VIENNA —
The past, present and future work of the Sisters
of St. Joseph Charitable Fund was celebrated at the organization’s annual
luncheon, Friday, December 8, 2006.
"The sisters have been adapting and changing since 1650 and they’ve
survived. This charitable fund is going to carry that forward," said Thomas
Whittier, chairman of the fund’s board of directors.
This year’s luncheon also marked the 10th anniversary of the fund, whose
goal is to improve the holistic health and wellness of Mid-Ohio Valley
residents.
Formed in 1996 with money received from the sale of St. Joseph’s Hospital,
the fund has awarded nearly $8.5 million in grants to 278 nonprofit agencies
in the Mid-Ohio Valley.
The origin of the order can be traced to 1650, with six women who earned
their livings as lace-makers. That heritage was the source of the theme for
this year’s luncheon, "A Common Thread," highlighting the links between the
order then, the order today and the communities and groups helped by the
fund. "All of the creative, innovative and compassionate
responses (to needs) form the strands of this common thread," said Sister
Jane Harrington, executive director of the fund. "Today we lift up and
celebrate the patterns that have emerged during the past year."
Recent grant recipients acknowledged at the annual luncheon included Belmont
Elementary School, which put its grant toward a walking path used by
students and the community; Marietta Township, which made improvements to
the Reno Community Building; the Parkersburg Art Center, which installed an
accessible restroom; the Pond Run Volunteer Fire Department, which did work
on its substation; Roane County Family Health Care, which purchased
ultrasound equipment; and Selby General Hospital, which applied the money to
geriatric psychiatric services.
 Sister Molly Bauer, program director for the fund’s Health Ministries
Initiative, said the fund provides "a wonderful opportunity for nonprofits
in the area to respond to health and wellness needs they otherwise aren’t
able to."
Leaders of groups that have benefited from the grants readily agreed with
that assessment.
The fund is "instrumental in creating impacting, life-changing programs that
exist to this day," said Keith Wasserman, founder and executive director of
Athens, Ohio-based Good Works Inc., a Christian group aiding poor
Appalachian residents.
A past grant helped set up that organization’s Good Gifts, a business that
sells hand-made products from Third World countries, providing a fair wage
to workers there and generating profits used for job training locally,
Wasserman said.
"It wasn’t a large grant, but it was a shot in the arm," he said.
 A grant funded
ARTSBRIDGE’s Heart of the Art is
Healing pilot program, aimed at sharing art with long-term care facility
residents, staff and families, said Pamela Martino, ARTSBRIDGE executive
director.
"We would never have been able to do this project without the Sisters of St.
Joseph Charitable Fund," she said.
In the coming year, the fund’s leadership plans to meet with nonprofit
groups throughout the 11 counties it serves to prepare for the next decade,
Whittier said.
"We need to know what is needed in the counties, we need to learn from the
counties, and we need to let the counties know about" what the fund is
doing, he said.
Not only has the fund benefited the community in the last decade, its
endowment will allow its work to continue well into the future, Whittier
said.
"They (the Sisters) have through their vision given us an endowment which
will last much longer than any of us will," he said.
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