The Greensburg Optimist Club recently presented a check to the Decatur County Community Foundation in order to start the Optimist Club of Greensburg Fund.
The Optimist Club of Greensburg Fund will be used for community-wide grant making projects. It was started with the help of the Lilly Endowment match that the Community Foundation is currently offering.
“Decatur County Community Foundation presented a program at an Optimist meeting last fall and explained about Lilly Endowment’s match of $2 for every $1 donated to the
community grantmaking fund,” explained Optimist Club President, Rick Nobbe. “Several Club members began discussing what a great opportunity this match would be for our Club to start our own fund at the Foundation and leave a lasting legacy in Decatur County.”
The Optimist’s Board soon acted on the idea and recently presented the Community Foundation with a check for $3,334.34—a $10,000 value after the Lilly Endowment match.
“We know that the Foundation is designed to be around forever, and now the Optimist Club will also have a permanent role in making a difference in Decatur County forever,” said Nobbe. “The Community Grantmaking Fund supports everything from the parks to not-for-profits, to volunteer fire departments to teachers and everything in between. Now our Club is a part of that.”
Nobbe added that he’d love to create his own challenge by encouraging other service clubs to take advantage of the Lilly Endowment match and establish their own funds within the Community Foundation.
“It would be great to see other service clubs take advantage of the match opportunity to leave a legacy of their own,” Nobbe said.
For more information on the Greensburg Optimist Club, contact Nobbe at rjnobbe@landolakes.com. For more information on the Community Foundation’s match opportunity, contact 812-662-6364 or info@dccfound.org.
