As you can see in the grants we make and the partnerships we seek, the Community Foundation is committed to strategies that help people lead healthy lives. We hear the people of our community say that is what they want, both in access to care and in changes to their environment that help us all make healthy choices.
Today at 2 p.m. and on Feb. 21 at 5 p.m., you can be part of two gatherings and show support for ways to help us all lead healthy lives.
Today, Feb. 15, the Public Safety Committee of the Birmingham City Council is holding a public hearing on a proposed Smokefree Air Ordinance which will strengthen the current law. The meeting is set to start at 2 p.m. in City Council Chambers at Birmingham City Hall, 710 North 20th Street downtown.
On Feb. 21, from 5:30 to 7 p.m., the Freshwater Land Trust, Health Action Partnership and Regions Bank invite everyone to join a celebration to unveil the Jefferson County Greenway Master Plan and announce the winner of the contest to name the greenway. This is part of Our One Mile, a community input process that allowed all of us to participate by highlighting our favorite sidewalks, paths and bike routes.
A lot of hard work has gone on behind the scenes for both of these efforts and will continue as long as our community continues to push to become the healthiest place we can be. We hope you will join us in supporting these policy and planning efforts, or learn more about our efforts as part of the Health Action Partnership.
Did you attend one of the community meetings for Our One Mile or submit your ideas on-line? Do you wonder what happened to all those great ideas for the routes that you travel most often or the places you wish you could get to by foot or bicycle?
See the results on Tuesday, Feb. 21, when Regions Bank and the Freshwater Land Trust unveil the Our One Mile greenway master plan, along with the overall name for the system, also chosen out of so many submitted by people across our community.
Our One Mile is really OUR one mile, because this is the system that will help to guide the Freshwater Land Trust and others. It fits several important strategies for the Community Foundation, as we seek to expand and improve public green space in order to keep our communities are sustainable, livable and vibrant and as we work with a variety of initiatives through the Health Action Partnership so people can lead healthy lives.
Find out more about this special event, which starts at 5:30 p.m. at the Birmingham Museum of Art, or contact Heather Forbush for questions or to RSVP.
So you would rather use your phone to give? No problem. Thanks to a special partnership, you can make a gift of $10 (minus $1 processing fee).
To support tornado recovery through the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham on Alabama Gives Day, text CHANGE [space] CFGB to 84465 to give $10!*
Other nonprofit organizations participating in this great day of giving on Feb. 2 will have their own special code, so look for it and stretch yourself to make more than one gift during this 24-hour period.
Our thanks to all the partners who are making possible these many options for giving. Join us and be part of a truly special day for philanthropy in our generous state.
*$10.00 donation to Alabama Gives Day. Charges will appear on your wireless bill, or be deducted from your prepaid balance. All purchases must be authorized by account holder. Must be 18 years of age or have parental permission to participate. Message and Data Rates May Apply. Text STOP to 84465 to STOP. Text HELP to 84465 for HELP. Full Terms: mGive.org/T. Privacy Policy.
Erin Stephenson was the keynote speaker for the January meeting of the Greater Shelby County Chamber of Commerce on Jan. 25, sharing good news about the work of the Community Foundation to drive positive change across the Birmingham region and especially in Shelby County.
Her “visual aid” was Ken Jackson, a longtime business leader in Hoover and Shelby County and an enthusiastic partner with the Community Foundation. Ken has long had an Advised Fund at the Community Foundation and recently made a gift of $250,000 to establish a Field of Interest Fund.
Working together like this — passionate and generous donor with experienced philanthropy expert — was more than just a good combination for a speech. It also represents the way we do business every day, seeking partners who share our vision of doing more together than anyone can do alone.
As Erin stressed, the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham is not just one person’s foundation — like the Gates Foundation. The Community Foundation was created by and continues to be supported by a community of donors — some in the past and some, like Ken, very much still involved — who want to make the most of their giving by doing it together.
Erin welcomes questions at any time, or you can explore our website to find out more about how we work with donors to improve the life of our region.
How can you make a difference? When problems sound big, like the millions needed for tornado recovery, nobody thinks they can do anything with a small gift.
Everything the Community Foundation has been able to do came from people who gave whatever they could. If you bought a ticket to the Bama Rising concert or a T-shirt to mark that great event, you gave to tornado recovery. If you made a gift on line to one of our tornado funds, you helped somebody somewhere finish repairing or rebuilding their home. Together, hundreds of generous people have raised more than $3 million.
Now you have a special chance to give and join others in making a BIG difference. Take a look at this video about the change that even small change can make in our whole state on Feb. 2, the first-ever Alabama Gives Day. Together, even the coins in your pocket add up to something big, for tornado recovery and for all the great nonprofit organizations across our state.
February 2, 2012, will be a special day for nonprofit organizations across Alabama. Make sure your favorite charity has a chance to benefit on the first-ever Alabama Gives Day.
The Alabama Association of Nonprofits and the Alabama Broadcasters Association are conducting this 24-hour fu
ndraising extravaganza as a way to support all the nonprofit organizations that make our state special. If you work for a nonprofit organization, be sure to learn more on-line about how you can participate. If you are a donor with a favorite cause, be sure that organizations knows about this opportunity to jump-start the new year with a special day of giving.
Organizations have until January 15, 2012, to fill out the forms and provide the information needed. Even in this busy holiday season, it’s worth a moment to check this out for your own organization or to pass on the information. Contact Russell Jackson at the Association of Nonprofits if you need more information.
November is a special month for giving thanks. That makes this also a great time to remember the work of nonprofits across Alabama, as Gov. Robert Bentley did in making sure that Alabama was part of the national Nonprofit Awareness Month.
Even better, this week is Community Foundation Week across the nation, giving us an excuse to celebrate the great work we do together, community foundations and nonprofit organizations across the state.
As Bentley’s proclamation says, every person in Alabama benefits from almost 21,000 nonprofit organizations in Alabama do to strengthen “our social fabric, public policy, culture, sense of community, and future.”
Nonprofits — including community foundations — employ more than 227,000 Alabamians, pay $9.7 billion in annual wages and generate $12.4 billion in annual revenues, according to statistics from the Alabama Association of Nonprofits. And community foundations across our nation work side-by-side with front-line nonprofits to gain the results we all want for our communities.
Join us with a gift to your favorite nonprofit, to the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham or by making sure to include your favorite local charity in your will. Just as nonprofits matter, so do you and your support!
Our annual Community Builders luncheon is always a great event, because we are taking time to celebrate the generosity of people who are giving to the future through a gift or bequest. When that happens, our whole community wins!
What will be the greatest need 50 years from now, when our Community Foundation is in its second century of service? That’s hard to know, but the Community Builders of today are making sure they provide for whatever that need may be.
What will be the greatest opportunity to do something special that really makes a difference? Our crystal ball can’t predict that either, but we can say that the dollars we have today, thanks to Community Builders from the past, help us every day as we work for results that we all want.
If you are already a Community Builder, with a gift set aside through your will or estate plan, we thank you, even if you haven’t told us about it. You can be proud of what you help us accomplish all year round and especially on November 10, 2011, when we celebrate together with a preview of the new facility for Children’s of Alabama.
For more information about how you can become a Community Builder, if you are not already, contact Erin Stephenson. Or check here for a list of our current Community Builders.
Following two overview sessions to learn more about new grant possibilities from the Women’s Breast Health Fund, you can now download the Grant Guidelines to determine whether your organization wishes to apply. The Women’s Breast Health Fund, an innovative Field of Interest Fund of the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham, is seeking innovative programs that address priorities and action steps of the 2011 Breast Health Community Assessment, recently completed by WBHF and Susan G. Komen for the Cure North Central Alabama.
Get additional details from Kathryn Corey.
Download the Grant Guidelines here: WBHF Grant Guidelines 2012
Kirby Sevier
For the seventh year, our community honors a professional advisor for playing an important role in philanthropy. The Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham Professional Advisor Award, created in 2005 in partnership with the Association of Fundraising Professionals, and awarded as part of Alabama’s National Philanthropy Day, honors Kirby Sevier this year at the 30th annual event on November 15, 2011.
Previous winners were Harold Apolinsky, Charles Powell IV, Jerry Lanning, Judy Todd, Tom Armstrong and Lloyd Wilson. Each one illustrates in a unique way how attorneys, accountants, financial planners, trust officers and other advisors can be part of changing the world through philanthropy and all provide wonderful examples of the awards criteria:
- High professional standing in a field such as law, accountancy, insurance, financial planning, banking and investment services.
- Proven involvement with clients in financial, estate and gift planning, demonstrating a responsibility to promote the charitable good and showing results in significant current or planned giving to local charities
- Leadership in promoting the advisor role in charitable giving among fellow professionals, including service to professional organizations such as Alabama Planned Giving Council and the Estate Planning Council
- Pro bono services, personal contributions and volunteer work, including leadership positions with local nonprofit organizations.
The Community Foundation Professional Advisor Award is just one of seven top awards made annually at National Philanthropy Day. Congratulations go also to the other honorees for the 2011 awards:
Virginia B. and William M. Spencer Outstanding Philanthropists: Mike and Gillian Goodrich
Outstanding Civic Leader: Garland Cook Smith
Outstanding Youth in Philanthropy: Alison “Alie B” Gorrie
Outstanding Corporate Citizen: Colonial Properties
Outstanding Charitable Organization: Impact Alabama
William S. Roth Outstanding Fundraising Executive: Coke S. Matthews III
To find out more or reserve your spot for the 4 p.m. event at The Club, get more information from the AFP Alabama website.
On Feb. 21, from 5:30 to 7 p.m., the Freshwater Land Trust, Health Action Partnership and Regions Bank invite everyone to join a celebration to unveil the Jefferson County Greenway Master Plan and announce the winner of the contest to name the greenway. This is part of Our One Mile, a community input process that allowed all of us to participate by highlighting our favorite sidewalks, paths and bike routes.