A GOOD FOUNDATION THE NEWSLETTER OF THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE
FALL • 201 9 At The Community Foundation, we have a myriad of types of funds: Agency Endowment, Corporate Care, Designated, Donor-Advised, Field-of-Interest, Scholarship, and Unrestricted Impact funds. In this issue, we introduce you to some of our generous donors who have established Donor-Advised Funds. Through the lens of these stories, we want more people to know about the versatility of this fund type, the services and resources we offer, how donors are active and giving in supporting community organizations through their funds, and that Donor-Advised Funds are often a donor’s introduction to The Community Foundation and all of the fund types available to him/her. We hope you enjoy these stories, and we would love to hear more about your story at cfmt.org/stories.
BARGE DESIGN SOLUTIONS IMPACTS COMMUNITIES THROUGH THE SPIRIT OF GENEROSITY
“Architecture is the very mirror of life. You only have to cast your eyes on buildings to feel the presence of the past, the spirit of a place; they are the reflection of society.” — Architect I.M. Pei (1917-2019)
Barge Design Solutions is a professional services firm with offices in five states and corporate headquarters in the Central Business District of Nashville. The multidiscipline team includes engineers, architects, landscape architects, planners, biologists, geologists, scientists and surveyors. Celebrating its 65th year, Barge has been a part of the development of Nashville since its founding in 1955 by a group of Vanderbilt engineering graduates. Since then, Barge has been engaged in such organizations as the Nashville Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Nashville Partnership, The Rotary Club of Nashville, and other key business organizations. “We have literally worked across every block of the downtown area and continue to be a part of the growth of the core of the city,” says Paula Harris, Barge’s Executive Vice President/Chief Marketing Officer.
Committed to caring for the communities in which their employees live, work and serve, Barge Design Solutions opened the Barge Design Solutions Community Fund at The Community Foundation in 2014. In the five-year period since the Fund’s inception, Barge has awarded more than $250,000 in grants — with two grant cycles each year. “The Community Fund grants are primarily given to organizations surrounding our 15 offices,” says Cendy Dodd, Barge’s Executive Vice President/Chief Financial Officer. She continues, “Barge encourages employees to view grants as an extension of the work they are already doing in their communities. Grants are only given to organizations at which our employees are already involved." Barge encourages their employees to use their skills and knowledge beyond the workplace to better their communities. For example, many of their engineers participate in service and mission trips aimed at providing engineering services in areas of need — such as developing water systems in rural South America. Other employees are involved in organizations focused on providing education and mentorship, such the Dayton
Regional STEM School, the Nashville State Community College Fund, Youth Encouragement Services, and Laurel JustLead. One specific instance involves Kody Walker, a Transportation Project Engineer at Barge. After Hurricane Michael devastated the Florida Panhandle in October 2018, Walker took the initiative to assemble a team to assist in disaster response efforts. “Kody and his team showed incredible collaboration and leadership during the process of helping utility workers restore water and sanitary sewer infrastructure in the Bay County area of Florida,” Barge’s Harris says. “In addition, due to connections made through their team’s presence in this area, Barge engaged with a group of locals to feed community members displaced by the storm,” she continues. “The Community Fund was able to quickly support their efforts by granting Operation BBQ Relief $5,000.” It’s clear Barge Design Solutions cares enough about its employees — and about the communities in which they live — to foster the spirit of generosity through financial support as well as through individual time and effort.
CFMT.org • 1