A Letter from the Board Chair
Welcome to the 2022 Forest Highlands Foundation annual report. You will find here reports summarizing the activities of our grant committee as well as the treasurer’s report detailing all of our charitable contributions and business expenditures. 2022 was a year of many successes and continuing profound challenges for the Foundation. There is a Zen koan, or paradoxical riddle, that asks, “What do you do when you get to the top of the mountain?” To the Zen masters of old, one of the best answers was, “Keep climbing.” This is exactly the position in which the Foundation finds itself at the beginning of the new year. Thanks to the membership of Forest Highlands, 2022 was our one of the most successful years ever for member contributions to the Foundation as well as for charitable donations to local Flagstaff human services nonprofit organizations. Covid, fire and flood were all challenges we were able to meet along with our more routine yearly donations to Flagstaff Family Food Center, Flagstaff Shelter Services, Housing Solutions/ Sharon Manor, and many other local institutions. In order to “keep climbing” we are well positioned to meet other new unanticipated emergencies in the coming year. Some of our initiatives included helping Killip School move out of its flood ravaged building into a brand new facility by both our financial contributions and board members’ sweat equity, and allowing Flagstaff Shelter Services to leverage our $50,000 donation into an 8.9 million dollar government grant to purchase a motel and convert it into shelter for more than 100 previously unhoused people. We now have a development committee to coordinate our fund raising activities, and planning has already begun for this year’s events. The Denise Martinez tournament is already on the schedule for June 19, and we have begun soliciting sponsorships for this event. We’ll have further information for prospective
participants as the season begins. Other activities will include a second thank you event for our donors and a reprise of our successful art auction of last year, among others. There have been some changes in our board membership. Jean Brown and John Rivers have left the board, and we thank them for their years of service. I’m happy to say that John will be returning as emeritus chair. New members include Phyllis Banucci, Howard Nute and Walter Cuculic. Their collective expertise will be of great value on the grants and development committees, and we warmly welcome them. Also, Marcus Sipolt has replaced me as chair. On a sad note Joe Cole, one of our most loyal board members, recently passed away. Joe filled multiple editorial positions at the Arizona Republic, and he was the vice president for communications for Ramada Corporation. As such, he was instrumental in their corporate reorganization. Joe was a Foundation board member for many years, and he served with distinction for his wise counsel on the grant committee. Contributions to the Foundation in Joe’s memory may be sent to Forest Highlands Foundation, 2425 William Palmer, Flagstaff AZ 86005. My term of office as Board Chair of the Foundation is now officially over. I would like to thank the members of the board for their sage and sometimes spirited advice, and all of you who supported this enterprise to make life better for all the citizens of Flagstaff. I can assure you that with our new leadership the Foundation will keep climbing. Ethan Braunstein Chair, Forest Highlands Foundation Board
FOREST HIGHLANDS FOUNDATION ANNUAL REPORT 2022
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