By MICHAEL MARX

The New Albany Community Foundation recently held its annual A Remarkable Evening hosted by Abigail and Les Wexner.

Over the years, the benefit has hosted an impressive list of speakers, including former presidents, a prime minister and former secretaries of state and defense and CIA directors.

This year, it featured respected authors and columnists David Brooks and Thomas Friedman, political analyst Ana Navarro and moderator David Gergen.

“It’s going to be the healthy community that withstands this age of rapid acceleration,” Friedman said at A Remarkable Evening on Nov. 15. “This notion of building community is the most important thing.”

Friedman was referring to communities where people are connected and where lifelong learning is part of the culture.

That’s precisely what the community foundation does. It brings people together to experience and benefit from educational, cultural, health and environmental opportunities and enrichment.

From the Jefferson Series lectures to Jeanne B. McCoy Community Center for the Arts’ performances to school programs, the community foundation — through its generous donors — provides opportunities for people to get involved and connect with one another.

Since its inception, A Remarkable Evening has raised more than $20 million. That money is invested back into the community in the form of grants to various community groups and organizations. This past year, the community foundation awarded nearly $650,000 in grants, ranging from $500 to $320,000.

We are fortunate that each year the Wexners not only open their home to host the event, but they also underwrite the speakers so that the proceeds benefit the entire community.

I think it is significant that Friedman’s new book predicts rapid changes and subsequent uncertainty and anxiety as lives are disrupted, but he also predicts that strong communities will be best positioned to navigate through these challenging times and be successful.

The community foundation, through its donors, supporters and partners, is helping to build an extraordinary community and one with a bright future.