MARION, OH – Watching his mother struggle with extreme eye issues and multiple surgeries motivated Jim Sutherin to want to help others. He used an inheritance to, along with his wife, Gayle, create the Sutherin Family Eye Care Fund at Marion Community Foundation in 2012. Every year since then, the Sutherin Fund has awarded a grant to the Center Street Community Health Center, specifically for their ophthalmic care, treatment, and services.

“Mother had several surgeries and they were expensive,” Sutherin said. “I knew there had to be others who needed assistance and we wanted to be part of that help.”

The Sutherins are fond of helping. Marion residents since 1975, they have expressed their love of the community and its people though volunteering and donating to numerous community causes—OhioHealth Marion General Hospice, their church, Love INC, and the Hauling Hope furniture ministry they founded. Both have served First Presbyterian Church as elders, deacons, and trustees.

The Sutherin’s fund is one of 57 designated funds at Marion Community Foundation. This type of fund is for the donor who wishes to support a specific – or designated – nonprofit organization or charity throughout their lifetime and beyond. This year, Marion Community Foundation’s designated funds have awarded $443,000 to Marion area charities to help their donors achieve specific philanthropic goals and benefit the Marion community.

“We are grateful for donors with the generosity and heart that Jim and Gayle have made tangible with their designated fund,” said Julie Prettyman, Vice President and Director of Programs at Marion Community Foundation. “Designated funds help the community year after year.”

“When a donor has a special affinity for a particular charity, because they volunteer for it or it helped them in some way, they may wish to support it permanently,” said Dean Jacob, President and CEO of Marion Community Foundation. “This is the case with Jim and Gayle Sutherin and other designated fund creators. It’s a way to permanently tie their name to that organization and cause which means so much to them. Like all of our endowed funds, awards are made in the donors’ names each year, forever.”

According to Jacob, designated funds are an important part of a much larger picture at the Foundation – along with community grants, donor advised funds, field of interest funds, unrestricted funds, and scholarships – all of which total about $2 million annually to help the Marion community.

In addition to the Sutherin Family Eye Care Fund, Marion Community Foundation’s 2020 designated funds, the causes they support, and the grant recipients are as follows:

Parks & Environment

Dr. & Mrs. Glen Burton Jr Memorial Fund - to Prairie Parks Foundation

Terradise Nature Preserve Fund – to Prairie Parks Foundation

Don & Deb Alspach Fund – to Prairie Parks Foundation

Jerry Davis Prairie Parks Foundation Fund – to Prairie Parks Foundation

Education

Jean Zoeller Reas Endowment Fund – to Calvert High School & St. Ursula Academy

Arthur J. & Jo Ann Radwin Journalism Fund – for journalism education

Prexy Play Scholarship Fund – for pay-to-participate fees at Harding and Grant

Marion Public Library Endowment Fund - to Marion Public Library

Let’s Read 20 Endowment Fund – for early literacy in Marion schools, daycares, preschools

Judge William Wiedemann Family Fund - for Marion Technical College student scholarships

Judge William Wiedemann Family Fund - for Ohio State Marion student clubs and programs

Farison Family Helping Hands Fund – for Pleasant students’ sports fees, uniforms and supplies and standardized testing (ACT & SAT) fees

Pleasant Music Boosters Fund – to Pleasant Music Boosters

Jacob R. Cannon Memorial Fund - for Ridgedale sports fees, uniforms and supplies

Stephen J. Chaney Memorial Scholarship Fund – for St. Mary School tuition assistance

James C. Cooper’s St. Mary Church Fund – to St. Mary School

Faith-Based

Jean Zoeller Reas Endowment Fund – to St. Mary Parish, Tiffin, Ohio

A. Merle Hamilton Funds – to Centenary United Methodist Church, Central Christian Church and Epworth United Methodist Church

Parrott Family Emanuel Lutheran Church Fund – to Emanuel Lutheran Church

Lust Family Fund – to Emanuel Lutheran Church’s Ackerman Medical Fund

Epworth United Methodist Church Fund – to Epworth United Methodist Church

Gene & Jan Farison Family Fund – to Epworth United Methodist Church

Meredythe & John McDaniel Fund – to Epworth United Methodist Church

Joe Slanser Fund – to Epworth United Methodist Church

William D. & Alice L. Young Fund – to First Church of the Brethren

Daniel H. Zimmerman Presbyterian Church Fund - to First Presbyterian Church

Norma Jacob St. Vincent de Paul Society Fund – for food and clothing to low-income Marion residents

Gene & Jan Farison Family Fund - to Epworth United Methodist Church

Health & Wellness

Sutherin Family Eye Care Fund – for Center Street Community Health Center ophthalmic services

Gladys Simpson & Melvin Ulery Memorial Fund – for Center Street Community Health Center medical & dental care

Dan Zimmerman & JoAnn Zimmerman YMCA Fund – to Marion Family YMCA

Marion Family YMCA “Doc” Butterworth Fund – for Marion Family YMCA scholarships for youth memberships

Wopat Family YMCA Fund – to Marion Family YMCA

Merle & Evelyn Lashey YMCA Fund – to Marion Family YMCA

Nobel F. Hollaway YMCA Scholarship Fund – to Marion Family YMCA

Fout-Price Memorial Fund – for Marion General Hospital Hospice

Arts, History & Culture

Huber Museum Fund – to Edward Huber Memorial Association

Joe Slanser Fund – to Marion Union Station

Jerry & Betty L. Davis Palace Theatre Fund – to Marion Palace Theatre

Linn School Endowment Fund – to Marion County Historical Society

David K. Miller Fund – to Marion County Historical Society

A. Merle Hamilton Marion Co. Historical Society Fund – to Marion County Historical Society

Meredythe and John McDaniel Fund – to Marion Palace Theatre

Kenny Martin Charitable Fund – to Marion Palace Theatre & Marion Union Station

Poorman Palace Theatre Fund – to Marion Palace Theatre

Mary H. Hollaway Palace Theatre Fund – to Marion Palace Theatre

Gene & Jan Farison Family Fund - to Marion Palace Theatre

F. Riley Hall and Geraldine A. Hall Memorial Fund – to Stengel-True Museum

Warren G. Harding Home & Presidential Center Fund – to Warren G. Harding Home & Presidential Center

Marion Palace Theatre Perpetual Care Fund – to Marion Palace Theatre

Community Development

Betty L. Davis Fund III – to League of Women Voters

Kenny Martin Charitable Fund – for community grants

JoAnn Radwin-Zimmerman Bridge Out of Poverty Fund – to Marion Matters

Marion Matters Endowment Fund – to Marion Matters

Children, Families & Seniors

Thomas E. Ruzzo Endowment Fund – to Marion Family Court’s Family Resource Center

Food, Shelter & Support

Leapin’ Outreach Center Fund – to Leapin’ Outreach Center

Legal Aid Society Endowment Fund – to Legal Aid Society-Marion

Betty L. Davis Fund – to Marion Area Counseling Center

Marion County Red Cross Endowment Fund – to Marion County Red Cross

Jack V. & Violet M. Griffith Family Fund – to Marion Shelter Program

Pamela Stone United Way Impact Fund – to United Way of Marion County

Gene & Jan Farison Family Fund - to United Way of Marion County

Judge William Wiedemann Family Fund – to United Way of Marion County

SSG Shannon M. Smith “No Fear” Fund – to Wounded Warrior Project

Animal Care

Mary H. Hollaway Humane Society Fund - to Marion Area Humane Society

Marion Community Foundation is a leader in local planned giving, with more than 360 charitable funds supporting the people and communities of Marion County. It is located inside the Stengel-True Museum at 504 S. State St. The Foundation’s offices are operating on limited hours due to the coronavirus pandemic with the staff working remotely. They may be contacted by calling 740-387-9704 or online at www.MarionCommunityFoundation.org.

About Local News WMRN

1490 WMRN-AM · Marion's News, Weather, and Sports