A Letter from the Chairman
We also believe that the winter and early spring months of 2021 will be an extension of the 2020 environment. A cash balance of $404,729 will be carried over for 2021, and will provide the ability to respond to grantee requests for help during this period. On another subject, there have been some changes in Boardmembershipat year’s end. As a result of termlimits or for personal reasons, the following Board members have retired: Lynn Garod; John Glass; Stephanie Linnenkamp; and Kurt Martin. These individuals have all been exceptional contributors over the years and will be missed. We welcome the following new members to the Board: Jean Brown; Kathy Haake; Teri Kelley and Paul Paparella. These are committed and strongly qualified individuals.
Dear Members,
This is the twenty first edition of the Foundation’s Annual Report. As you may notice, we’ve changed the format a bit to provide more detail. We have also switched from our previous fiscal year reporting (April 1st to March 31st) to a calendar year approach, which we believe more effectively reflects the Foundation’s fundraising and grant-making cycle. We hope you find this new format helpful. 2020 was certainly an unusual and challenging year. The health crisis and resultant economic crisis caused by Covid-19 were widely experienced and your Foundation’s operations were not exempt. Two consequences of the pandemic worked to stress normal practices. First, the demand for services from the organizations that we normally support in the Flagstaff not-for-profit community increased dramatically with a commensurate increase in the need for funding. Second, social distancing and other virus-related issues forced the Foundation to cancel three of its four annual fund raising events: the Denise Martinez Golf Tournament; the Bear Foot Dinner and Auction; and the Raffle. We were looking at a significant gap between the need for help for our normal grantees and our ability to respond. The answer to that conundrum was driven by our faith in the generosity of the Forest Highlands community. Mid- year, the Foundation initiated a Special Request for contributions and also decided to maintain its usual practice of a Year End Ask. As detailed in the Financial and Grants sections of this report, the response was spectacular. Funds raised totaled $427,953 and combined with a healthy cash balance with which the Foundation entered the year, funded grants totaling $417,218 – more than the Foundation has ever granted in a single year.
Bob Golub will move to Emeritus status and will continue to be involved at the Board level.
Lastly, term limits have caught up with me. 2020 has been my last year as Chairman of the Board and Dr. Ethan Braunstein will assume the Chairmanship for 2021. Ethan has been a member of the Board for a number of years and has done an excellent job as Chairman of the Grants Committee. I know that he will provide powerful leadership to a very strong Board as the Foundation continues to represent Forest Highlands in the years ahead. As past Chairman, I’ll continue on the Board for another year, but in closing, I would like to say how much I’ve enjoyed working with everyone involved with the Foundation and what an honor it has been to serve as Chairman.
Sincerely, John Rivers
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FOREST HIGHLANDS FOUNDATION ANNUAL REPORT 2020
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