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Give Ozarks is a 24-hour online day of giving on May 3, 2016. Six Phelps County nonprofits—The Community Partnership, Ozark Actors Theatre, CASA of South Central Missouri, Rolla Nutrition Site (RNS), ABLE Senior Center and The Kaleidoscope Discovery Center––are participating in this event that is coordinated by the Community Foundation of the Ozarks. This is a series to learn more about Give Ozarks and how these groups will use the funds raised. To make a donation on May 3, go to GiveOzarks.org and locate your agencies of choice.

ST JAMES—At least 14 non-profits in the Meramec Region—including The Community Partnership, Ozark Actors Theatre, CASA of South Central Missouri, ABLE Senior Center, The Kaleidoscope Discovery Center (KDC) and the Rolla Nutrition Site from Phelps County––are participating in the Give Ozarks 24-hour online day of giving May 3, 2016. With coordination by the Community Foundation of the Ozarks (CFO) and using the power of the Cause Momentum crowd-funding website, nonprofits from across southern Missouri will have the chance to raise funds, compete for matches and prizes, and be a part of a one-day surge in generosity across the state.

Meramec Regional Community Foundation (MRCF) is an affiliate of the CFO, which is hosting Give Ozarks with presenting sponsor BKD Wealth Advisors and platinum sponsors The Musgrave Foundation, The Commerce Trust Co./Coover Charitable Foundation and Ron and Janice Penney.

The CFO is a regional public charitable foundation, founded in 1973, which includes 45 affiliate foundations and nearly 600 nonprofit partners and schools.

All six Rolla nonprofits have established funds with MRCF. Rolla banker Wayne Parryserves as president of MRCF.

“We at MRCF are very excited about this special giving event,” said Parry. “This is an opportunity for the citizens of the area to have their giving channeled directly to these worthwhile nonprofit causes.”

Making a secure donation is simple. On May 3, donors can log on to giveozarks.org and search for these local nonprofits to complete a basic credit-card donation. All donations are tax deductible.

May 3 is Give Local America Day when community foundations across the country will be holding similar online fundraising events to boost resources for their local nonprofits, encourage new donors and raise awareness of philanthropy in general. Online giving days, a growing movement in the philanthropy field, have raised millions of dollars for nonprofit organizations over the past seven years.

In addition to the online giving, four of the six organizations are partnering on live events on May 3. From 3 to 7 p.m. the ABLE Senior Center and the RollaNutrition Site will be partnering on an open house at the Holloway House from 3 to 7 p.m. Pork sandwiches, chips, cookies and water will be available from starting at 4 p.m. and will be served as long as the food lasts.

Also from 3 to 7 p.m., The Community Partnership will host a pie-throwing contest under the blue canopy in the Rolla City Hall parking lot. Admission is free to the public and $5 a person or $3 a students will give the public an opportunity to throw pies at local celebrities, including Rolla Police Chief Sean Fagan and Fire Chief Ron Smith, St. James police chief, former PCRMC CEO John Denbo, Pastor Tim Cook of Greentree Christian Church, Rolla High School Assistant Principal Amy Herrman, Missouri S&T ZTA House Mother Ginger Hargraves and more. Hot dogs, soda, coffee and music will be available, as well.

Across town, from 5 to 8 p.m., Ozark Actors Theatre (OAT) will host a free evening of entertainment at its Cedar Street Playhouse, with wine tasting and free entertainment. Entertainment includes music by groups such as Trilog, DixieUnion and Bliss Hippy; and performances by Stop Making Sense Improv and several local dance groups including StoneCrest Dance Center, Ozark Spirit Cloggers and more.

Electronic giving stations will be available at the event, and cash and checks donations will be accepted.

These nonprofit agencies will work to raise online donations from midnight to midnight on May 3 at GiveOzarks.org for a variety of needs that will improve services and opportunities for residents of Phelps and surrounding counties. CFO and its sponsors are making $92,500 in prize money available to nonprofits, based on their success raising funds and also the overall number of supporters who make online donations on May 3. For example, the agency with the most individual online donations during the first hour of the event (midnight to 12:59 a.m.) will earn $2,000, as will the agency with the most individual online donations during the 3 a.m. hour. Awards will also be given for the agencies raising the most funds.

“Pennies pile up,” said Parry. “Each donor at any amount increases the chance for our local organizations to win cash prizes that will come back to our community.”

The six Phelps County nonprofits have identified special purposes for this fund raising effort. The Community Partnership’s Give Ozarks initiative is called Bucks for a Truck and help pay for a new box truck to collect donations and meet community needs. They have a goal of $10,000.
The Community Partnership is located on Hauck Dr. in Rolla, serves children and families via a variety of programs including Capable Kids and Families, for families with children with disabilities; Young Parents Program, for pregnant and parenting youth ages 14-21; Early Care and Education, helping child care providers enhance the quality of care; Independent Living Program, serving youth aging out of the foster system; and Linking Hearts Adoption Fair, an annual event bringing togetheradoptable youth and potential adoptive families.

Ozark Actors Theatre continues its efforts to raise funds to tuck point and seal the exterior of the playhouse. Last year, OAT was able to update its carpet andseating.

OAT is located in Rolla and owner of the Cedar Street Playhouse, one of only two professional summer stock theatres in out-state Missouri. Since its inception in 1987, OAT has produced more than 100 shows, including a wide range of comedies, dramas, full-scale musicals and musical reviews. OAT draws tourists throughout the state and beyond, with its summer stock season, summer children’s academy, holiday shows and Performing Arts Series that bring a wide variety of performing arts to the community.

CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) of South Central Missouri has established a goal of $7,500 for its Give Ozarks campaign to allow it to recruit, screen and train 25 volunteers who would work one-on-one with children and the court system. The funds will also be used for transportation costs, a new volunteer coordinator and an outreach coordinator in the Pulaski Courthouse.

Lead by Judy Waters, CASA helps ensure that abused and neglected children have a safe and permanent home byproviding a voice for them in the court system. The Rolla-based office serves Phelps and Texas counties with plans to expand to Pulaski and Maries counties. A child is paired with a trained, court-appointed volunteer who meets with the child and provides information to the judge for consideration when ruling on the case involving the child.

The Rolla Nutrition Site, located at 1440 Forum Dr, Rolla, is raising funds to help the group continue to provide nutritious meals for eligible seniors in the Phelps County area. Many seniors depend on the meals to continue living independently.

The site delivers meals to homebound seniors and serves hot meals Monday through Friday in the cafeteria. Last year, they served 56,782 meals to Phelps County seniors and, of those, 49,733 were home delivered and 7,049 were cafeteria-style. Each meal costs around $2.20. The site is hoping to raise $5,000 during the GiveOzarks event to help support the program.

ABLE Senior Center, housed at the historic Holloway House, 1008 Holloway St., Rolla, is hoping to raise $5,000 during the Give Ozarks event. The center offers Bingo, Jeopardy, Let’s make a Deal, card games, foot and nail care, tax services, chair exercises and other events that include trips and luncheons to senior citizens. Seniors pay a reduced rate for an activity. The funds would go towards activities fees for the seniors, as well as upkeep of the Holloway House.

The ABLE Senior Center, formerly ABLE Commission, was established over 40 years ago to provide Rolla area senior citizens an opportunity to attend informational and social events. ABLE, “Achieving Better Lifestyles for Elderly, recently changed its name from “ABLE Commission” to “ABLE Senior Center” to better represent the vision and goals of this group. Its mission is “to provide a safe place for our community seniors to come together for resources, information, activities and opportunities for socialization at no or minimal cost to theparticipant.”

Lastly, the Kaleidoscope Discovery Center (KDC), located on Pine St. in Rolla, is working to expand its robotics program to pre-kindergarten and kindergartenstudents. The program works in conjunction with engineering, science, technology, the environment, arts and math (ESTEAM) through hands-on learning experiences that inspire everyone to imagine, explore and create a better world.

The program currently supports a variety of robotics programs, including workshops, scouting robotics programs and summer camps. In addition, the KDC supports programs that tie into the US FIRST family of robotics competitions. With three high-school teams, five area middle/junior high school teams and the 16 FIRST LEGO League Junior teams, robotics is very popular in the Rolla community.

Othernonprofits in the Meramec Region who are participating in Give Ozarks include the Bonebrake Center and Riverways Pregnancy and Family Resource Center, both in Salem; Bourbon Boosters Club, Cuba All Aboard Learning Center, Osage Trail Legacy and Steelville Ministerial Alliance Food Pantry, all in Crawford County; Missouri Rock Island Trail and Missouri Rock Island Trail-Owensville, both in the Owensville area.

For more information or to make a donation, go to GiveOzarks.org.