Mary Gibble is still trying to find the word that best describe the success of the Hancock County Community Foundation’s Match Day.
So instead, she’ll let the numbers do the talking.
Nearly $400,000 is headed into the endowment funds and bank accounts of 12 Hancock County nonprofits, the foundation’s president said. More than 800 people wrote checks, swiped their credit cards or handed over cash to the participating organizations during the foundation’s 24-hour fundraiser in July, with donations totaling close to $226,000.
Those dollars were then matched with contributions from the community foundation and the Lilly Endowment.
At a celebration Monday at the Creative Arts and Event Center in downtown Greenfield, Gibble and her team announced the total each organization received, and they presented representatives from the groups with checks for the amount allocated to the organizations’ immediate needs.
Looking back on the fundraiser left her in awe, Gibble said.
“The response of the community was so generous,” she said. “It was absolutely phenomenal, and we’re just incredible grateful.”
The organizations that benefited from Match Day were Bradley United Methodist Church, Families United for Support and Encouragement, Greenfield Parks and Recreation, Hancock County 4-H Agricultural Association, Hancock County Food Pantry, Hancock County Public Library, Hancock County Senior Services, Hancock Hope House, Leaders in Navigating Knowledge, Love INC, Nameless Creek Youth Camp and Sugar Creek Township Park.
Lilly Endowment granted the foundation $90,000 to match 50 cents for every dollar donated on Match Day up to $7,500 per organization, and the community foundation used $80,000 of its own funds to make a contribution to each.
Because 100 or more people donated to each participating nonprofit, each received an additional $250 from the foundation, organizers said.
“What a difference we made in the lives of a lot of people in this community,” said Tim Clark, chairman of the foundation’s board of directors. “It was all by a team effort, everyone volunteering and working together.”
This is the community foundation’s second Match Day.
In 2012, the fundraiser brought in more than $200,000 from the public, which was increased by $33,000 from the foundation, organizers said. A bigger matching pool in 2015 meant an even bigger impact, organizers said.
Gifts on Match Day averaged $257.52, Gibble said. She said she was humbled to see gifts of all sizes pour in, even some from children who scraped together their spare change to help out one of the groups.
The Hancock County Food Pantry received the largest amount of donations on Match Day. Community contributions totaled $33,371, meaning the pantry received $52,888 after the matches were factored in.
Tom Ferguson, the food pantry’s president, said he did not expect his group to see the generosity it did. The money will help the pantry purchase food for needy families and cover costs to keep the pantry open.
“We’re truly blessed,” Ferguson said. “I think all the organizations represented here tonight are important to Hancock County. I’d hate to say that any one is more important than any other.
“I think it’s more a testimony to the philanthropy within the county. People are very generous, and they open their hearts to needs within the county and the community.”