ACTIVITES

From the President: "In my 15 years as President of the Edyth Bush Charitable Foundation, I have found the role of leading the Foundation forward while being cognizant of honoring the directives of Mrs. Bush and addressing both the current and future needs of the community, to be a challenging task. We are an independent foundation, but we are clothed with a public responsibility. It is to this end that I can say that my two predecessors, H. Clifford Lee and the late David R. Roberts, have had a major impact on philanthropy in Florida. One of their very first actions was to create a Code of Ethics Policy (pdf) and a Disclosure Statement (pdf). These documents have stood the test of time and have now been in use by the Foundation for 35 years. Ethical grantmaking may be a current topic of the day in our Sarbanes-Oxley world, but it has been the bedrock of the Edyth Bush Charitable Foundation. If you have any questions or comments about the Foundation's policy or on any other matter, please contact me, David A. Odahowski, President."

Corey Warner, a Central Florida 6th grader, was recently awarded the 2007 David R. Roberts Youth in Philanthropy Award at the National Philanthropy Day breakfast hosted by the Association for Fundraising Professionals. The David R. Roberts Youth in Philanthropy Award is a memorial to the first President of the Edyth Bush Charitable Foundation, David R. Roberts - a lawyer, a scholar, and a leader in philanthropy. David Roberts believed in the power of our youth to enhance our community’s tradition of philanthropy and volunteerism.

Corey is an amazing young person who greatly impressed all who were in attendance at the breakfast. But that’s not why he does what he does. With all his heart, he wants to end child abuse. He has not only collected supplies and toys for children, but has raised money for scholarships for sheltered children and has volunteered hundreds of hours at Children’s Home Society. It doesn’t stop there. Corey has enlisted the help of the State government. Beginning with correspondence with the Governor, he was then directed to the Department of Children and Families, to help him establish the campaign, “Can Child Abuse.” The result was a successful drive which not only raised 10,000 cans of food, but went a long way to raise awareness of the child abuse tragedy. In addition to the award, he was presented with a check to his charity of choice – The Children’s Home Society.

3 grants totaling over $290,000 were approved by the Board at its February, 2008 Board meeting. Grants were awarded to the following organizations: Christian Sharing Center; Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida, Inc.; and Dress for Success Greater Orlando.

New grantees are in the process of meeting with the President and Program Officer of Edyth Bush Charitable Foundation after the Foundation's recent Board Meeting. It is the Foundation's practice to invite all grant applicants to meet with Foundation staff, whether they have received a grant or not. New grantees learn more of what is expected of them and what they can expect of the Foundation during the grantor/grantee relationship. Those who did not receive a grant learn why. Organizations have found these meetings to be valuable for the exploration of new ideas, improving communication and laying the groundwork for future proposals.

David Odahowski, Edyth Bush Charitable Foundation’s President and CEO, recently participated in the Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce’s 2008 Central Florida Regional Fly-In. David joined some of our region’s top business and community leaders in a charter flight to Tallahassee where they met and heard directly from Florida’s most powerful leaders in our state capital as they confront a host of important issues impacting the future of our region and state. Alex Sink, Florida’s CFO, praised the work of the Edyth Bush Charitable Foundation.

Michael Cross, Vice President Finance and Chief Investment Officer of the Edyth Bush Charitable Foundation, along with Matthew Certo, Foundation Board of Directors member, Chairman of the Foundation’s Finance Committee, and President of Websolvers, Inc., recently attended the Commonfund Forum 2008. The Commonfund Forum is an excellent educational opportunity for trustees and senior investment staff of North America’s leading nonprofit organizations. Registrants were able to select from fifty sessions and listen to leading experts in investment strategy, policy, leadership and governance.

Deborah Hessler, Edyth Bush Charitable Foundation’s Program Officer and Corporate Secretary, was invited by Community Foundation of South Lake County to be one of the presenters at its February 27, 2008 Building Dedication of the new George Hovis and Don Wickham Community & Nonprofit Resource Center in Clermont, Florida. The Community Foundation is very excited about its new building facilitating aiding their ability to positively impact the Clermont area in new and meaningful ways. Deborah, on behalf of the Edyth Bush Charitable Foundation, was honored to be a part of the celebration, where she announced the inclusion of Lake County into the Foundation’s geographical area of interest.

The Foundation is pleased to have its profile and copies of the IRS Form 990-PF on file with GuideStar.org. GuideStar.org is a searchable database of 1.7 million nonprofit organizations. GuideStar's mission is to revolutionize philanthropy and nonprofit practice by providing information that advances transparency, enables users to make better decisions, and encourages charitable giving.

The Foundation currently has over 60 active grants, all in various stages of completion; from the beginning phase of an organization having just presented the Foundation with a formal grant proposal, through the Board of Directors decision process, to the completion and submission of the grantee’s final report, and all the steps in between. Most of the approved grants have a “challenge” component or other threshold requirement. With so many “moving parts” requiring diligent monitoring, the Staff and Board of Directors are kept extremely busy.