Out and About

The recently held Celebrate Clay awards breakfast at the Howard Johnson hotel in Orange Park made me realize just how valuable a role the sponsoring Paul E. & Klare N. Reinhold Foundation plays in our community. 

The foundation, which also awards college scholarships to dozens of local high school students each year, has paid out $1.7 million in grants and contributions during the past five years alone.

But giving away money isn’t the only reason to be grateful to the foundation, which presented cash awards totalling $65,000 at the inaugural Celebrate Clay ceremonies last month. It became clear to me as I sat in the audience that foundation members had placed a great deal of effort into organizing an event that also gave well-deserved recognition – and perhaps some visibility — to at least 79 not-for-profit agencies and individuals.

Though I’ve been living in Clay County off and on for many years, I was surprised by — and impressed with – the number of social service agencies and loosely organized groups that have given so much to so many while operating in relative obscurity. I had never heard of The James Boys, a group of 30 volunteers at Orange Park United Methodist Church who help the elderly and needy by repairing bicycles and building houses and handicap ramps, among other good deeds.

Nor was I aware of The Way Free Medical Clinic, which gives the uninsured and poverty stricken access to health care; or Hope Therapy, a wonderfully creative program that uses horses to help improve the motor skills of children and adults with special health-care needs such as cerebral palsy and autism.

The list goes on. And so does the giving. I wonder how much of  that wouldn’t be possible if it weren’t for the social conscience and generosity of the Paul E. & Klare N. Reinhold Foundation.