Philanthropy Today
Philanthropy Today
Fairy Godmother’s & Guardians Golf Tournament on the GMCF Community Hour Show Episode - 244
We spotlight two extraordinary local philanthropic organizations - Fairy Godmothers and Guardians - that provide critical support to Manhattan residents in need through emergency grants and educational funding.
• Fairy Godmothers, founded in 2006 as "Women Helping Women," has grown to 700 members and distributes over $60,000 annually
• Members contribute $100 for a lifetime membership with funds managed through the Greater Manhattan Community Foundation
• The organization primarily assists with emergency needs like auto repairs and dental work that other programs don't cover
• Their newer "Hand-Up Grant" program provides educational funding, with over $20,000 distributed this year for CNA/LPN training
• Guardians, the male counterpart established seven years later, helps men reintegrate into the community
• Both organizations maintain partnerships with local businesses that provide services at cost to maximize impact
• The 19th Annual Fairy Godmothers and Guardians Charity Golf Tournament on October 6th is their major fundraising event
• Community First National Bank has been the presenting sponsor for 13-14 years
• Those interested in joining can visit fgfund.org (Fairy Godmothers) or gafund.org (Guardians)
Philanthropy Today is brought to you by the Greater Manhattan Community Foundation. In this episode we feature a recently broadcast segment of the GMCF Community Hour, as heard on NewsRadio KMAN. We are back with the GMCF Community Hour here on NewsRadio KMAN. When Therese Miller gets in here, you know she doesn't like to talk on microphones, but we just start talking and we just can't stop because that's just the way we are, therese. Good morning, good morning Dave. So good to have you here.
Speaker 2:So good to be here.
Speaker 1:Dick Wurzberger is also in the room. It's always good to have you in because you're you're a joyous dude. Thank you, you are JD for short, joyous dude, joyous dude. And Therese is here on behalf of Fairy Godmothers, dick is here on behalf of the Guardians, and let's get to know a little bit about each organization. Therese, ladies. First let's talk about Fairy Godmothers.
Speaker 2:Thank you. This is one of my favorite subjects, so, even though I kind of have anxiety about speaking, I still can do this with Fairy Godmothers.
Speaker 2:They are my favorite organization. It is Women Helping Women. We have been doing this since 2006. We had about six women, get about 50 women together and we set up a fund at the Community Foundation that has grown to an entity that we can provide about over sixty thousand dollars a year. Wow, to um help women. Um, we provide grants through shepherd's crossing to women in manhattan and and most of those grants go to various needs. That other, you know entities can't, and that seems to center a lot around auto repairs. You know, as you can imagine, someone who is barely getting by and then needs to have their car repaired. There's $1,000 they don't have, so we try to help them with that. We do a lot of also dental work and things like that. We've also now expanded to provide what's up grant and we provide funds to help with various educational expenses so that they can go on and because have more resources and not need us for any of the other grants. So that's a little the short story on Fairy Godmothers.
Speaker 1:And how can ladies get involved?
Speaker 2:It's pretty easy. We don't have regular meetings. But if you go to fgfundorg you can certainly sign up and be a part of our organization. We have options for committees. Those committees are all kind of explained on that website. So it's $100 to join. You are a lifetime member at that point and we have about 700 members now. Wow yeah.
Speaker 1:I remember when this got started.
Speaker 2:Exactly.
Speaker 1:Did you have any idea? It could be as large?
Speaker 2:Absolutely not, but it is just been a joy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, dick, let's talk about the men's side, the Guardians.
Speaker 3:Well, as any good man knows, you got to follow the lead of the women.
Speaker 1:You've learned a lot over these years.
Speaker 3:Yes, and about seven years later, the Guardians trying to get back into the community. Following up on one of the things that Treece mentioned was car repairs, and you know for someone you know they're working. They're working paycheck to paycheck and when these repairs come up they just don't have the funds. But it's their way to get to work. And so we have a good relationship with some of the local businesses in town that provide at their cost, and then we provide grants to cover the needed repairs so they can continue to work.
Speaker 3:And then a lot of times there are men trying to get back into the community. They need a place to live but they don't have any furniture. We'll buy mattresses, things of that nature. So our funds are all designated to much like the fairies, fairy godmothers. We just want to try and help these men become productive members of our community and we, like I said, we started ours seven years after the fairy godmothers, our seven years after the fairy godmothers, and we've been very blessed with the golf tournament that provides funds for those things through sponsorships, and then the annual grow green day under the greater manhattan community foundation umbrella, where people have been generous in supporting our efforts so, okay, well, it is, is fun to be a part of both, and when you do get together for whatever the case may be a fundraiser or whatever there's always some great stories that are being told and you definitely get to learn a lot and it certainly deepens your compassion for people that are in need, even if it's for a temporary basis.
Speaker 1:So, dick, you have a golf tournament coming up. We do. Would you tell us about that, please? Sure.
Speaker 3:It's the 19th annual Fairy Godmothers and Guardians Charity Golf Tournament. It's going to be coming up on Monday, october 6th, so a couple of weeks away, october 6th so a couple of weeks away. Um, we've been again very blessed with uh uh. You know the ladies and men that want to play golf. We've got a uh, a full uh allotment of players, so that's a great blessing. And and then the sponsors, uh uh, we've had, um, I've been very fortunate that our presenting sponsor and I might let Therese talk a little bit about that Community National Bank has been our presenting sponsorship, along with many other fine businesses and people in town supporting this effort.
Speaker 1:So Therese Community First National Bank, that seems to be a natural place for you to find.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. I am so grateful to them for sponsoring this and the other many ways they sponsor things in this community, but this is this is something that they have done for the past I believe 13 or 14 years now. For the past I believe 13 or 14 years now they've been our title sponsor, and Rob is just generous and has kept us going. He's also a guardian, so he's also passionate about that part of it too. So, and we are grateful for that and grateful for the other sponsors we have too. We have quite a few. When they sign up as corporate sponsors, they are also golfers usually, or they rally around a golf team, if you can believe that.
Speaker 1:There are more than one opportunity.
Speaker 2:There are. It's a great day and you know the fall is a great day to play golf in Kansas, so we're very lucky about that. We still have some opportunities if someone would like to. Our golf slate is pretty much fulfilled, but we have lots of opportunities to continue to sponsor. We have some. If you want to be a whole sponsor or if you want to sponsor our lunch or beverage cart, we would welcome that and we'll give you some signage for that.
Speaker 1:Okay, so you're pretty close to being sold out on the players we are. Isn't that a lucky day? Well, I don't hear that often enough.
Speaker 2:I know it's just been such a great and fun day for people, so I think they signed up quick Congratulations, thank you.
Speaker 1:I mean, that's one of the things you know when you hear people talking about the golf tournaments or every event. It's just like here's when we come onto the show, here's a plea and how you can get tickets and how you can help. There's still ways to help.
Speaker 2:You may not be able to play that day that's right, that's right awesome congratulations thank you, thank you, dick what do you like most about the day?
Speaker 3:I think it's just being out there having fun. We've been blessed with good weather. I'm going to jinx it now.
Speaker 1:Well, hey, Saturday I was blessed with good weather, so there's no reason to not bless on the 6th.
Speaker 3:So, and like Tree said, in the fall the weather is more moderate and it's still green in Kansas at that time of year. So it's just a fun, fun day to get out and it goes by quickly, but we have a lot of fun. We have a lot of fun and raising money for good purposes Okay.
Speaker 1:Anything else about the Fairy Godmothers you'd like to add Therese?
Speaker 2:Just that this golf tournament is mostly going to fund some of our HUD grants, which is the hand-up grant for education. We've already funded over $20,000 this year in grants to mostly students who are getting either their CNA or their LPN at MATC, so it's a great partnership with that organization too.
Speaker 1:Goodness, I bet so yeah, dick anything.
Speaker 3:Again, we you know it's very easy to become a member of the Guardians. It's very easy to become a member of the Guardians. You go to our website, gafundorg, and there's a place to sign up. We have a lot of things going. You can be on our various committees the golf committee, for example.
Speaker 1:We're very appreciative of all the support that we've been able to receive from the community over the years. I do know one of the most moving things is when you have one of those who have been recipients of some of these grants. So when they come to speak at a meeting and tell their story, that just makes you want to. Just you know, it empowers you to really want to do more for people like that down the road.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, absolutely, and thank you for supporting us by letting us come and speak about it. Well, that's Vern. That's Vern and Felix. You know they do all that scheduling.
Speaker 1:I just have that. I just have the room. So, teresa, always good to have you in. You did a really nice job in spite of your anxieties here today.
Speaker 2:You make it easy and I appreciate it.
Speaker 1:I try. I try, Dick. Always a pleasure. You have no anxieties in front of the microphone?
Speaker 3:I guess not.
Speaker 1:Well, good luck with everything on the 6th and thank you. And here's a community thank you for both your respective organizations, because that's one of the things that I think makes Manhattan special. We have so many people that are helping out those in need and so many different organizations, and I both. I know both of you are involved in a lot of other organizations, but this one is truly unique. It's homegrown, it's organic here to Manhattan, kansas, and I think that that helps make it special for everybody that's involved, especially those who are recipients of those grants through Fairy Godmothers and the Guardians.
Speaker 1:Well put, dave, I try. Sometimes I like to speak. Sometimes it makes sense, I don't know. Hey, we're going to take a break when we come back. Rich Jankovich is going to be joining us. Rich is going to be here talking about AUSA. It's an organization that does a lot of nice things on behalf of those that are serving our country, and they've got a special thing coming up here that we're going to tell you a little bit more about on the GMCF Community Hour. By the way, you can always find out more about the activities of the foundation at our website, which is mcfksorg.