Loretta Moore, Prevail’s executive director, says the grant will be dispersed over a three-year period and will be used to support all of the children’s programs offered through Prevail, as well as adding another child advocate to its staff.
“We extend our sincere thanks to the Crosser Family Foundation for their many years of support to Prevail,” said Moore. “The Crosser’s have played an integral role in the expansion of our children’s programs, allowing us to grow the services we provide and helping wounded families flourish.”

“We continue to be amazed by Prevail’s commitment and compassion toward youth in our community that have been affected by domestic violence and sexual abuse,” said Carrie Renner, Crosser Family foundation director. “We believe that children must learn about healthy relationships and learn how to cope with unhealthy ones.”

Prevail’s children support groups include Exploring My World and Trailblazers which provide services to the area’s youth in need. Exploring My World offers a 12-week curriculum focusing on children who live in or have been in a domestic violence situation. Trailblazers is a 10-week psycho-educational group for children who are victims of sexual abuse. Both groups serve children ages 6 to 12.

About Prevail, Inc.
Founded in 1986, Prevail is currently celebrating 25 years of service to victims of crime and families in crisis. Prevail is a dedicated and recognized model in the advocacy for crime victims by promoting community awareness through educational prevention programs and community partnerships. Programs and services are offered without discrimination against age, race, gender, creed, ethnicity, color, marital status, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, or disability and are confidential, personalized and free-of-charge. For more information on Prevail and its services, log on to www.prevailinc.com or contact Loretta Moore at (317) 773-6942 or Loretta@prevailinc.com. Prevail, Inc. offers a 24-hour crisis line: 317-776-3472.

In response to this critical issue, Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital at St.Vincent established a Child Protection Center in July of 2008. The purpose of this Center is to provide a wide range of services including medical evaluations, expert testimony and various forms of training and education with the overarching goal of helping to reduce the rate of child abuse and neglect in Indiana.

Read Full Article in the St. Vincent, “Spirit of Giving” newsletter (pdf)

Exhibits of leaf collections, animal track displays, and skulls are the tools for the new nature study programs developed to educate and inspire our members in a hands-on environment. This summer hundreds of youth will visit the center to unfold the mysteries and secrets of Mother Nature. The rustic building is a resourceful information center for all camp visitors.

A special thanks to the Crosser Family Foundation for fulfilling a dream come true for the staff and members.

VIEW THE BOYS & GIRLS CLUB NEWSLETTER

Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital at St.Vincent became the first provider in Indiana to offer a child-friendly blood draw, thanks to two Indianapolis families. St.Vincent Foundation officials, local donors, physicians and associates gathered to bless the new clinic on June 10. Providing this service involves a partnership of Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital at St.Vincent and Mid-America Clinical Laboratories to initiate the use of both pain-minimizing numbing creams and child life specialists who offer a variety of techniques to distract the child during the procedure. The child-friendly blood draw helps ensure that children receive the most efficient and superior health care; that every visit is as pleasant and pain-free as possible; and to improve the overall hospital experience for each child.

Members of the Crosser family hung the plaque marking the opening of the room where the Child-Friendly Blood Draw will be performed. The Child Friendly Blood Draw was made possible through the generous support of the Crosser Family Foundation and the Skinner family in memory of Robert N. Skinner.

The Crosser Family Foundation became a member of the donor list and is included at the ($5,000 - 9,999) donor level

Learn More about Prevent Blindness Indiana

Campaign helps offer youngsters opportunities

Camry Duncan said joining the Boys & Girls Club of Noblesville not only gave her something to do after school but also offers her opportunities she wouldn’t have otherwise.

Monday, the 12-year-old joined 10 other club members for a field trip to Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre in Indianapolis to see the musical, “A Christmas Carol.”

“Normally, I don’t get to go to these things. It’s my first time to a fancy restaurant,” said the Noblesville Middle School seventh-grader.

“It’s not something everyone could afford,” said Abigail Hill, the club’s program director for ages 12 and younger. That’s why the club’s ladies auxiliary sponsors the field trip annually. “It’s a cultural experience. A lot of kids have never been to a play.”

Serving youth, while offering an array of opportunities to grow, is the mission of the Boys & Girls Club, in the second week of its annual fundraising campaign, which runs through February.

Camry likes playing dodge ball, basketball and soccer in the club’s gymnasium. She uses the club library and gets homework help from a club tutor. “It’s like my second home here. . . . It’s taught me to be the person I am,” she said.

The club, which offers a safe haven for youths 6-18, needs funds to pay for all of these activities.

Ron Willcut, the club’s executive director, credits consistent contributions from longtime donors as one reason the fundraising campaign is going well. “So far, I’ve been impressed,” he said.

Since the campaign kicked off Dec. 15, nearly $20,000 has been raised. The 2008-09 campaign raised about $60,000, while the 2007-08 campaign raised about $85,000.

Donors have contributed $62,490 this year through November to the club, not including the annual campaign, Willcut said.

“Charitable giving is down some, but we’re still having a good year, and very thankful to the donors,” he said.

The club’s 30th annual H.H. Dittbrenner Golf Classic in June and the club’s annual campaign will be the two main fundraising efforts for the operating fund in 2010 for the 58-year-old club.

This year’s golf outing raised more than $32,000 in net profit, and Willcut said, “I would think that it’s one of the best years they’ve ever had.”

The 2009 operating expenses budget is $900,000, and would be about the same in 2010.

United Way allocated $129,600 for the club for 2009 and again for 2010, a 10 percent decrease from the $144,000 allocated in 2008.

Despite the 10 percent cut, Willcut said, “The club didn’t make any changes. However, we do keep a close eye. . . . It’s a tough economic climate out there. . . . We’re thankful for any gifts.”

The club’s 25th annual auxiliary auction in February will raise funds for club programs that in the past have included canoes and a fireplace at the new shelter at Camp Crosser, an 18-acre camp the club owns along White River; remodeling of the crafts room at the club, 1448 Conner St.; a television and gaming system; and a personal address system.

The 2009 auction raised about $45,000, said Shannon Gigante, who is co-organizing the 2010 auction, set for Feb. 6 at Harbour Trees Golf Club.

Overall, the outlook is bright for 2010. “We’re always looking to provide more services,” Willcut said. Among those are spring camping and fall camping opportunities at Camp Crosser. “There’s a lot of things out there transpiring,” he said.

The annual membership fee increased from $30 to $40 in September. Willcut said it was the first increase in several years. “Still, no child is turned away for financial reasons,” he said.

The actual cost of providing club programs and activities is $350 per member, Willcut said. Hardship memberships are available through private donations.

He said the club raised about $7,000 in donations in the spring for 83 camp scholarships at Camp Crosser, where fees are $85 per week.

A capital projects grant from United Way built a picnic pavilion in 2007 at Camp Crosser. The pavilion cost about $240,000, of which $30,000 was donated by the club’s auxiliary to build a fireplace, Willcut said.

This year, about 450 campers attended Camp Crosser. The camp cost about $600,000 when the club bought it in 2006. The Crosser Family Foundation contributed 50 percent of the funds, and club funds and United Way paid for the rest.

The organization became debt-free in April 2008, “which is a tremendous relief,” Willcut said. “We are very, very fortunate. We are very blessed.”

Willcut said two topics the Board of Directors will focus on during January’s annual meeting would be long-term giving and developing a more healthy endowment fund.

“It’s a time for strategic planning. We get to that meeting and start plotting the future,” he said. “We’ll be planning for the next three to five years, see where we are, compared to the past, and what the future may hold.

“We’ve grown quite a bit.”

From 2002 to 2005, the club raised more than $4 million through individual donors and United Way matching funds for capital improvements that included the 2004 renovations to the Conner Street facility and construction of the club’s Community Center, 150 N. 17th St.

Throughout all of the changes, Willcut said, “the main thing is that the mission of the Boys & Girls Club has always been there. . . . We’re going to service youth.

“I run into people all the time who used to belong to the club when it was above Kirk Hardware, and they tell me it was the greatest experience they ever had.”

In 2008, 2,706 members and more than 20,000 nonmembers used the facilities, he said.

Olivia Morales, 9, Noblesville, who’s been a member since she was old enough to join, said there isn’t anyplace else she’d rather be after school and during holiday break.

She uses the computer lab, does arts and crafts, plays pool in the game room and learned how to make pumpkin pie in cooking class.

“You can have fun there,” she said.

Additional Facts
To donate
The Boys & Girls Club of Noblesville, 1448 Conner St., is open during Noblesville Schools’ Christmas vacation, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays through Jan. 4, except Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and Dec. 31 and Jan. 1.

To donate to the annual fundraising campaign, which runs through February, call (317) 773-4372 or go online at www.boysandgirlsclubofnoblesville.org

On Tuesday, June 10 at 11:30 a.m., Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital at St.Vincent clinical professionals will help reduce an 11-year-old pediatric patient’s fear of needles by drawing blood at the new child-friendly laboratory.

The faith-based children’s hospital is Indiana’s only child-friendly blood draw provider to be staffed by pediatric-trained clinicians who use pain-minimizing creams, and collaborate with child life specialists to employ various distraction techniques, such as playing games with patients to ensure the best experience.

“Our child-friendly blood draw uses the latest and creative approaches to help reduce patients’ fear of needles and make the blood-drawing process less painful,” said Dr. Joanne Hilden, medical director of Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital at St.Vincent. “We understand that blood draws can be scary for patients, so our goal is to make certain every child who enters the lab has a pleasant outcome.”

Two local supporters of the Children’s Hospital donated a total of $600,000 to provide an outpatient laboratory for hematology/oncology, pre-operative, cardiovascular, genetic and general pediatric patients.

Robert Skinner, a former business and community leader, was a cancer patient at St.Vincent who routinely had blood work done at the adult laboratory. During his visits, he frequently observed children sitting in the same waiting room for their blood draws, so he took the initiative to make a generous $100,000 donation before his death in 2006 to help establish a dedicated space for children who need this service. His wife, Avis, also gave two additional gifts in memory of her late husband to the child-friendly laboratory.

In 2006, the Crosser family, longtime St.Vincent supporters, established a grant of more than $370,000 to make the blood draw area a reality for pediatric patients. The Crosser Family Foundation, which was started by the late Richard Crosser, also funded the comprehensive Children’s Hospital playground in 2002.

The child-friendly blood draw laboratory is conveniently located off the main lobby of Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital, and no appointments are necessary.

For more information, contact Johnny Smith at (317) 338-2036.

###

Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital at St.Vincent
Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital at St.Vincent was founded on delivering family-centered care for all pediatric patients throughout Indiana. The dedicated children’s hospital has grown to more than 300 pediatric specialists, 46 inpatient beds, 15 beds in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, and 17 private rooms in the Hilbert Pediatric Emergency Department. The array of pediatric specialists and clinical staff at the comprehensive children’s hospital provide the highest quality of care in emergency medicine, cancer and blood diseases, general surgery, cardiology, orthopedics, pulmonology, otolaryngology, rehabilitation and endocrinology.

For more information please contact:
Johnny Smith Jr.
St.Vincent Health
Public Relations
(317) 583-3961 (office)
(317) 338-3550 #8225 (pager)

While a student at Jefferson High School, Dick was Sophomore Class Vice President and Junior Class Vice President. He was involved in Hi-Y, Student Council, J-Club, Red and Black Revue, Cross Country, Wrestling, Baseball, Purdue Legislature, and Boy’s State.

Dick attended Indiana University through a scholarship/internship program sponsored by National Homes Corp., then the nation’s largest homebuilder. After graduating in 1960, he spent 15 years with National Homes, leaving as Vice President/Regional Manager.

In 1975, he joined Deluxe Homes as Vice President and General Manager. Seven years later he bought controlling interest and grew a homebuilding company becoming Indiana’s largest builder. In 1993, the company went public emerging as Crossmann Communities, Inc. In 2001 Crossmann became America’s 12th largest homebuilder. Crossmann then merged with Beazer Homes.

While President of Crossmann Communities, he was involved with Habitat for Humanity, Special Olympics, Make a Wish Foundation, American Heart Association and initiated the Crossmann Communities Scholarship Fund, now called the Richard H. Crosser Memorial Fund.

Dick was committed to giving back to communities where he worked, built homes, and lived. That commitment to giving back is continued by his family through the Crosser Family Foundation, established in 2002. The foundation has contributed to St. Vincent’s Children Hospital in Indianapolis, Boys and Girls Club in Noblesville, Third Phase in Noblesville thru the Legacy Fund and Jefferson High School’s “Build the Future” program.

CARMEL — The Crosser family has received the inaugural Celebration of Philanthropy Living Legacy Award.

It’s a new award from the Legacy Fund, an affiliate of Central Indiana Community Foundation, to honor people who impact the quality of life in Hamilton County.

Janet Crosser, Carmel — along with her son Craig Crosser and his wife Christi, and Janet’s daughter Carrie Renner and husband Scott Renner, all of Noblesville — accepted the award on behalf of the Crosser Family Foundation. Janet’s husband, the late Richard H. Crosser, started the private family foundation in Noblesville in 2001 to help youths and their families.

Carrie Renner, a Carmel High School graduate, directs the foundation, which granted about $1.15 million to nonprofit organizations, primarily ones that serve youth.

Richard Crosser, who died in 2002, also established the Crosser Family Charitable Trust. It has given $35,123 to county-based organization and assisted area high school students going into the construction/building trades through the Richard H. Crosser Scholarship Fund.

Richard Crosser served as Legacy Fund board member for three years. Owner of the former Crossmann Communities, an Indianapolis-based home builder, he established more than 30 scholarship funds benefiting Crossman Communities’ school districts.

The family foundation has given $500,839 to organizations based in Hamilton County.

In 2006, the foundation committed to donate $100,000 each year for the three years, to help buy a campground for the Boys&Girls Club of Noblesville. The 20 acres on Indiana 37 about eight miles north of Noblesville was named Camp Crosser.

Ron Willcut, the Boys&Girls Club’s executive director, said the camp served a record 458 campers this summer. Willcut was among 350 guests who attended the Nov. 12 sold-out banquet at the Ritz Charles in Carmel

Willcut said, “I can’t think of a family who would deserve it more. … They really believe in their community.”

“They’re just awesome people,” said Loretta Moore, executive director of Prevail Inc., a victims assistance group in Hamilton County.

She said the foundation donated funds to staff a support group, Exploring My World, for ages 6 to 11. Children in the group have been or are living at Prevail.

Moore, who attended the banquet, said: “What an opportunity for the community to honor the Crossers and their focus on giving back to the community and their focus on the youth of our community and the future.”

Family’s funds have benefited youths, families

The Crosser family has received the inaugural Celebration of Philanthropy Living Legacy Award.

It’s a first-time award from the Legacy Fund, an affiliate of Central Indiana Community Foundation, to honor those who go over and above to impact the quality of life and fabric in Hamilton County.

Accepting the award on behalf of the Crosser Family Foundation were Janet Crosser, Carmel; her son, Craig Crosser, and his wife, Christi, and Janet’s daughter, Carrie Renner, and husband Scott Renner, all of Noblesville.

The private family foundation in Noblesville was started in 2001 by Janet’s husband, the late Richard H. Crosser, to help youth and their families.

In total, Crosser has given $500,839 to Hamilton County-based organizations.

Carrie Renner, a Carmel High School graduate, is director of the Crosser Family Foundation. In 2006, the foundation committed to donate $100,000 each year for the three years, to help purchase a campground for the Boys&Girls Club of Noblesville.

The 20-acre property on Ind. 37 about eight miles north of Noblesville in White River Township was named Camp Crosser.

Ron Willcut, the Boys&Girls Club’s executive director, said the camp served a record 458 campers this summer.

He was among 350 guests who attended the Nov. 12 sold-out award dinner at the Ritz Charles in Carmel.

“I can’t think of a family who would deserve it more,” he said. “They really believe in their community.

“They’re not donors who expect recognition. They’re very quiet about it, very humble about it.” To illustrate that, he said it took some convincing to get the family to agree to the name Camp Crosser.

“They’re just awesome people,” said Loretta Moore, executive director of Prevail Inc., a victims assistance group in Hamilton County.

She said the Crosser Family Foundation donated funds to staff a children’s support group, Exploring My World, for ages 6 to 11, who have been or are living with domestic violence at Prevail.

Moore, who attended the dinner, said, “What an opportunity for the community to honor the Crossers and their focus on giving back to the community and their focus on the youth of our community and the future.”

The Crosser Family Foundation has awarded about $1.15 million in grants to nonprofit organizations, primarily ones that serve youth. The Crosser Family Charitable Trust has given $35,123 to county-based organization and assisted area high school students going into the construction/building trades through the Richard H. Crosser Scholarship Fund.

Richard Crosser, who died in 2002, established both the foundation and the trust. He served as a Legacy Fund board member for three years.

Owner of the former Crossmann Communities, an Indianapolis-based home builder, he established more than 30 scholarship funds benefiting school districts. The Dick Crosser Community Endowment Fund was established in his name.

Indianapolis artist Carl Leck crafted the award for the Legacy Fund.