"Celebrate 2020."
These were the surprising words of Foundation For Youth Director Chuck Kime in a video to community members as part of the organization’s 2020 annual report.
Instead of holding its annual meeting in-person, FFY opted to share a virtual recap of the past year via a digital version of its annual report, which includes not only information about the past year, but also links to videos from FFY leaders and award recipients.
The organization went a similar route in 2020, canceling its annual meeting due to COVID-19 and creating a website for the 2019 report that included video messages.
Despite the changes and challenges due to COVID-19, Kime encouraged community members to reflect on the best of the year.
"’Celebrate 2020′ is not really a phrase that’s catching on, but even as we face the pandemic and the inequities across our culture, there’s a lot of great things that happened here in Columbus and happened, in particular, for FFY and for our kids," Kime said.
The 2020 report included information on new board members and officers, changes over the past year due to COVID-19, financial information, statistics on athletic participation and rentals, and information about community initiatives, including work with the Council for Youth Development and substance prevention efforts.
‘It takes a city’
The report also announced recipients for awards that would typically be given out at FFY’s annual meeting.
The "It Takes a Village" Award is designed to recognize a partner that helps ensure the community’s focus on caring for children. This year, however, FFY and the award winners joked that it should be renamed "It Takes a City."
"This year I want to recognize the City of Columbus for the way that they stepped forward to make sure that FFY was able to be there and support those families that were really having some significant challenges during this pandemic," said Kime. "So congratulations to Mayor (Jim) Lienhoop and his team for all that they’ve done for our community and for us in particular.”
The annual report stated that the city was a "receptive, supportive ally" when called upon in challenging times.
"The city leadership recognized that families were struggling to meet their obligations to work while simultaneously ensuring their kids were growing up safely," FFY officials said. "Significant investment by the city of Columbus helped us help families meet those needs."
In late 2020, city officials announced a plan to provide funding from a Community Development Block Grant allocation to Foundation For Youth. In early 2021, it was announced that the city would provide $125,000 from this allocation for new FFY scholarships for out-of-school and eLearning support.
Kime also said that because FFY’s facility is linked closely to city staff and the gymnastics center, they had to "proceed hand in hand" when it came to health and safety protocols.
The city is an ongoing partner "that supports us in a lot of ways every day," he said.
Executive Director of Administration and Community Development Mary Ferdon spoke on behalf of the city in a video message, saying that the city was honored to be chosen for the award. She also noted the city’s pride in its "longstanding partnership" with FFY and said that the organization’s services are critical for Columbus and the larger county area.
“We often say and sometimes we sing — and I won’t do that here — that ‘children are our future,’" she said. "And the staff and the volunteers of FFY understand that, and put those words into action. You all know what they do there. We’re just so pleased that the city can provide support in any way to help make a positive impact on kids’ lives.”
Staying in the black
FFY’s report also thanked other supporters that helped them over the past year. Notably, grants were the organization’s top source of revenue in 2020, making up 37% out of a total revenue of about $2.6 million.
Contributions accounted for 27%. Enrollment and public services made up only 14%, due to both temporary closures and COVID-19 limitations. United Way’s allocation also came in at 14%. Special events and investment income each came in at four percent.
By comparison, enrollment and public services fees made up 38% of FFY’s $2,586,629 revenue in 2019, and grants only came in at 16%.
Despite the financial challenges of the pandemic, 2020 revenue exceeded expenses, with the latter coming in at about $2.4 million (about $174,000 less than expenses).
In contrast, 2019 expenses were a little over $2.76 million, exceeding revenue by almost $180,000.
Ups and downs
On the downside, volunteer statistics were lower in 2020, with 2,152 volunteers, 7,049 hours and a total value of $191,732.80 to FFY.
In 2019, there were 3,010 FFY volunteers, 15,537 hours served and a value of almost $400,000 to FFY.
Last year also saw many changes to FFY’s programming.
Boys & Girls Club Director Erica Fortner said that while club was unable to serve youth for part of the year, they worked to connect with families virtually.
"We focused on social/emotional health conversations and supported our staff and youth with validation of their feelings," she wrote. "We created light-hearted, fun, entertaining ‘Positive Action’ clips to share with our members while we were apart.”
In April 2020 and during the summer, the club was able to support the children of essential workers and, while their system changed, they were still able to meet new youth in the community.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, fewer children came to club, but the same number of staff were employed, as these children were separated into pods during the summer days anytime between 6 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.
This did create a financial challenge but also noted that funds from supporters helped them keep the doors open, support families and provide scholarships, Fortner said.
2020 also brought some partnerships closer together, she said.
“In the school year we became even more closely knit with BCSC as we helped our youth navigate virtual learning," Fortner said . "We formed great relationships, an even greater level of respect, and more appreciation for the exhausting jobs of our teachers of Bartholomew County. I would say we even got closer to our youth through this time as well.”
FFY also reported that its Big Brothers Big Sisters staff continued their work in the pandemic by keeping mentors and students connected, facilitating Zoom meetings and creating new "matches." FFY helped in serving 133 matches in 2020.
The pandemic also affected athletics, with the pool closing in March of 2020 and later reopening in June. Hours of operation increased over time, but capacity is still limited.
No athletic leagues were active between March 15 and Sept. 14 of 2020. Volleyball and basketball leagues saw some play in 2020, but Girls on the Run and Trailblazers did not take place due to COVID-19.
Kime noted kids’ resilience and strength during this time, as well as their "support of equity and respect." He said that while challenges continue, youth are "charting their own course."
“There are many hardships to reflect on in 2020," he wrote. "It’s during those hardships that good people rise up. They look out for each other — they protect our little ones. At FFY, like most of Columbus, this is when we set a course that takes us to better days.”
There is a "steep hill ahead in 2021" with concerns such as helping rebuild learning loss, building relationships and maintaining finances, Kime said.
"But one thing I want to be sure and assure you is that we have the right team over here at FFY," he said. "These are the best folks in the business or really, as far as I’m concerned, in any business. And our supporters have shown, again and again, that they care about the work that we’re doing and absolutely the young people that are part of the work that we do. So celebrate 2020 — you can say you heard it here first. But more than anything else, please hear our appreciation for the way this community supports us."
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FFY presented the following 2020 awards in its annual report:
- It Takes A Village Award: The City of Columbus
- Youth of the Year: Caroline Andrus. Caroline also placed in the top five of the Indiana Youth of Year by Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
- Carlin Lucas Scholarship Girl: Jessica Sherfick
- Carlin Lucas Scholarship Boy: Avery Greenlee
- Hollenbeck Male Athlete of the Year: Carter Taylor
- Hollenbeck Female Athlete of the Year: Ada David
- Coach of the Year Female: Mary Poole
- Coach of the Year Male: Cory Dixon
- Camper of the Year: Luke Surface
- Friend of Camp: Charlie Wells
- Volunteer of the Year: Laura Duro
- Corporate Volunteer: Toyota Material Handling
- Employee of the Year: Hunter Larrison
- Cornerstones: NTN Driveshaft Inc, Faurecia Clean Mobility, Toyota Industrial Equipment Manufacturing and Reams Asset Management
- Leadership Partners: First Financial Bank, German American Bank and Kenny Glass
- In addition, the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Bartholomew County was named a BBBS of America Quality Award Winner in 2020 along with other affiliate agencies. The local chapter will receive the award at the upcoming National BBBSA Conference this summer.
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FFY’s annual report for 2020 can be viewed at foundationforyouth.com.
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