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Editor: Jill Spitzer
What a great way to honor Diana Venable---a hugely successful auction was held at today’s meeting which will enable several deserving high school students to attend college.
President Stan called the meeting to order, after the silent auction closed. Lewis Linson introduced Diane Martin as our newest member and the 16th annual Fish Across the Border event was announced by Bob Fletcher. Some much needed revenue was procured by fining newlywed Sue Maddox and Symphony supporter Ward Gill via his proxy, Ben Clay.
Joe Dee Jacob, our Chair of the Day, introduced our speaker Matthew Hervey. Matthew, a recovering attorney, is now involved in the world of philanthropy, thanks to his generous parents who bequeathed $85 million to set up a family foundation.
He offered us 5 lessons he’s learned since working at his foundation:
1. Philanthropy begins at home. He encourages his family to talk about it over dinner or whenever they get a chance.
2. Start small, stick to both the budget and the commitment
3. Let go of the money. He told the story of how his mother made the decision to set up the foundation and therefore bypass giving a great deal of money to the family.
4. Participate in the grant making. He’s made the foundation a family affair, encouraging his kids to get involved by researching non-profits, visiting them, reading their annual reports, so they can make informed decisions.
5. Donate before someone else donates before you.
Given the day’s activities, this was a great presentation. The Club was introduced to Sandy Sophal, our 1st Diana Venable Scholarship recipient. So far, we’ve raised $185,000 for the Scholarship Fund with a goal of $600,000 in 10 years. Our auctioneer Mike Hogan added $10,950 to the day’s proceeds with the live auction and Jim Hughes announced the raffle ticket winners.
The check out process was very efficient thanks to C.J. McAuliffe’s team of Jo Dee, David Oates, Paul Hartley III, Doug Gordon, Kevin Ward, Joy Hamer and Jen Martino. This group must have had cashiering experience at a bank, a restaurant or a big box retailer because they processed all the payments by Club 33 members and guests in 20 minutes!
I think Diana is smiling…….
Photos by Paul Nestor & Bruce Hunt
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