The Tipp City Foundation recently awarded over $24,000 in scholarships. These awards went
to graduating high school seniors. Of the 63 endowment funds within the Foundation,
18 represent scholarships.

Often these funds commemorate inspirational values of the scholarship founder; when this is the case, applicants are measured against those standards. Winners are determined through a vetting process led by an independent body of judges. To read more about the stories behind each of the scholarship funds or to apply for future scholarships, visit www.tippfoundation.org.

Graduates from Tippecanoe, Bethel, Miami East and Lehman Catholic are represented.

Ernest Clay Back Scholarship for History – Ava Brooks

Lester & Cleon Bowers Family Scholarship – Fletcher Harris

Marlene E. Chapman Memorial Scholarship – Ava Longo

Jeanette C. Gaston Memorial Music Scholarship – Molly Dunn

Gilmore Family Scholarship – Keenan Melton

Sarah Gross Scholarship for Sportsmanship – Megan Landis

Life is a Journey - Don't Stop Believing Scholarship – Daria Lee

Katherine G. Lobo Memorial Scholarship – Roman List

McKee Family Matthew 5:16 Scholarship – Emmily Morando

Sarah Merritt Memorial Scholarship – (not awarded for 2024)

John and Louise Miller Memorial Scholarship – Daisy Horner

Robert E. Nessle Memorial Scholarship – Jenna Herzer

Elizabeth Spano Scholarship – Laney Cleckner

Tipp City Rotary Club Scholarship – Leda Anderson, Allison Cartwright, William Riehle

Tippecanoe Alumni Scholarship – Ava Longo

Wenzlau Family Scholarship – Evan Liette

Willhelm Family Scholarship – Landon Luginbuhl

The Tipp City Foundation is a member fund of The Troy Foundation. If you would like information about how to establish an endowment fund or to make a tax-deductible contribution, please contact Heather Bailey at (937) 528-2482.

For more information visit www.tippfoundation.org or Tipp Foundation on Facebook.

Carolyn Wright, Andy Venters join City Foundation Board

By Nancy Bowman

Two active community members have joined the board of the Tipp City Foundation.

Andrew Venters and Carolyn Wright were welcomed by the board at its March meeting. During that meeting, the foundation board also saw the advancement of Richard Bender to president, replacing Jim Ranft, and Joellen Heatherly to vice president. Dr. Ranft will remain as chairman of the foundation Distribution Committee, overseeing grant making.

Wright grew up in Bethel Township. and graduated from Bethel High School in 1990. Following college, the family decided to move back to the community to raise their children.

“I value my community and want to represent Bethel by supporting innovation, creativity and connection” through the foundation’s work, she said of her interest in serving on the foundation board.

“I appreciate the value our community places on our school, and the way that neighbors take care of neighbors.  I love the beauty of our backroads and the sense of rootedness I feel here,” Wright said.

A social worker, she said she thinks she brings compassion, curiosity and a systematic approach to problem solving to the foundation’s volunteer board.

She is a clinical social worker with a private therapy practice in Troy and a cofounder of the Therapy Collaborative, a group of mental health providers serving the county and surrounding areas.

Wright has been married to Todd for 32 years. They have two children, Benton and Eiliana, who graduated in the Bethel classes of 2016 and 2018, respectively. Both live in Asheville, N.C. Her mother, Mary Walsh, lives across the street from Wright and remains her biggest supporter, she said.

Wright has served as a Bethel Township trustee, Bethel varsity swim coach, created and organized the Bethel 5K from 2012-2016, has worked as a poll worker, worked on multiple school levies and is a volunteer for the National Conference of Community and Justice.

Venters and his wife, Heather, moved to Tipp City in summer 2007. Born and raised in Somerset, Ky., he attended Miami University and went to law school at the University of Kentucky.

“I've long admired the foundation as an institution that gives people an outlet for their generosity, and which helps make Tipp City a great place to live.  It's an honor to be a part of it,” Venters said.

One of the first things he and his wife noticed about the community was “what a generous and friendly place Tipp City was,” he said. “It has been a wonderful town to raise our kids in, full of people who provide great examples to them to follow. Like every town, there are things that can be improved, but those first impressions have mainly held true over the years.”

Venters said he thinks he brings to the foundation good judgment and has a good grasp on the community’s needs. “I hope to help the foundation make sound decisions,” he said.

He is a magistrate in the Miami County Probate and Juvenile Court. He previously was an attorney with firms in Troy and Sidney for about 15 years and served as a public defender in Shelby County.

Heather Venters is an occupational therapist, working for the Montgomery County Educational Service Center. She has worked through the ESC in the Trotwood school district for 11 years. They have three children, ages 14, 12 and 10.

Venters served on the Tipp City schools board of education for four years and on the board of zoning appeals. He teaches Sunday School at Tipp City Global Methodist Church.

Bender is a graduate of Columbus Business University and worked in the banking industry before joining the United Way of Troy in 2010 as executive director. After retirement, he has remained active in the community including joining the foundation board.

He and his wife, Cheryl, live in Tipp City.

Heatherly is a Tipp City native, who said an interest in local philanthropy helped lead her to service on the foundation board.

She focused her career in the area of public service, specifically adults with disabilities. She is a former member of the Tipp City schools board of education.

By Nancy Bowman

The second floor of a downtown Tipp City building is like a second home to at least one girl and a place to be safe and be themselves for any interested local youth. Connections is housed on the second floor of 135 E. Main St. The nonprofit youth outreach was started by the Rev. Barbara Cooper in 2018, first in one downtown location and then at 135 E. Main St. It continues to offer an afterschool place for students primarily in grades six through 10.

“I want Connections to be a place where the kids feel loved and accepted and are nurtured so that they grow to be all that God designed them to be. That is my goal,” Cooper said. “They know they can come here and be safe, that I am going to stand up for them.”

Connections is open weekdays after school until 6  p.m. with Friday being the busiest day. The center is for students in middle school and high school with most attending being middle school age and early high school.

The center is funded “by grants and nice people and lots of hopes and prayers,” Cooper said.

Among supporters has been the Tipp City Foundation, which supported Connections with grants including one in 2018 to help launch the program and others in 2022 and 2024 for general expenses.

Cooper teaches music lessons, leasing part of the upstairs space for that purpose. She is a pastor through the United Methodist Church and appointed to the program through the church as well as playing music on Sundays and filling in as pastor at area churches, as needed.

Students come in to buy snacks, play board games, do homework, undertake art projects, talk, hang out, play darts and pool and once a month participate in an open mic evening with presentations on poetry, music and other interests. They also have access to a vinyl records collection for music.

“This gives them a place to belong, and to get connected,” Cooper said. The rules are simple with emphasis on respecting self and others.

“I want them to build each other up, not tear each other down. We don’t need ugly language. I tell them to be more creative than that. They hold each other accountable. They call each other out all the time (for language, etc.),” she said.

Asked by Cooper what they like about Connections, one young girl attending the program last week said it is a second home to her while a boy said it is a place where he can hang out with friends.

Among newer projects at Connections is a Miami Valley Youth Choir open to those age six through 18. Participants come from Tipp City, Bethel Township, Vandalia, Piqua and several other area communities. Cooper is assisted with the choir by co-director Julie Collins of Troy and Caitlyn Hood, an intern studying composition at the University of Dayton.

More information on Connections events can be found at Miami Valley Youth Choir. The Connections website contains other information on the program. Donations are accepted with PayPal, at Connections of Tipp City, the most used format for donations.