News
Board of the Athens Area Foundation Holds Organizational Meeting
PHOTO CAPTION: The Athens Area Community Foundation board of directors met recently. Pictured are, left to right, front row: Helen Mills, Steve Jones, Bill Douglas, Red Petrovs; second row, Tim Johnson, Kathy Kirbo, Ovita Thornton, Carol Winthrop, Cheryl Legette, Jimbo LaBoon, Grant Tribble, Ricky Chastain, Doc Eldridge; third row, Bob Burton, Dink NeSmith, Mike Young, Robert Fezekas, Bill Cowsert, Alex Patterson, Jim Norton, Buddy Allen, Pat Allen,Tom Rodgers. Not pictured: David Allen, Bertis Downs, Arthur Johnson, Regina Smith, Richard Washington, Joe Whorton.
The board of directors of the new Athens Area Community Foundation met recently to elect officers and begin the organizational tasks necessary to make the foundation operational.
Steve Jones, judge of Clarke County Superior Court, was elected chair of the foundation. Jones has served the past two years as chair of Partners for a Prosperous Athens. Other officers are: vice chair, Bill Douglas, president of Athens First Bank and Trust; secretary, Helen Mills, retired associate vice president for public service and outreach at the University of Georgia; and treasurer, Grant Tribble, chief financial officer of Athens Regional Medical Center.
The Athens Area Foundation is a private, non-profit organization that will provide financial support for programs and initiatives that improve quality of life and economic well-being of citizens in the greater Athens area. Creation of the foundation was a recommendation of Partners for a Prosperous Athens, which has worked for two years to address the problem of persistent poverty in Clarke County.
Other members of the board of directors are: Buddy Allen, B. Allen and Co.; David Allen, The Urology Clinic; Pat Allen, UGA director of community relations; Bob Burton, burton + burton; Ricky Chastain, Chastain & Associates; StateSen. William Cowsert, Cowsert & Avery LLP; Bertis Downs, attorney for REM; Doc Eldridge, president of Athens Area Chamber of Commerce; Arthur Johnson, associate athletic director at UGA; Tim Johnson, Family Connection; Kathy Kirbo, Reefball Foundation; James LaBoon Jr., Athens First Bank and Trust; Cheryl Legette, Girl Scouts of Northeast Georgia; Jim Norton, Homeplace; Alex Patterson, Alston + Bird LLP; Tom Rodgers, UGA College of Family & Consumer Sciences; Regina Smith, associate vice president for research at UGA; Ovita Thornton, Clarke County Board of Education; Richard Washington, First A.M.E. Church; Carol Winthrop, retired assistant vice president for academic affairs at UGA; Mike Young, Young-Rymer Designs.
Serving as ex-officio board members are Robert Fezekas; Dink NeSmith, Community Newspapers, Inc.; and Joe Whorton, UGA Fanning Institute.
The foundation initially will have four standing committees-- for finance, marketing, endowmentand grants. Grant Tribble is chair of the Finance Committee and Cheryl Legette was elected chairof the Grants Committee. The other committee chairs will be elected later.
An executive committee will be composed of the four officers and the chairs of the standing committees.
Legal paperwork will soon be completed to make the foundation a tax-exempt 501 C (3) organization under the U.S. tax code. A location for a foundation office will be identified soon and a search is underway for a part-time executive director.
Until the foundation is an official legal entity, its financial affairs will be handled by the North Georgia Community Foundation in Gainesville. However, the foundation is accepting tax-deductible contributions. Checks can be made to the Athens Area Community Foundation and mailed to The Fanning Institute, University of Georgia, 1240 S. Lumpkin St., Athens, GA 30602,attn: Joe Whorton or Sandy Christopher.