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Women’s fund marks 20th anniversary by raising $2.013 million

3/21/2013 - West Side Leader
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By Staff Writer


Matching grant, individual, corporate donations put campaign over top

Photos courtesy of Akron Community Foundation
DOWNTOWN AKRON — On March 13, the Women’s Endowment Fund of Akron Community Foundation capped off its “For Women, Forever” campaign to raise $2.013 million for women’s and girls’ programs.

Campaign co-chair Karen Lefton and GAR Distribution Committee member Kathryn Dindo announced a last-dollar grant from GAR Foundation to a crowd of more than 350 at the Women’s Endowment Fund’s 20th-anniversary celebration at Quaker Station.

Dindo is shown speaking at bottom right with Lefton standing behind.

Lefton, a Copley resident and partner at Brouse McDowell, thanked: the foundation; her “For Women, Forever” campaign co-chair, Fairlawn attorney Dianne Newman; and the nearly 200 donors whose combined gifts totaled more than $1.9 million as of March 13.

“On behalf of the thousands of women and girls in our community who will benefit forever, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Your generosity is both awesome and inspiring,” she said. “We are proud to accept GAR Foundation’s gift and close our campaign because we have reached our goal of $2.013 million by 2013.”

“For Women, Forever” is the largest endowment-building campaign in Akron Community Foundation’s 57-year history. West Akron resident Marie Covington and five other women established the field-of-interest fund at the community foundation in 1993 to improve the quality of life for women and girls in Summit County and to encourage their growth as philanthropists.

“These women passed the baton to over 100 other women in the community who built the endowment to $1 million,” said the fund’s president, Tracy Carter, a West Akron resident and system director of government affairs and health policy for Summa Health System. “Now we’ve raised $2.013 million by 3-13-13. That has a nice ring to it.”

Foundation President and CEO John Petures Jr. said the collaboration was one of the best decisions the foundation has ever made.

“On behalf of the board of directors and the staff of Akron Community Foundation, I’m proud to acknowledge and celebrate the leadership of the Women’s Endowment Fund,” he said. “It’s a vision all of us continue to embrace as evidenced by our presence and participation in this evening’s celebration.”

This 20th-anniversary event was chaired by West Akron resident and 9th District Court of Appeals Judge Eve Belfance and Bober Markey Fedorovich & Co. partner Cindy Johnson, a resident of Warren. They are shown at top right, from left.

The event featured presentations from the fund’s 2013 grantees, which provide programs in one or more of the fund’s three focus areas: safety from violence, economic empowerment, and health and wellness.

New York Times best-selling author, Pulitzer Prize-nominated journalist and leadership speaker Fawn Germer delivered the keynote address.

For more information about Akron Community Foundation, call 330-376-8522 or visit www.akroncf.org.

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