This morning, during The Columbus Foundation’s Celebration of Philanthropy, we at the Human Service Chamber humbly accepted The Columbus Foundation Award on behalf of our Board, our members, the 13,000 people they employ, and the hundreds of thousands they serve in the Columbus Region.

The Columbus Foundation’s Celebration of Philanthropy leads with a presentation and panel discussion featuring Bina Venkataraman, as well as Tasha Fowler of City Year, Dr. Frederic Bertley of COSI, Autumn Glover of PACT, Kelley Griesmer of The Women’s Fund, and Janet Chen of ProMusica.

In our acceptance, our executive director noted as follows:

It is a tremendous and bittersweet honor to receive this recognition this year. I say tremendous because this is, I think, indicative of the kind of work our agencies have been doing, especially since March, to serve our community through these tumultuous times. And I say bittersweet because of how difficult this year has been for so many….

The amount of suffering in our community and across the country is palpable right now. But there is still hope. And our agencies embody that. And the people in need in our community are turning to our agencies for hope now more than ever.

When there’s a lack of trust, even in our systems and our leaders, they can turn to these organizations that have been with them for over a century in our community, and even those organizations that have been there for just a few years….

At a time when people are under strain due to rhetoric, and fear, and policy and regulation that is weaponized against them, they’re turning to our member organizations for people they can trust, and that can help them get a roof over their head, that can get medicine in their pocket…. They’re turning to them for help, and our community is there.