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Unique summer programs for kids keep them out of trouble and intellectually engaged.?
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For Joe Wojcik, a senior vice president at Huntington Bank, helping youngsters navigate through childhood is a priority. ?Anything I can do to make a kid?s life better makes me happy,? Wojcik said.?
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A few miles from town, the Wilderness Center in Wilmot provides programs that foster appreciation for the area?s natural resources.?
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What the Wilderness Center and more than 50 local kids programs have in common is one of the area?s best-kept secrets: The Stark Community Foundation (SCF), a charitable foundation that allows its donors to continue giving for generations.?
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?Wojcik and his 19-year-old daughter, Julia, frequently visit various nonprofit agencies and make recommendations about grants from their SCF fund.?
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?I?ve been here all my life,? he explained. ?I went to Belle Stone School and McKinley High School ? the old McKinley. Stark County is a special place to me. I want to make Stark County better.
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?It?s my home. It?s investing in my home.?
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CATALYST FOR GIVING
In 2012, SCF issued a unique challenge: The organization would pledge up to $500,000 in matching funds for every donation of $10,000 or more.
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The half-million dollars was matched in 25 days.
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Jerry Schroer said he learned about the foundation?s 2012 matching funds campaign from an acquaintance.
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?It really was something that was a pretty easy decision,? he said.?
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Based in the former Hoover building in North Canton, the Schroer Co. has about 250 employees. It encompasses the Altercare skilled nursing facilities, Absolute Health, a pharmacy and Avalon Foods in Canal Fulton.
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Like Wojcik, Schroer said his family?s fund is aimed at helping children and underprivileged individuals.
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?This community has been very good to our family,? said Schroer, who moved to the Canton area in 1988. ?You never feel you can say ?thank you? enough. Mom and Dad used to say all along that their success was a blessing, but that it couldn?t have been achieved without help from others.?
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To kick off its 50th anniversary, the foundation again is offering to match funds through its ?give BIG Stark County? program, which will go through Dec. 31 or when SCF?s $500,000 is met.?
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STRENGTH IN NUMBERS
SCF has been involved in multiple big-name projects while remaining relatively behind the scenes, including the SummerTime Kids grant initiative, which doles out grants of $500 to $2,000 to summer programs that focus on character and community service. More than $1 million in grants were given during the 2013 awards.?
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Kids aren?t the only ones seeing the money, however.
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In total, SCF has given more than $111 million in grants since its inception in 1963, including $250,000 to help renovate the Palace Theatre and $750,000 to assist in revamping the Stark County Courthouse.?
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?The most rewarding thing I see here is the amount of good that goes on behind the scenes that the average person never sees or knows about,? said SCF President Mark J. Samolczyk. ?There are so many charitable people in this community who don?t want publicity for the work they do.?
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WHY IT WORKS
SCF allows a donor to create a fund that continues to grow by adding each fund to a total pool of more than $182 million. Because of the asset size, SCF has access to more investment options than the average investor.?
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A statement is sent out once a quarter that alerts donors to the health of their fund and allows them to suggest a charity of their choice. Separate from the donor-advised fund, but still a part of the $182 million in assets, is the community charitable fund. A board decides where those grants go.?
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Bridgette L. Neisel, SCF?s vice president of advancement, said the foundation?s success is indicative of how much donors value what it stands for.
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?Our main goal is to assist donors and others in the community to (foster) the most effective charities possible,? she said. ?In doing that, we?re going to strengthen the community.? SCF is ranked one of the top 10 community-based foundations in the United States.
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GRASSROOTS
Neisel said the foundation has built a good relationship with local nonprofits through regular interaction. ?We do it every day,? she said.?
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Since 1997, the foundation has awarded $2 million in grants to neighborhood associations.
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?It?s truly at the grassroots level of empowering people in their neighborhoods,? she said. ?We speak to the whole community. We?re able to work with donors to empower them to have the most effective philanthropy possible by providing them with knowledge and resources.?
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Neisel said the common thread among donors is they want to make a difference in their community and leave a legacy. Currently, there are 548 funds.?
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The foundation views itself as a strong supporter of local charities and agencies ? not as a competitor for donors.
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?We don?t say, ?Come support our cause,? ? she said. ?We ask, ?What is your cause?? We?re not competing with nonprofits; we?re looking to strengthen nonprofits.?
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Recently, ArtsinStark joined the foundation, bringing its $17.2 million in assets, the single largest new fund SCF has received.
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HISTORY
The originally named Stark County Foundation got its footing in 1963 after $2.1 million in assets from the Edward A. Langenbach Trust was transferred to the fund and coupled with matching money from the Timken Foundation. Langenbach was a successful banker and a senior executive at Berger Manufacturing and the Central Alloy Co. He died in 1934.
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William H. Belden, George L. Deal, George H. Deuble, Ben M. Dryer and Richard O. Parker were the first distribution committee members. Wilbur D. Hunter was the first executive secretary.
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The first grant ? $30,000 ? was awarded to the fledgling Wilderness Center in 1966 to acquire a 20-acre lot.
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The foundation?s Scholarship and Loan program was started in 1972. Today, it consists of 80 funds topping $16 million. The foundation?s first Donor Advised Fund was established by the Merlin Schneider family.
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James Bower became the foundation?s first full-time director in 1988, serving through 2009. Under Bower, the foundation grew from $26 million to $153 million.
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In 2006, in a nod to local history, the organization moved into the Foundations Centre, the former and historic St. Edward?s Hotel at 400 Market Ave. N.
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?A BIT SELFISH??
Samolczyk said the foundation?s 50 years of success is reflective of Stark Countians? dedication to community service.?
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Noting that he?s involved in a number of regional organizations, Samolczyk said, ?Every time I talk to people about the things we do in Stark County, they?re always very impressed with how well community works for the common purpose. When we?re immersed in it, we don?t always see it, but it was one of my ?aha? moments, seeing how this community works together.?
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Joe Wojcik said the Stark Community Foundation not only enables people like him to ?pay it forward? but also to enjoy doing it.
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?The reason I give is because I like it,? he said with a laugh. ?When many people give, they say ?I?m doing it to help others,? and that?s nice. But ultimately, I?m doing it because it makes me feel good, it?s a bit selfish. And again, particularly because of children. If you can change child?s life, it makes it worth it.?
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