As we continue to roll out the Birkley Heynen Environmental Foundation’s initial set of partners, we want to acknowledge our gratitude for the support of the Athens Area Community Foundation (AACF). We had little idea how we wanted to start to build the Foundation when we began exploring ways to honor Birk’s legacy.
Sarah McKinney and Destin Newfont, along with AACF Board Member Patrick Garrard, sprung into immediate action to guide us through the process of establishing the fund and helped us imagine what this effort could mean to many other people moving forward. The Birkley Heynen Environmental Fund, which is the financial engine of the Birkley Heynen Environmental Foundation, is supported and administered by the Athens Area Community Foundation as a donor advised fund. This coupling will help facilitate the environmental grantmaking program we intend to develop as well as ensure all donations to what we are doing are in trusted hands.
AACF was established in Athens in 2008 and since that time has helped many donors, nonprofits and institutions grow to serve the Athen Area community and beyond. We feel that the Birkley Heynen Environmental Foundation is off to an important start as we set off on this work thanks to the folks at the AACF and we appreciate all the guidance we have already received.
