"One hundred years from now it will not matter what kind of house you lived in, how much money you had, nor what your clothes looked like, but the world maybe a little better because you made a difference in the life of a child."

Welcome to the 2021-2022 Optimist year. As the Optimist International Foundation begins its 51^st year, we are proud to continue to financially support all of the programs of Optimist International. We are also proud to continue the Club Matching Grant and the Childhood Health and Wellness Matching Grant.

Without the support of our donors, whether it is our individual donors or Club donors, our support of these programs would not be possible. For individuals, an easy way to contribute is through the Dime-A-Day ($36.50) program, although any contribution is of value and helps to build the available funds to give back to our Clubs and the youth in our communities.

The application for the Childhood Health and Wellness Grant will be available on the OIF website shortly, and the 1^st deadline for submitting the grant application is January 28, 2022. The Club Matching Grant application will be available on the OIF website January 6, 2022 and is due on March 16, 2022. The Health and Wellness Grant is available for either a new program or a continuing program that your Club may be doing; however, a Club can only receive a grant one time for a project. The Club Matching Grant is for new programs only that your Club is doing.

Consider asking your District Foundation Representative to attend a Club or Zone meeting to discuss the Foundation and all of the things that the Foundation does to give back to the Clubs and the Districts of Optimist International. The Foundation Board of Directors is also available to either Zoom into a Club, a Zone or a District meeting, or to feasibly attend in person to provide a brief presentation.

Thank you again for all that you have done to support the Foundation, all that you continue to do to support the Foundation and all that you will do in the future to support the Foundation.

2021 - 2022 Optimist International Foundation President's Theme Print

Distinguished and Outstanding DFRs

On behalf of Optimist International Foundation Immediate Past President, Jan Oord Graves, we would like to thank you for making the 2020-2021 year for OIF a huge success despite all the ongoing challenges caused by the pandemic. Donors, volunteers, District Foundation Representatives (DFRs), and many more supported the OIF cause so more children and communities could benefit.

The many accomplishments that were reached during the year allowed OIF to support the Optimist Mission to a greater level. We are very appreciative and grateful for all those that stepped forward to be a part of the effort.

We would like to specifically recognize the work of our DFRs. The hard work and passionate effort of each of them at the District level was awesome.

In particular, we would like to recognize above and beyond effort by those who made Distinguished DFR status.

Those individuals were:

Debra Davis, NYNE
Ailesia Franklin, INDN
Bob Thompson, INDS
Debbie Crall, OK
Beryle Lantz, NE
James Rehm, AMS&NW
Skip Foy, CAPVA
Lynne Martin, NMWTX
Bill Stone, OH
Ron Benson, COWY

Nancy Boyd, AL-MS
Dick Disney / Michael Gray, PNW
Teri Branch, MDSD
Charles Spavin, DMM
Darlene Friel, WMO
Dale Fox, KS
Kurt Gassen, LA
Janet Lloyd, IA
Billy Edgerton, NCE

In addition, we would like to recognize the top DFRs that reached Outstanding Level:

Theresa Jarratt, MI – Overall Total Contributions
Kathy Forster, GATE – Largest Total Dollar Increase Over Prior Year
Marsi Salmi, AZ – Highest Dollar Per Member
Chris McCall, SFL – Greatest Percentage of Increase Over Prior Year

Our sincere congratulations to those that reached the Distinguished and Outstanding Level for the year. And our heartfelt thank you to all the DFRs, donors, and volunteers that made 2020-2021 very special.

CHILDHOOD HEALTH AND WELLNESS

Application - Fillable & Downloadable PDF

Matrix Comparing to Club Grant

Optimist International Scholarships We Support	Optimist Programs We Help Sponsor
10 Things Accomplished In 2020	OIF 50th Booklet Online
More Foundation Forms	Women’s Philanthropy Council