- Holmes County Education & Community Foundation has established an endowment to provide charitable funding for HCA.
- Endowments are established to last forever.
- HCA is excited to partner with HCECF to weather the test of time through secure funding.
MILLERSBURG — This fall the Holmes Center for the Arts (HCA) and the Holmes County Education & Community Foundation (HCECF) agreed to create a permanent endowment to support the HCA.
An endowment is a permanent fund set up to provide short- and long-term charitable funding. The funds are invested, and a portion is regularly distributed to its intended beneficiaries.
“Endowments are established to last forever. They provide on-going funding for chttps://www.the-daily-record.com/story/news/2022/06/09/millersburg-rotary-club-celebrates-100-years-community-service/7532290001/haritable purposes, while growing exponentially in value over time,” said HCECF Executive Director Shasta Mast. “These types of funds build resiliency, add community capacity and provide reliable income for the future.”
The HCECF recently expanded its mission from a scholarship-award-only charitable organization into a full-fledged community foundation, which may provide funding to qualifying nonprofit organizations. This is the Foundation’s first agency endowment fund.
“We are thrilled to partner with the Foundation in establishing a permanent endowment for the arts in Holmes County,” HCA Executive Director Holley Johnson said. “This fund will allow HCA to weather the test of time through a secure funding source and ensure future generations of artists and arts educators in Holmes County will have the ability to thrive at HCA.”
HCA strives to provide educational and performing opportunities in the arts for individuals of all economic and social backgrounds within a wholesome, family-oriented atmosphere and to enrich our community through those artistic experiences.
With the expansion from an old church in Millersburg to a new campus on the west side of Berlin, HCA has become a vital connection to the arts for Holmes County residents. In 2022 alone, it served 535 students through classes and workshops and sold 3,424 tickets for live performances. In the first semester of 2023 it held 15 unique classes in the visual arts, and this year it held 42 dance classes every week.
There is only growth in their future as they plan the completion of a black-box theater.
Agency endowments work because they allow pooled resources to grow over time. Community members who care about the arts may contribute to the endowment to receive a tax deduction, and those contributions ensure the long-term success of HCA’s programming.
To contribute to the Foundation’s Holmes Center for the Arts Fund, simply send a check to the Holmes County Education Foundation at 114 N. Clay St., Millersburg 44654 and put HCA Fund in the memo line.