Dear Circle Members,



Congratulations and thank you for a successful 2022-2023! At our Spring General Meeting on May 4 we presented City of Refuge with a $90,000 donation. We are also dispersing over $30,000 in scholarship money. 

Thank you for the various ways you supported The Circle, for finding your role this year. It's easy to be overwhelmed by the vastness of the need and our own busy lives. Thank you for your ongoing commitment to help at risk GA children. Problems can be solved and children can be helped when we come together in community. When we live in more affluent communities there are lots of helpers and investments; strong civic institutions, parents who volunteer to coach or run the PTA, family resources for tutors and therapists, and safe shared green space in parks and sports fields, to name a few. The Circle provides a channel for helping our beneficiaries to create community for socioeconomically disadvantaged children.

As you know, City of Refuge does transformative work, wrapping multiple services around their residents and members of the community. COR has taken over the private middle/high school that has been operating on their campus. It will expand one grade at a time from 5th grade down to PreK, with the vision of a community child enrolling in the COR daycare program as a baby and someday graduating from the high school. The daycare and school operate on scholarships, free to the families who use them who are also aware of the value of the benefit they receive. The majority, about 65%, of City of Refuge's budget comes from individual donors. Money raised one donor at a time to help one child at a time. Thank you for being a piece of the puzzle this year. As Thoreau said, investments in children are the only ones that never fail.

If you wonder which of our revenue streams are the most important, they all are. Our profits are from the Gala Auction (31%), Gala Sponsorships (29%), Golf Tournament (28%), Purse Auction (7%) and other miscellaneous donations (5%). All of our major events are important and every dollar counts. The proceeds from the purse auction alone can provide basic services for 14 families at COR for six months, the average length of stay for children living on campus in the shelter.

Our next fundraiser is the 2024 Golf Tournament on Monday October 23 at Indian Hills Country Club. The Golf Tournament has a lot of room for growth if we all focus on recruiting sponsors and players. We also have a summer volunteer opportunity on the calendar; The City of Refuge Back to School Bash on Wednesday July 26. Save the dates! I hope you are all inspired to return to The Circle next year so we can continue to multiply the impact of our philanthropy and volunteering as we approach our 100th anniversary. 

One last shout out to the 2022-2023 Executive Board and Chairs. I absolutely could not have done my job without them. There is a tremendous amount of institutional knowledge, creativity, and commitment among our board members. Thank you all, words cannot express my appreciation for all you have done.

It was an honor to serve as President and I'm delighted to pass the gavel to Kristin Harbison who brings her own unique talents and passions to the role. She's going to be amazing and I know you all will support her as you supported me. 

Have a wonderful summer, 

Belinda Vogel

2023-2024 President 

P.S. There is a trip to Tallulah Falls School May 15, continuing reading for the details!