Volunteering

Make Marshall County Match Madness Stellar for Culver

by

When you donate to eligible endowment funds at the Marshall County Community Foundation on Thursday, May 25, 10% will be added to your gift! Do you need more reasons to donate? Here are mine…

I became a MCCF board member because I see the transformational work the MCCF accomplishes and knew some of the important community leaders that had served before me. Leaders such as Richard Ford, John Zeglis, Carolyn Kline and Barbara Winters. The privilege of working with them or following in their footsteps has been an honor. I strive to do justice to them.

I serve on the MCCF grants committee where I see how unrestricted funds are used to support causes in the community. Through this I’ve learned about many of the good people and organizations throughout our county that make a difference. I’ve been able to support fledgling groups like the Culver Community High School Archery Club and Culver Main Street get off the ground, and helped the Culver Boys and Girls Club and the Lake Maxinkuckee Environmental Council expand their mission. Do you love the West Pavilion on Lake Maxinkuckee? A MCCF grant helped restore that Culver treasure!

I also serve on the MCCF investment committee where I see the time, effort and careful consideration that goes into marshaling the Foundation’s funds to do the most good while keeping an eye on the conservation of their value.

I became a MCCF contributor for various reasons. I have given to the unrestricted fund to help support those groups that come before the grants committee. I have donated to dedicated funds that support causes with missions I believe in, such as Hospice and Habitat for Humanity. And finally, I have contributed to remember and honor friends. I served on the Culver Chamber of Commerce board of directors for over a decade and lost two friends who were fellow board members during that time. For that reason I have contributed to honor the memory of those friends, Ron Tusing and Marianne Ransdell, both of which have memorial funds that give scholarships to CCHS students.

For those of you familiar with Marshall County Community Foundation, you’ll see Marshall County Match Madness as an opportunity to make your charitable donation go further. For those of you unfamiliar with the Foundation, get to know them!

On Thursday, May 25, make sure to donate at: www.marshallcountycf.org and 10% will be added to your gift. Or, you can go to the Community Resource Center at 510 West Adams Street, Plymouth, and talk to nonprofits and MCCF staff and ask any questions you may have.

Remember, Marshall County Match Madness is on May 25. Let’s make this a stellar day for Culver!

 

Kevin L. Berger

MCCF Board Member

History of MCEDC’s County Development for the Future Program

by

Jonathan Leist, Culver Town Manager, asked me to help him in a forum presentation on Community Collaboration at the Indiana Municipal Management Association (IMMA) annual meeting at Swan Lake Resort on Thursday. Kevin Overmyer was to be the original speaker in my position, but he had to attend the Bill signing in Indy that day and backed out. As Jonathan said, Kevins are interchangeable. He also asked Chuck Kitchell, Interim CSC Superintendent, to participate to help discuss the shared programs between the town and the school.

Jonathan wanted me to give history of the County Development for the Future program since it was an example of community collaboration on a larger scale. He asked me to give examples of collaboration that came from the program and talk about how it had morphed to meet needs over the years. I thought a synopsis of that discussion might be interesting to others here, so here you go!

Read more

Stellar FAQ from Culver Citizen

by

There was an article in the Culver Citizen on April 7th answering Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about the Stellar Communities program and the Town of Culver‘s plans to compete for the award again this year.

Culver competed in 2016 and was a finalist. The Town has been encouraged by the State Agencies sponsoring the program to compete again this year. The Town Council and the Town’s Stellar Committee have again taken up this challenge. I’ve include the article to the right and the continuation can be seen here.

Robotics Challenge

by
Competition underway in the PHS gym

Last month Plymouth High School hosted the Vex Robotics challenge. This is the second year that they’ve hosted the challenge.  Becky and I attended again this year and again were blown away by the kids. Watching what the kids have built is impressive to start with, but add to that the strategy and teamwork involved and the the challenge shows up with lots of dimensions.

Each year the challenge is different, but some of the premise is the same. In a nutshell, there are head to head challenges using the robots, first a pre-programmed challenge followed by a battle using remote controls. The teams then have to form alliances to battle in the final competitions.

I take a personal interest in this program as I feel I played a part in it’s inception. As a member of the Marshall County Community Foundation (MCCF) Grants Committee, I was assigned the review of the grant application for the funds that helped get the program off the ground. I was so blown away by the two high school kids that were the impetus behind the program that I couldn’t help, but advocate for them before the committee.  The video below shows one of the robots and its creators that impressed me so much. They blew away the competition.

If you get the chance to go, I recommend it. These are some of the kids that will be in charge of our future.