Appreciated gift
The holiday season got a little bit better for four different charities this week, as Cummins Inc. and Toyota Material Handling North America handed out $5,000 donation checks — totaling $20,000 — in a ceremony at the United Way office on Monday.
Recipients of the donations were Turning Point, Community Center of Hope, Human Service Inc. and Advocates for Children. Cummins and Toyota each contributed $2,500 to the four organizations. The groups plan to use the money for a host of things, ranging from rent payments to children’s winter clothes to homeless program funding.
Lisa Shafran, Turning Point’s president, called the donation a “Christmas miracle.” The impact the donations will have for each charity will be huge, and the timing couldn’t be better for two of Columbus’ biggest employers to support the community.
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Starry spring
The Cabaret at The Commons series continues to attract top vocal and musical talent from Broadway, television and the movies. The Columbus Indiana Philharmonic announced its spring lineup, which again includes an impressive and talented group.
Megan Hilty, from Broadway shows and TV’s “Smash,” will perform with Cheyenne Jackson, who has been on Broadway, in films and on TV. Jessica Vosk, who played the lead in “Wicked,” and Telly Leung, best-known for Broadway roles in “Aladdin,” “Rent,” and “Godspell,” will also perform this spring.
It will be a star-laden spring for the local orchestra, which launched the series with a sold-out show in January 2015. Series attendance has been strong, averaging more than 350 people, and the upward trend should continue with the strong spring lineup.
Needed delay
Community members have spoken up, leading to Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. recently postponing action on a proposed social media policy.
After Superintendent Jim Roberts introduced the new policy to school board members on Oct. 21, immediate feedback caused a Nov. 18 vote to be tabled until December. The policy has been revised and clarified, but BSCS and the Columbus Educators Association have agreed to continue to review the policy before presenting it again. It is likely to be brought back to the board in the spring.
The intent of the policy is to give school employees a better guide on effective use of social media, one that is more comprehensive and easier to find than their current policy. The amount of questions the original proposal elicited shows that spending more time clarifying and reviewing the policy is the right decision.
