A local philanthropic group celebrated its 10th year of giving by donating $20,000 to Brown County resources for women and veterans.
The Fabulous 50 group has awarded local organizations more than $180,000 in the community since they began in 2013.
The group has nearly doubled in size, starting with 49 members and is now sustained by about 90 individuals. An offshoot of the group is the Magnanimous Men, which has four members.
Each member of Fabulous 50 gives $200 per year to the giving circle. Each donor writes a cause she would like to support on a slip of paper, and three slips are drawn from a basket to be contenders for that year’s donations.
Then, members make pitches to the group about why their nominee is deserving.
Out of those three suggestions two are chosen for first and second prize.
The group named nominees at the annual meeting on Feb. 10 at the Nashville United Methodist Church, where donations are also given. The Fab 50 will meet again in August for an “accountability” meeting, where those who are awarded the funds attend and share progress they are making thanks to the money.
This year $20,000 was given away in two prizes. The $12,000 first prize went to Silver Linings Women’s Resource Center and a second place prize of $8,000 was awarded to the Brown County Veterans Financial Assistance Fund.
By March 15 the recipients of the Fab 50 awards turn in a budget, itemizing how the award will be utilized by the organization.
The Brown County Art Guild was the third nominee this year.
Last year the group chose the Brown County Early Education Center to receive the top grant award of $11,000 and the Brown County Habitat for Humanity to receive the second-place award of $5,500.
BCHFH put some of the award money towards extra costs of building a new home and another portion of the money towards the “Brush with Kindness” program, which assists low-income individuals and families by providing small structural repairs and access ramps for their homes.
The Early Education Center is located at the Educational Service Center alongside the Career Resource Center, and money from Fab 50 helped purchase furniture, toys and supplies for their two-year-old toddler room. The Early Education Center opened last school year, and funds were also be used to advertise for open positions in the center, Fab 50 founder Betsy Lease said in 2022.
The Brown County Community Foundation acts as a support and liaison between the donor group and fund recipients.
Lease said the Brown County Community Foundation is a “tremendous partner” in handling the accounts for the Fab 50, which “legitimatizes the gift.”
Every year out of the Fab 50 funds, the group also gives to the BCCF sustainability fund.
“That was one of the things that when I founded (the Fab 50) I thought, the (BCCF) is the major philanthropic group we have, but they need support,” Lease said.
“They also deserve to be supported.”
‘Makes a difference’
Lease came up with the idea for Fab 50 after working in education.
Working with mothers on bake sales and other fundraising events, she once thought if she just asked them for money, they would be happy to not have to spend the time baking cakes.
The group name came after as Lease thought about the impact that could be made in the community if she could get 50 women from the local community to donate to certain causes.
She said last year that she thought it’d be “fabulous” if she could get 50 members.
When the group began, Lease said she thought 50 was a lofty goal for membership, but that was met at its first meeting. The goal now is to get to 100 members.
Part of the Fab 50’s goal is to be an entry level for women who don’t know others in philanthropy, Lease said last week.
“When I thought of the idea, I thought, ‘What number could people give that would be so easy that it would be fun the whole time?’ It feels big, it makes a difference,” Lease said.
There are about a dozen women who will give extra funds beyond the set $200 donation.
Lease said that the amount required as a “buy in” for the group is feasible enough for a new resident of the local community or a young person who has joined the work force.
Two individuals once joined as a couple, splitting the $200 donation between them. They cast one single vote when it comes time to nominate award recipients.
“I know it feels good to give, no matter how small it is,” Lease said.
“Those of us who have worked in it, are all very proud. Very proud we’ve been able to give some positive incentive to our agencies and our people who do so much for others. We didn’t think we’d get to ten (years), now we talk about going to 20.
“If we can do ten, I think we can do 20 better.”
Meaningful impact
Silver Linings’ Director Carrie Foley said last week that receiving the award came as quite the surprise.
“I just never expected it. It’s really going to make some difference with us,” Foley said.
Silver Linings opened at the end of 2013, with expectations to help with homelessness, finding jobs for women, assisting in domestic violence situations, addiction and recovery.
Since then it has transitioned into a full transitional shelter certified at the state level, assisting 22 to 29 women a year.
They partner with other local nonprofits including Mother’s Cupboard Community Kitchen, St. Vincent De Paul and CenterStone.
“We make sure they get what they need in terms of medications and mental health issues,” Foley said.
“At the same time, having a job and getting back on your feet takes a while. We keep people from four to six months.”
They do assist women with children as well, from newborns to 18-year-olds.
Between security deposits for apartments, securing furniture, training individuals in recovery coaching and more, the costs add up.
Now, they’ll able to offer a more assistance to women in need.
“The good part is we’re going to be able to offer a little more assistance to the women when they’re ready to transition to an apartment. … It’s a lot of money when it comes to how much we’re able to do,” Foley said.
“I do want to thank our community partners,” Foley said.
“People have been wonderful to us.”
Lease said last week that veterans had come up in Fab 50 conversations a few times through the years.
“As far as I’m concerned, it was time and I am glad they got it,” she said.
Brown County Veterans Service Officer Chris Snell said last week that sometimes veterans face obstacles with the costs of housing, utilities and travel.
The financial assistance fund serves to relieve those pressures and obstacles for veterans.
“That’s a simple piece that we desire to do,” Snell said.
“We look forward to be able to assist the community a little bit deeper and aid our rural community with more resources than normal.”
Snell said they also hope to help those who are in debt.
“This is going to be a fund to help them get closer out of (debt) or out of it completely,” he said.
“We want to be able to help with that and anything we can do for veterans.”
Snell said that the veterans office is “keeping ears to the ground” in order to make sure that they’re identifying needs that must be met.
“We have the best community in support of our veterans. There’s a lot of people who back it, a lot of veterans that help in the community as well,” he said.”
“Hopefully it impacts veterans in a meaningful way.”
Join the Fab 50
To inquire about joining the Fabulous 50 or Magnanimous Men, contact Jenise Bohbrink at the Brown County Community Foundation, 812-988-4882 or [email protected].
