Through my involvement as a board member of the Shenandoah Community Foundation I am well aware of how our community benefits from the Foundation. There is a tremendous amount of caring and sharing with those in need among our residents. However, many people just don't have the time or skills to successfully create and administer lasting ways to give. The Foundation provides a simple enduring way for citizens to make a lasting difference to causes that matter to them personally. The Foundation also provides grants to small, local charities that make a big difference locally. Many small charities have energetic volunteers to help their causes, but just need a small amount of funding to do their work. The Shenandoah Community Foundation, through its very simple annual grant process, is able to provide funds that really leverage the work of these caring volunteers. Serving the Shenandoah Community Foundation as a board member has opened my eyes to many good causes and caring people in our community. John Adamson

I will be a new member starting in January 2013. When my son Mike died in 2007 my husband and his twin brother wanted to establish a scholarship in his memory. In researching what would be the best way to start we were told about SCF. We liked the idea that in establishing a scholarship that the foundation would guide us and help to get it started. In talking to Elizabeth Cottrell she was very helpful and soon we were able to send our donations to the foundation. Since 2007 our son continues to get donations toward the scholarship in his name. We as a family have worked hard to continue keeping his memory alive and help a Strasburg High School student attend college with a $3,000.00 scholarship awarded every year since 2008. Several years ago we were able to purchase a food trailer and we call it"Mike's Diner." At different events in our area we sell food at our trailer and all the money goes toward the Michael J. Morehead Scholarship Fund. I look forward to serving on the board and know how important the scholarships we have given are to the students. The thank you notes we have received make it worthwhile and rewarding. Our son Mike would be proud of how we've continued helping those student go to college and keeping his name alive in our hearts.

I had a difficult time deciding if I should write a review of the SCF as a member of a recipient organization of a grant, a past board member or an advisor. I was on the initial board when this organization was formed, I am now on the advisory committee and I am currently volunteering with two different organizations that were greatly benefitted by grants from the SCF. Please be aware that I was not on the board or actively advising the SCF when those organizations received grants. I decided that it would be most helpful to review the SCF as a grant recipient. Two art based organizations to which I belong have committed to bringing the arts to our local rural communities. To do that on a shoe-string (as 501(c)(3) organizations we struggle to make ends meet) is always a challenge. The Art Group, a non-profit co-op of artists, received grants to support and extend our out outreach programs. It allowed us to provide a free afterschool program to young people, work with our local retarded citizens in a monthly program and provide art therapy workshops to our local battered women's shelter. The Bowman-Shannon Cultural Arts Center received a grant of seed money to bring in a part time administrator to develop programs and seek out other funding opportunities for supporting art education. Had either of these organizations not been able to secure grants from the SCF, our community would not have the programs that are now provided. The SCF is a wonderful organization and a valuable vehicle for connecting needy and deserving non-profits with much needed support as well as providing potential donors with an expedient avenue to give to those causes in which they believe.

I am a new member to the board and am thrilled to be a part of this organization. Prior to being a board member, I was just amazed at how simple it was for a donor to establish a fund that is flexible to fit their needs. Then having the comfort in knowing that their fund is being managed by truly caring folks at the foundation. I look forward to helping the SCF to continue to grow and serve the needs of the citizens of our county.

It has been my privilege to serve on the board of the Shenandoah Community Foundation for several years. In that time, the number of funds has grown steadily, each one representing a community need being met, a scholarship being awarded, or a nonprofit being helped. We have given donors affordable, effective, and tax-friendly options for making their philanthropic dreams come true. I'm so proud of this organization's work in Shenandoah County, Virginia, and beyond.