Society
David K. Miller Fund – to Marion County Historical Society
A. Merle Hamilton Marion Co. Historical Society Fund – to Marion County Historical Society
Meredythe and John McDaniel Fund – to Marion Palace Theatre
Kenny Martin Charitable Fund – to Marion Palace Theatre & Marion Union Station
Poorman Palace Theatre Fund – to Marion Palace Theatre
Mary H. Hollaway Palace Theatre Fund – to Marion Palace Theatre
Gene & Jan Farison Family Fund – to Marion Palace Theatre
F. Riley Hall and Geraldine A. Hall Memorial Fund – to Stengel-True Museum
Warren G. Harding Home & Presidential Center Fund – to Warren G. Harding Home & Presidential Center
Marion Palace Theatre Perpetual Care Fund – to Marion Palace Theatre
Community Development
Betty L. Davis Fund III – to League of Women Voters
Kenny Martin Charitable Fund – for community grants
JoAnn Radwin-Zimmerman Bridge Out of Poverty Fund – to Marion Matters
Marion Matters Endowment Fund – to Marion Matters
Children, Families & Seniors
Thomas E. Ruzzo Endowment Fund – to Marion Family Court’s Family Resource Center
Food, Shelter & Support
Leapin’ Outreach Center Fund – to Leapin’ Outreach Center
Legal Aid Society Endowment Fund – to Legal Aid Society-Marion
Betty L. Davis Fund – to Marion Area Counseling Center
Marion County Red Cross Endowment Fund – to Marion County Red Cross
Jack V. & Violet M. Griffith Family Fund – to Marion Shelter Program
Pamela Stone United Way Impact Fund – to United Way of Marion County
Gene & Jan Farison Family Fund – to United Way of Marion County
Judge William Wiedemann Family Fund – to United Way of Marion County
SSG Shannon M. Smith “No Fear” Fund – to Wounded Warrior Project
Animal Care
Mary H. Hollaway Humane Society Fund – to Marion Area Humane Society
Marion Community Foundation is a leader in local planned giving, with more than 360 charitable funds supporting the people and communities of Marion County. It is located inside the Stengel-True Museum at 504 S. State St. The Foundation’s offices are operating on limited hours due to the coronavirus pandemic with the staff working remotely. They may be contacted by calling 740-387-9704 or online at www.MarionCommunityFoundation.org.
