By almost all accounts, the eighth annual Match Day as organized by the Emporia Community Foundation went extremely well.
We say almost all accounts because fundraising totals won’t be announced until the end of the month, but the website www.emporiamatchday.com and the Community Foundation office at 527 Commercial were busy through the day. Community Foundation Executive Director Becky Nurnberg says the dollar amounts have gone up every year, and she says the number of people involved in Match Day is also going up over time. She also says business sponsorships have sprung back after being curtailed last year due to the pandemic.
Community Foundation Finance Officer Loni Heinen says the event is great for the participating groups, and it’s great for the Community Foundation as well.
Residents could donate in-person or online and they could specify which of the 25 community groups — or all of them — would receive their funding. Those funds are then bolstered through a $60,000 pool of matching funds provided by the Clint Bowyer 79 Fund; Jones Testamentary Trust; Preston Family Trust; Reeble Foundation; Trusler Foundation; and donations from Nick and Jan Laurent and Fred and Paula Neuer. For the second straight year, the Emporia Masonic Lodge provided seed money for participating groups that requested those dollars, and Worshipful Master Robert Nelson says the Masons provided a total of $6,000 to 16 groups this year.
Participating groups helped their own causes with social media campaigns, and the groups benefited from introductory videos online through the Community Foundation and the work of local photographer and videographer Dave Leiker.
The full list of participating groups is below. Totals will be announced on Giving Tuesday, Nov. 30, here on KVOE and KVOE.com.
*Arvonia Historic Preservation Society
*C4 Food Pantry (Chase County Care & Compassion)
*Camp Alexander
*Chase County Historical Society and Museum
*Emporia Area Habitat for Humanity
*Emporia Celebrates the Flint Hills
*Emporia Granada Theatre Alliance
*Emporia Municipal Band
*Emporia Sertoma Club Miniature Train
*FEAS (Friends of the Emporia Animal Shelter)
*Food For Students
*Friends of the Emporia Public Library
*Fund for the Future (donations not matched)
*Hispanics of Today and Tomorrow
*Humane Society of the Flint Hills
*Keep It a Safe Summer Taskforce
*Mount Mitchell Prairie Guards
*NLC Youth Association
*Pioneer Bluffs
*Project Playscape
*Red Rocks — William Allen White Community Partnership
*Team Schnak Strong Fund
*Vernon H Buck VFW Post 7957
*Wade Barrett Memorial Fund
