Greetings Noah!

As summertime peaks in Polk County and beyond, we feel a bit like our many neighbors this time of year who grow our community's food, flowers, and more. Like farmers, the Foundation works in cycles that depend on interconnected systems to produce the best possible results. Generous donors plant the seeds and entrust us to nurture their gifts into beneficial products that nourish and sustain our community.

When the crops are ready, that trust is reinvested into our community's nonprofit organizations, leaders, and volunteers who do the hard work of harvesting and putting those ripened gifts into the hands of local residents now and perhaps for generations to come. And so it goes each cycle and growing season.

So far, the fruits of our collective efforts in our 1st and 2nd Quarter competitive grantmaking cycles have yielded more than $430,000 in support to 17 organizations and 15 teachers, bringing total grants awarded this year to more than $1 million. We're now hard at work processing 3rd Quarter applications for grants to be awarded later this summer while also preparing for scholarships to the high school Class of 2024 in the 4th Quarter.

Thank you for being an important part of our healthy charitable ecosystem and for your role in Building Community together.

Over the years, several donors to the Foundation have created scholarship funds to help local high school students study abroad with AFS-USA, including the AFS Endowment Fund established by Ellis D. Slater, the Kirby Scholarship for AFS Study Abroad Fund established by Adie, Dave, and Katherine Kirby, the Jim & Sheila Jackson Youth Enrichment Fund, and the Andy & Patricia Herriot Fund.

Thanks to many donors to these funds, we are thrilled to announced that Thaddeus Ruff, a rising senior at Polk County High School, has received a full scholarship through the AFS Polk County Community Foundation Global Scholars Program to spend a semester living and studying in the Czech Republic this fall.

As a young Sunny View Elementary student, Thaddeus went on schoolwide field trips to the Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies in Gatlinburg, TN and the Riverbanks Zoo & Garden in Columbia, SC, both funded by Community Foundation grants. Later, he would become a percussionist in the Polk County High School Marching Band, which has been free for all students to join since 2015, when grants from the Foundation replaced the annual fee charged to families.

Life-changing investments like these in our community's youth are made possible by the generous spirit of our donors who believe in the value of learning experiences beyond our everyday environments and in giving students the opportunity to march to their own beat.

Congratulations Thaddeus! We can't wait to hear all about your travels when you return home. Na shledanou! Opatrujte se! Goodbye and take care!

A Note for Donors

Sometimes it’s challenging to clearly articulate your philanthropic goals or choose the “perfect” causes to support. Many new and experienced donors alike have been inspired by the variety of funds that are already at work in the community through the Foundation. Some may closely align with the areas you feel drawn to support and provide a model for making your own charitable dreams come true.

We'll continue to feature funds that might be appealing to our community of donors in future newsletters. In the meantime, if you’re interested in starting a new fund or contributing to existing funds like the one highlighted above to allow them to have an even greater impact, please reach out to our President & CEO, Sara Bell at 828-859-5314 or sbell@polkccf.org.

The Foundation continues to value places and events that help local residents gather and build community together. Check out these opportunities to get out and get to know your neighbors, all of which are made possible by recent grants.

Local Farmers Markets

Columbus: Saturdays, 8:00-12:00

Saluda: Fridays, 4:30-6:30

Landrum: Saturdays, 8:00-12:00

Foundation grants support all three farmers markets operating in our community, where you can get fresh, locally-grown products and enjoy special events and programs.

Yoga at FENCE

Starting Back August 2023

3381 Hunting Country Rd, Tryon

Free Yoga returns to FENCE in August, thanks to another year of funding through our "Free Community Events" grant program.

Contact FENCE at 828-859-9021 to learn more about this year's program and schedule.

Tales of Tryon

Tryon History Museum

Next event:

Tryon's Historic Architecture August 3, 5:00 pm

at Holy Cross Church

150 Melrose Ave, Tryon

Learn more about Tryon's history in this series featuring speakers and experts in our community.

Night at the Museum

Saluda Historic Depot

32 W. Main St, Saluda

Fall, 2023

Back by popular demand, this free event will provide "an evening of fun and camaraderie while learning the history of Saluda nd the impact the railroad has had on the development of the town."

Polk County High School Class of 2023

Photo courtesy of polkstudents.com

Polk County Early College Class of 2023

Photo courtesy of polkstudents.com

The Foundation was thrilled to recognize Polk County and Landrum students from the graduating Class of 2023 with more than $318,000 in scholarships to help them realize their educational dreams. Congratulations on behalf of the Scholarship Committee, Board of Directors, and Staff of your local Community Foundation.

We wish you every success!

In observance of National Make a Will Month, we asked local Estate Planning expert and attorney at law Andy Haynes for some words of wisdom on the subject. We hope the information below is helpful for community members of all ages and appreciate Andy's willingness to be featured in this quarter's newsletter. Thank you, Andy!

You don't need a Will if:

1. You are willing to have your State of residence (NC) direct how your assets will be distributed at your death;
2. You want your Estate to pay an insurance company for performance bond and;
3. You like the idea of beneficiaries arguing over who will administer your Estate.

These are problems that can arise when one dies without a Will (intestacy), and most of us would prefer to avoid complexity and disappointment among our loved ones when we die. A validly executed Will, expressing your direction and desires can resolve such issues. Your Will would typically address matters as follows:

1. Confirming family relationships.
2. Direct the disposition of bodily remains.
3. Direct payment of debts and taxes.
4. Provide for distribution of personal property and effects with the opportunity to direct specific items to named individuals.
5. Provide for bequests of money or other financial assets to named individuals or charity.
6. Direct the remainder of real and financial assets to primary beneficiaries and contingent beneficiaries.
7. Name and empower a succession of Executors to carry out the directions in the Will.
8. Provide for Estate control of any shares to be paid to minor beneficiaries.
9. Determine the order of deaths in the event of simultaneous deaths.
10. Include any special provisions desired by the maker of the Will.

While there are various alternative devices available such as "Pay or Transfer on Death" arrangements, account Beneficiary designations, and Trusts, that may reduce the quantity of assets passing directly through the Will at death, these are not complete substitutes for the function of a Will which should nevertheless be executed and used in concert with any of these other distributive techniques.

One of the best reasons for doing a Will is that it would allow you to comprehensively review your thoughts, plans, and desires for the disposition of your assets in a manner that is in the best interests of your loved ones. It would also give you the opportunity to consider distributions for the benefit of your favorite community or charitable organizations. In any case, your planning efforts today would leave your survivors with a lot less stress and anxiety in the absence of your specific directions after you've gone.

There is no time like the present to get started!

If your organization has received grant support from the Foundation that you'd like to recognize using one of our new logos, please visit the Brand Standards page of our website, which includes a link to download a variety of .png files. If you need other image formats, have questions about which logo is right for your particular grant, or have any other questions, don't hesitate to contact us. You can also tag us on Instragram @polkcommunityfoundation. As always, we appreciate the good publicity. Thank you!