Jack Kessler Honored with McCoy Community Service Award Major Gift Announced to New Albany Schools Sheryl & Phil Heit announce $1 million Gift to Center for Healthy New Albany
A capacity crowd of 420 guests attended the New Albany Community Foundation’s 11th edition of the Remarkable Evening benefit hosted by Abigail and Les Wexner at their New Albany home last night. The featured speaker for the evening was Former Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Tony Blair. David Gergen, professor of public service and director of the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School, moderated a discussion with Blair following his formal remarks. Blair is the latest in an impressive line-up of world leaders, Pulitzer Prize-winning authors and historians that have visited New Albany as part of programming offered by The New Albany Community Foundation through the support of its donors. In addition to Foundation donors, a group of New Albany students also attended the event.
Several significant announcements were made during the evening:
Jack Kessler received the 2013 Jeanne and John G. McCoy Community Service Award
The Jeanne and John G. McCoy Community Service Award was established by the foundation in 2004 to recognize citizens who have made a significant impact on the community through their accomplishments, contributions, and community service in keeping with the mission of the Foundation. Through their remarkable philanthropy in New Albany and central Ohio, Jeanne and John G. McCoy embodied the spirit of this award and were the first to be honored with the distinction in 2004.
Kessler, longtime chairman of the New Albany Company, was lauded for his impact on New Albany and throughout central Ohio. Together with former New Albany Plain-Local Schools Superintendent Dr. Ralph Johnson, Kessler co-founded The New Albany Community Foundation in 1994.
“From the very beginning when Jack and Les were envisioning New Albany, Jack believed a community foundation was critical to New Albany’s success,” said Abigail Wexner, the event hostess. “He understood that people would want to live here but would also want to take an active role in shaping the community. The foundation has certainly enabled New Albany residents and businesses to be actively engaged in community building. The New Albany Branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library, The Center for Healthy New Albany and The McCoy Center for the Arts are several examples of significant projects that simply would not have happened without the Foundation working with community members to move the projects forward.”
“New Albany is an extraordinary place with such a collaborative spirit,” says Kessler. “We have an active group of residents who not only dream big, but then go out and get it done.”
“Our identity as a community is so solid and I think that long after Les and I are gone, even 100 years from now, New Albany will be just as wonderful as it currently is. Maybe even more so,” Kessler concluded.
In Kessler’s honor, family, friends and colleagues established the John W. Kessler Endowment Fund at The New Albany Community Foundation.
Past Recipients of The McCoy Award include:
2005: Janet Atwater, founder of the New Albany Women’s Network
2006: Dr. Ralph Johnson, past superintendent of New Albany-Plain Local Schools
2007: Bill Resch, environmental teacher advocate
2008: Don Cameron, community leader and Plain Township Trustee
2009: Dr. Phil Heit, founder of the New Albany Walking Club, New Albany Walking Classic & Healthy New Albany
2010: The Ryan Family: Ellen, David, Sarah and Mark, multi-generation family philanthropists
2011: Tiney McComb, founder and chairman of Heartland Bank.
2012: Bob Schottenstein, Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer and President of M/I Homes, Inc.
Major Gift announcement of $1.5 million was made to New Albany Schools
The Foundation announced that it would be making a grant of $1.5 million to New Albany Schools toward enhancements to the new academic building under construction. The Foundation has supported a number of school initiatives over the years, including:
- The district’s “benchmarking excellence” initiative
- Student lectures featuring Pulitzer Prize-winning historians, playwrights, national and global diplomats and health care advocates
- Master classes with visiting performers to the McCoy Center
- An author residency and scholarship program
- The environmental science program
“The success of the school district is so important to the success of the community,” said Rich Ramsey, Chair of the Foundation’s Grant Committee. We believe the entire community benefits when our schools are strong.”
Major Gift Announcement of $1 million from Sheryl and Phil Heit to The Center for Healthy New Albany
It was also announced that Sheryl and Phil Heit will donate $1 million to Healthy New Albany and the Center for Healthy New Albany currently under construction on Main Street in the village center. The construction of this health anchor for the community was made possible by a public private partnership led by the city of New Albany, with the New Albany Company and Healthy New Albany. Heit, a former professor of health at The Ohio State University, is the founder of the New Albany Walking Classic and Healthy New Albany, a grassroots 501c3 organization promoting health initiatives. Healthy New Albany and its volunteers are responsible for the farmer’s market, community garden, a lecture series and the Healthy New Albany Magazine.
“Phil Heit has been our community’s #1 health evangelist and this generous personal investment that he has made exemplifies the depth of his commitment to making New Albany the healthiest community in America,” said Cindy Hilsheimer, Chair of The New Albany Community Foundation Board of Trustees. “We are deeply grateful not only for his contribution, but for his visionary leadership.”
“Collectively, we are creating something very special in New Albany that will improve the quality of life for thousands of people,” said Phil Heit. “What started as a walking club has morphed into a movement that now includes a top notch farmers market, community gardens, health lectures and the nation’s largest and top-rated walk, the New Albany Walking Classic. The Center for Healthy New Albany will be the epicenter for healthy programming in our community and Sheryl and I are thrilled to be a part of the project.”
The New Albany Community Foundation and its donors are working together to create the most extraordinary community in America. Acting as a community builder, the Foundation develops collaborative partnerships and invests in transformational projects that benefit all residents and contribute to the greater good: developing a community of life-long learners, creating culture of wellness, and enriching the community through the arts and our natural environment. By championing forward-thinking initiatives, the Foundation and its donors have already had a significant positive impact.