Gifts, Grants & Fundraising
• The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra recently held a “topping out” ceremony celebrating the placement of the final structural beams of the new Stella Boyle Smith Music Center in East Village, which is set to open this fall after raising more than $11 million.
• UAMS met its $30 million fundraising goal for the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute’s campaign to achieve National Cancer Institute Designation, which will provide the ability to access significant federal research funding and exclusive clinical trials. Designation is also expected to result in a $72 million economic impact on the state.
• The Delta Dental of Arkansas Foundation has awarded nearly $268,000 to the School-Based Health Alliance of Arkansas for a new initiative to help expand access to dental care for K-12 students in rural parts of the state.
• Ferncliff Camp and Conference Center received a $986,537 challenge grant from the J.E. & L.E. Mabee Foundation and a $1 million grant pledge from the Walton Family Foundation. Both grants will go toward a $7.6 million capital campaign to renovate portions of the campus, a stream restoration project and development of the Belden Pond Waterfront.
top honors
• Women’s Foundation of Arkansas CEO Anna Beth Gorman was selected as a 2024 Presidential Leadership Scholar, wherein she will spend six months “[developing] her initiative focused on building the nonprofit sector advocacy capacity so more voices of Arkansas, their challenges and struggles are represented at the legislative level.”
• Annabelle Imber Tuck received the 2023 William F. Rector Memorial Award for Distinguished Civic Achievement from Fifty for the Future. As part of the recognition, a $2,500 charitable gift was awarded to the nonprofit of her choice: the Family Development Center at Catherine’s House.
BIG MOVES
• The Arkansas Cinema Society has shuffled roles among its team. Cade Bethea is now the managing director, Dillon Garcia is the director of hospitality and Kody Ford is the director of outreach, programs and education.
• Camp Aldersgate added five new board members: Rev. Dr. Clif Christopher, Jennie Nicholls, Sam Smith, Anne Soloman and Debbie Teague.
• Amber Tierney has been elected secretary of the board of directors for Alzheimer’s Arkansas.
• The Razorback Foundation named Alisha Curtis its new director of development and head of the Little Rock office.
• Tamra Patterson-Calamese is the new director of community, learning and public programs for the Arkansas Repertory Theatre.
Latest Launches
• Nexus Coffee & Creative announced its new Collective Foundation designed to connect customers with local nonprofits. The foundation will donate a portion of coffee sales, provide a platform and offer physical space to nonprofits throughout the year, and is partnering with the Arkansas Foodbank through March.
• A new nonprofit called Arkansans for Improving Maternal Health, or AIM for Arkansas, debuted with the mission of advocating for improved access, affordability and quality of maternal health care across the state including prenatal care, safe delivery and postpartum support.
• Arkansas Enterprises for the Developmentally Disabled Inc. (AEDD) announced expansion plans that include a 10,000-square-foot workforce training center in Cabot, two residential properties in Maumelle and three 5,000-square-foot shelter homes in Argenta and Cabot. AEDD has raised more than $6 million toward its $9 million goal as part of a capital campaign launched in January 2023.
• 100 Families, a nonprofit initiative that connects organizations with resources to help families “move from crisis to stability,” officially launched its latest program in north Pulaski County. Partner organizations are already serving 30 families, including more than 70 children.