Special projects like this wooden structure are made possible by donors and grants from The Community Foundation of Muncie & Delaware County

Your Neighbors: Leading, managing,
and operating.

Board

Sara Shade Hamilton,
Chair

Casey Stanley,
Vice Chair

Magi Kirkpatrick Sikora,
Secretary

Dave Heeter,
Treasurer

Trent Dowling,
Ex Officio

John W. Anderson, Jr.

Derron Bishop

Jaime Faulkner

Mia Johnson

Daniel Stallings

Staff

  • Marcy Minton, President & CEO

    Marcy Minton

    President & CEO

    Marcy leads the Foundation's operations. By establishing relationships across the community, she links the Foundation's work to the community's priorities. Marcy brings professional experience in nonprofits and for-profits, including years of grantmaking experience at the Foundation. She is a fourth-generation resident of Delaware County and a graduate of Cowan High School, Indiana University, and Ball State University.

  • Kallie Sulanke, Chief Community Partner for Outreach and Donor Relations

    Kallie Sulanke

    Chief Community Partner for Outreach & Donor Relations

    Kallie partners with the Foundation's new and existing donors to help them meet their charitable goals and inspire giving through good storytelling. Kallie has an educational and professional background in communications. She graduated from Yorktown High School and Ball State University and now lives in Muncie.

  • Amanda Kavars, Chief Community Partner for Program and Nonprofit Relations

    Amanda Kavars

    Chief Community Partner for Program & Nonprofit Relations

    Amanda oversees and manages the grantmaking processes and works with volunteers on the related committees. She works side-by-side with nonprofit organizations serving Muncie and Delaware County to build strong relationships and help create lasting change. Amanda is a Minnesota native but has been part of the Muncie and Delaware County community since 2006.

  • Carol Kosisko, Community Partner for Donor Relations

    Carol Kosisko

    Community Partner for Donor Relations

    Carol partners with donors and potential donors of The Community Foundation, focusing on stewardship to grow the assets of The Community Foundation to help meet the needs of the community. She is a Ball State University graduate and has been part of the Muncie and Delaware County community since 1983.

  • Molly Harty

    Community Partner for Program & Nonprofit Relations

    Molly builds relationships with nonprofit organizations to support community grantmaking. She can often be found connecting with school administrators and counselors, teachers, and nonprofit organizations serving the rural communities in Delaware County. Molly is a life-long resident of Delaware County. She attended Delta High School and graduated from the Entrepreneurship program at Ball State University.

  • Trina Bowling, Finance Officer

    Trina Bowling

    Finance Officer

    Trina manages the finances and accounting of the Foundation to ensure community assets are here today, tomorrow, and always. Trina has a degree in accounting and more than 20 years of experience in financial institutions. Trina attended Southside High School and holds a degree in accounting from Purdue University Global. She calls the Cowan community home.

  • Rachel Spodek, Outreach and Donor Relations Manager

    Rachel Spodek

    Outreach & Donor Relations Manager

    Rachel promotes the work of the Foundation through external communication. She acknowledges and receipts all gifts to the Foundation and supports print publications, electronic communications, and digital media. Rachel attended Burris and the Indiana Academy and graduated from Butler University and Ball State University. She lives in rural Delaware County.

  • Rachel Lunsford, Operations Support Manager

    Rachel Lunsford

    Operations Support Manager

    Rachel orchestrates the daily operations of The Community Foundation, supporting all business functions and providing executive support to the president. She brought to the Foundation experience in management, leadership, and customer service. Rachel grew up in Jay County, graduated from Texas Bible College, and now lives in Yorktown.

  • Program and Nonprofit Relations Manager

    Coming Soon

    Program & Nonprofit Relations Manager

Committees

  • Governance

    Sara Shade Hamilton, Chair
    Casey Stanley
    Magi Kirkpatrick Sikora
    Dave Heeter

  • Investment

    Tom Heck, Chair
    Ronald K. Fauquher
    Jennifer Gibson
    Thomas J. Kinghorn
    Mark Price
    Carol E. Seals
    Daniel Stallings
    Rob Tyler

  • Finance

    Kathy White, Chair
    Trent Dowling
    Mark A. Ervin
    Michael B. Galliher
    Erika Hayes
    David W. Heeter
    John D. Littler
    Carol Seals
    Casey Stanley

  • Grants

    Sara Shade Hamilton, Chair
    John W. Anderson Jr.
    Chris Day
    Andrew Draper
    Ermalene Faulkner
    Jaime Faulkner
    Olivia Fellows
    Molly Flodder
    Keith Gary
    Charlize Jamieson
    Lathay Pegues

  • Strategic

    Trent Dowling
    Sara Shade Hamilton
    Magi Kirkpatrick Sikora
    Carol E. Seals

  • Impact Investing

    Ben Freeman
    Jeff Huff
    Carol Seals
    Magi Kirkpatrick Sikora
    Steve Slavin

  • Scholarship

    Derron Bishop
    Rateira Dodds-Simmons
    Mark Foerster
    Aileen Howard
    Marchal Hudson
    Ryan Hunter
    Mia Johnson
    Jared Quarles
    Ali Starkey

  • Robert P. Bell Education Grants

    Lisa Brand
    Kris Nauman
    Amanda Chester
    Erin Wilson
    Tom Arnold
    Kacie Hall
    Devon Barbosa
    Felicia Gray
    Beth Buehler
    Yolanda Lloyd
    Eileen Molter

  • Kitselman Fund

    Jon Moll, Chair
    Steve Anderson
    Steven Smith
    Franky Voss
    Jim Williams

  • Land Conservation Fund

    John Craddock, Chair
    Jay Allardt
    Sue Errington
    Sara Shade Hamilton
    Paul Russell
    Les Smith
    John Taylor

  • Albany Fund

    Lance Engle
    Tony Evans
    Barb Frazee
    Kristen McConnell
    Clyde Shaffer
    Ryan Vannatter

  • Gaston Town Endowment Fund

    Lisa Brown
    Trent Dowling
    Dick Johnson
    Brandon Petro
    Kyle Mealy
    James Wormer

  • Liberty Perry Selma Town Endowment Fund

    Larry Crabtree
    Theresa Johnson
    Daniel Kauffman
    Brandon Morvilius
    Kristy Thompson
    Kim Conner

  • Town of Yorktown Endowment Fund

    Edward Armantrout
    Carolyn Gant
    Sarah McCord
    Bryan Smith
    Samantha Taylor

  • Mutual Legacy Fund

    R. Donn Roberts, chair
    Dave Heeter
    Carol Seals
    Sara Shade Hamilton
    Linn Crull

Our History

Started by the community for the community.

The sun sets over farmland in Delaware County, Indiana

The Community Foundation began in 1985 as the result of the Ball Brothers Foundation and Ball family members. Realizing the benefit that a community-supported, community-focused organization would provide, Ed Ball came up with the novel idea of creating a community foundation and initiated a $1 million matching challenge to help it get started.

A group of community leaders gathered in April of 1985 to meet the challenge. The concept of a community foundation was new, and they did not have the advantage of a website or social media to spread the word or explain the concept.

“In many ways the community was ready for this,” recalls Stefan Anderson, who helped lead the effort to establish the Foundation. “We didn’t need the Internet in those days because we did our speaking through grants. That caused an awareness to develop.”

Within its first year the money was raised and three nonprofits – the YMCA, the local NAACP Scholarship Fund, and the Muncie Civic Theatre – had benefited from grants. “Word of mouth was instrumental,” says Anderson. “And we had wonderfully cooperative newspapers that went out of their way to communicate the Foundation’s programs.”

Roni Johnson joined The Community Foundation in 1986 when the Foundation was in the midst of a second million-dollar-match challenge. As she set up her makeshift office in larger office buildings, Johnson recalls that one of the biggest challenges in those first few years was trying to figure things out as they went along.

We were the trendsetter in our state. We were one of only six foundations that were up and running at the time. We didn’t have a state organization holding out a hand. When we got started, the challenge was finding resources that were available to model ourselves after.
— Roni Johnson

Anderson believes his colleagues who gave of their time and resources to create one of Indiana’s oldest community foundations would be pleased, but not shocked, at its subsequent success.

“If we had a crystal ball in 1985, I think we would have foreseen the growth ahead, but we would not have anticipated that growth in assets and grants would be on such a dramatic upward curve. That has been impressive. The idea at the outset was not to focus on assets but to maximize our granting capacity and the impact of our grants. And it’s worked.”

A man views The Community Foundation of Muncie & Delaware County's brand guidelines on his phone

Brand Resources

We want to be part of your story.

The Community Foundation welcomes our grantees and partners to use our name and logo when appropriate in promotional materials.

Please refer to our brand guide for the correct usage of our logo, fonts and brand colors. You can also download a .png copy of our logo in two layouts - horizontal or vertical. Please contact Kallie Sulanke, Chief Community Partner for Outreach & Donor Relations, if you require the logo in another format or have questions.

Contact us to learn more about The Community Foundation.