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A Humble Voice for the Voiceless HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES fund has granted the VRM nearly $150,000.


One Thanksgiving years ago, a local woman drove by the Valley Rescue Mission facility on Second Avenue in Columbus. Noticing a line of people stretching around the building, she called VRM founder Howard Mott and asked him what they were all doing. Mott told her their dining room only held 50 people at a time, which created a long wait for homeless people and transients looking for a hot meal.


“She talked to him about what it would take to enlarge the space, and he had a figure in mind,” says Rhonda Mobley, VRM’s executive director. “He told her, and she wrote a check and took care of it.”


The woman’s donation quadrupled the size of the mission’s dining room and upgraded their kitchen facilities. She subsequently donated thousands of dollars to numerous VRM projects, including Damascus Way, the organization’s shelter for abused women and children, and the addiction recovery program.


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The $1,146,260 granted for Health & Human Services included 28 grants in support of St. Francis Hospital; sponsorship of the 2011 Lectureship Series at the Columbus Regional Medical Foundation and Camp Viola’s Foster Care Respite Camp in Troup County; and operating support for Easter Seals, the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson Research, Feeding the Valley Food Bank, and the Stewart Community Home. Above, children and adults enjoy a free meal in the VRM’s dining room.


In 1999 she established a fund through the Community Foundation so the mission would continue to receive her support in perpetuity. Since then, the


Through it all, though, the donor never asked for any public recognition for her generosity. “They wanted to put up a plaque honoring her donation for the dining hall, and she declined,” says Donna Pearce, VRM’s development director. “Only when they said the plaque could be in honor of her late husband did she finally say yes.”


The woman passed away in 2002, bringing the permanence of her gift home for Community Foundation executive director Betsy Covington. “Literally, we held a staff meeting to honor her memory,” remembers Covington. “It’s so touching that she was able to reach the end of her life knowing that our organization would help her take care of the VRM and the work that meant so much to her, forever.”


Mobley remains grateful for this great and quiet contributor. “She always asked ‘What do you not have that you need?’ It wasn’t just a donation to her — it was really changing people’s lives.”


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PERPETUITY


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