Column: Winners of the library

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The deadline is quickly approaching.  A 12-month pursuit to meet a very impressive goal is rapidly running out of time.  The planning, promoting, cheering and hoping will come to an end on December 31st.  Although they wouldn’t dream of it, Joyce and Jim should rest easy and not worry.  Because no matter whether they reach their goal, everyone knows there will be no losers…just Winners.

Joyce and Jim Winner are behind the Centennial Society.  The Society is made up of people who want to establish an endowment for our Carmel Clay Public Library Foundation.  Their thinking in early 2014 was to find 100 families, clubs or neighborhood groups willing to each chip in $1,000 and become a founding member.  For every dollar contributed, Joyce and Jim will match up to $100,000 and the goal is to end up with an endowment of $200,000 on December 31, 2014.  The donations are not to be spent but held in trust.

Although they are a team, according to Jim, Joyce is the driving force behind this effort. Spend just five minutes with her and you can feel her passion. “Who couldn’t love the library?  The Library is for everyone,” she said.

And it is.  Especially the children.  The endowment funds would be used to support programming for children’s literacy.  According to Library Director Wendy Phillips, the library focuses much of their children’s programming on promoting the development of early literacy skills for preschool aged children.  This way, they can enter kindergarten prepared to learn how to read.

Joyce Winner bases much of her passion about building a financial future for the library on the legacy of Andrew Carnegie.  She said, “Carnegie didn’t know us, but cared enough about us to fund the first library in Carmel.”  That library served our community from 1914 to 1971.

To pay it forward, Joyce and Jim are looking for more gift givers, each willing to contribute $1,000 until they reach 100.  Although they are close, the goal has not yet been achieved and just days remain to join the Society and take advantage of their generous match.

“If we can get 100 gifts, this then just becomes the start.  Hopefully someone else will pick up the torch of endowment and take it to the next level,” Joyce said. “We are just the start.”

To help the Winners make us all winners, call 317-814-3905.  Good Day Carmel

 


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