OHOP awards $10K to running clubs

By Sue Hughes | For The Times-Post

PENDLETON — Open Hearts, Open Purses, the South Madison Community Foundation’s women’s giving circle, voted to award its top grant — $10,000 — to Pendleton Elementary School to expand running programs to other schools.
The vote by members took place during OHOP’s annual gathering last week at the Crystal Coop in Anderson.
PES plans to use funds to expand its Sole Sisters (girls) and Band of Brothers (boys) running clubs at South Madison Community School Corp.’s two other elementary schools, East and Maple Ridge.
“We will use money to expand and to buy snacks and more equipment for our group,” fifth-grade PES teacher Sara Ragan said upon accepting the grant at the Thursday, June 13, event.
This is the 15th year for OHOP, in which women pay $100 to join. The first 100 membership fees fund a $10,000 grant. Membership fees beyond that are used to make smaller grants, to remaining finalist(s) and others.
OHOP had 177 members this year, raising $17,700.
There were nine applicants for this year’s top grant, a number that was reduced to two finalists by a seven-member committee. All OHOP members could vote during awards night for the top grant winner.
Speaking to the crowd before the vote, PES Principal Melissa Hagerman said one student told her Sole Sisters is the best part of Thursdays. When the boys heard about the girls group, they wanted one of their own, so they formed Band of Brothers.
Ragan added, “Our ultimate goal is to take it through all of Pendleton elementary schools.”
Pendleton Artists Society was the other finalist for a grant. It received a $5,000 OHOP grant.
PAS wanted the money to help pay for the installation of four 8-by-10-foot durable metal frames on the outside of the eastern wall of Gallery 119, the home to PAS, located at 119 W. State St.
PAS President George Harris said the cost of the project would be about $14,000.
“We will start working immediately if we get the $10,000,” PAS member Karen Zane said.
Zane later said planning for the PAS project is ongoing and work will begin as soon as all the financing is secured.
The remaining $2,700 of OHOP funds were awarded to the parks in Pendleton, Lapel, Ingalls and Markleville.
There’s also a Junior OHOP for girls 17 and younger. Its membership fee is $25, and it votes for its own winner.
Junior OHOP had 27 members this year and also voted for PES, awarding its $675 to the running club effort.
Open Hearts, Open Purses was founded in 2009 with 103 members.
On June 13, event Chairwoman Jill Sizemore welcomed members and reminisced about the past 15 years of the club.
“We have changed and evolved over the years,” she said. “We now have the OHOP Shop, which sells several items with the OHOP logo. All proceeds go into the endowment.”
“I have the best board; they are fantastic,” said Tammy Bowman, executive director of the community foundation. “OHOP is our largest donor-advised fund. A group of neighbors come together every year in an ever-changing body.”
In addition to its OHOP grants, the foundation also announced its inaugural Heart of Gold award in honor of the late Mary Jo Lee.
The Heart of Gold was created to recognize an individual who has made a difference in the non-profit community, and a grant is awarded to an organization in that person’s name.
Lee, who died in March, was instrumental in creating Alternatives Inc., an organization that works to end domestic and sexual violence.
Alternatives received a $2,000 grant from OHOP’s endowment fund. That fund includes money from various sources, including additional donations from OHOP members beyond the $100 membership fee, proceeds from purchases at the OHOP Shop and proceeds from silent auctions.
OHOP member Rachel Christenson described Lee as “a voice for the voiceless — her greatest legacy is the lives she touched.”