FAIRBORN — Greene County Community Foundation, also known as Greene Giving, will be hosting its invite-only annual luncheon at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, April 28 at the Fairborn Holiday Inn.
Launching in 2001 and based out of Xenia, the foundation’s mission according to its website is “to promote philanthropy and provide stewardship and leadership to enhance the use of regional resources to meet charitable needs.” The upcoming luncheon will be the first to be held since 2018 due to the past three years being restricted by COVID.
“The luncheon is technically a board meeting, but it’s really just a gathering of attorneys, business professionals, bankers, and elected officials who gather together to recognize good works,” said Independent Representative of Greene County Community Foundation Dimitrios Toliopoulos.
“There are a multitude of scholarships that get handed out during this, along with donations to hospitals, donations to childcare services, and donations to parks,” said Toliopoulos who described the event as “basically a way for attendees to watch as donors connect directly to the people and organizations they’re contributing to. There aren’t plaques or certificates handed out, but we do give out really big checks that everyone seems to like.”
Toliopoulos, 23, is a recent transplant from Chicago who is receiving his MPA (Masters in Public Administration) from the University of Dayton and began working for the foundation in January.
“I used to come out to this part of Ohio a lot when I lived in Chicago, made a lot of friends here, and after deciding to go to UD, I met Greene Giving president Ed Marrinan, really liked him a lot, and began working for him,” said Toliopoulos. “I liked him and what he was doing enough that I agreed to work for him for a year, finish my masters at UD, and then who knows what could be next?”
Greene Giving acts as advocate, mediator, supporter, and partner to local organizations that need assistance providing services with charitable and humanitarian goals. Although it will often partner with private commercial concerns, Greene County’s main focus is on public works such as parks, libraries, and schools.
“They have close to 200 local affiliates in their book that they partner with,” said Toliopoulos.
“We recently worked with an area man who wanted to have special events that would help fund raise for and bring awareness to mental health. But, he didn’t have a 503c, and so he came to us to work with him on handling a lot of that side of things while he was able to go and have 5K runs and things like that. We’re here to help people like him do good works in the community.”
